On May 24th 1881, one of the worst Canadian Marine disasters struck London Ontario. The SS Victoria, a small double-decker ship capsized on the Thames River, killing more than 200 individuals. Returning from Springbreak to London, the boat was extremely overcrowded at almost double its capacity. The oscillating movement of passengers and eventual dislodging of the boiler keeled the boat to the side, taking the innocent Londoners into the water with the crash of the upper deck. Bodies were pulled from the water for days, transforming the shoreline and the Princess's Louise's deck into a morgue, and shock rippled through the city. This was the greatest loss of London life in a single day.
Built by George T. Merriman, the SS Victoria was officially registered on April 7th 1879. This double-decker ship was white and blue with red and yellow trim, overall measuring 80' long by 32' wide and able to carry a load of 400 passengers.The cost for a round trip ticket from London to Springbank was 15 cents in 1881 and on the holiday, travelers were plentiful.
The SS Victoria came into view of the Springbank Sandbar around 5pm on that fateful day, patrons were eager to get aboard and be on their way home. Earlier, a different boat ran aground and the passengers were brought back to the dock. This resulted in an overflow of passengers, nearly 700 people clambered aboard in an effort to get a good seat or location. The pursers (ticket takers) were Herbert Parish and Alfred Wastie, both sons of men that owned or previously owned the Victoria. They had no idea this would be their last trip. Although there were too many people on board, Captain Rankin shrugged, stated he could not be responsible for the crowd and pulled away from the dock. Usually the water sat 16 inches below the deck, but on this day, water was splashing over. the 8 inches of space. The passengers were oblivious to the forthcoming danger.
As people rushed to one edge waving to friends along the shoreline, the lower deck quickly took on water. The boat began to keel to the side, and the angle dislodged the 60-horsepower boiler which sat on the main deck. The boiler slid to the weighted side crashing through the support beams of the upper deck, which instantly came crashing down on the passengers below. The boat collapsed. Thrown into the water, more than half of the passengers were trapped under the debris, screams of fear rang in the air. Some people were able to swim to the shore, and they alerted the city by walking, soaking wet and stricken with terror, into town.
By 7pm, about 80 bodies had been pulled from the water. A sister ship, the Princess Louise came to the site, and the deck was transformed into a floating morgue. The search continued for 5 days, ultimately uncovering 200 bodies from the river.
Hundreds of men, women and children were aboard the ship and 200 bodies were pulled from the river. However, the possibility of lost bodies in the water was all too real. The horror of the scene and the fight to survive was evident on the bruised and mangled bodies. Individual stories were captured of those who barely survived, and the lost lives:
After falling into the water, Will Skinner watched his sister be pulled down by another drowning victim, unable to help her.
Father James Perkins was enjoying the ride with his 8 year old son, Jimmy and was caught off guard by the sudden impending doom of the ship. Separated from his son in the water, he saw a boy he thought was Jimmy and pulled him to shore. He screamed in agony after realizing this boy was not his son. Jimmy's body was found two days later.
Willie Glass and Fanny Cooper were sweethearts, to be married early June 1881, but their lives were taken by the Victoria Disaster. Buried together, their inscriptions read "They were lovely in their lives" on one pillar, and "in death they were not divided" on the other.
Two sisters, Henrietta and Mabel Hogan, 9 and 12 were tossed from the upper deck into the water. Mabel was in shock, unable to pull her body to the surface. Although Henrietta reached out, Mabel sank to her death before her sister's eyes.
There were not enough coffins for all the bodies, more were brought in from Toronto and Hamilton. It took days for family members to identify all of their loved ones strewn about the ground, hearkening a mass grave. The horrific event was followed by a month of public mourning, businesses were suspended for several days and a plan for a memorial monument was created. The boat was eventually extracted from the lake and sold for scrap. The disaster of the SS Victoria remains one of the deadliest days in London history, and is recognized as a major Canadian nautical disaster.
The entire city was shaken by the great loss on the Thames River. An inspection of the event took place over the next couple of weeks, and the verdict was announced on the 14th of June, 1881. Many people and elements were to blame. It was decided that the capsizing occurred because water was leaking into the hold after hitting a rock or snag on the river. The engineer was guilty of not informing the captain, and the captain was guilty of taking on the role of captain and wheelhouse- therefore not providing the proper attention to either role.The boiler was not properly secured to the deck, a fault of the government inspector who passed the boat's examination the previous year. The captain and engineer were both arrested on manslaughter, but released on bail set at $3,000. The Middlesex Grand Jury took over the case in the fall, and the jury did not indict the men. There was no jail time following the loss of more than 200 souls in London.
Victorian London may be thought of as an idyllic era, but accidents like this still occurred. Nobody expected not to make it home after the holiday.
Brown, Alan L. "The 'Victoria' Boat Disaster 1881." Ontario's Historical Plaques, June 2005.http://ontarioplaques.com/Plaques/Plaque_Middlesex...
McTaggart, Kenneth D. The Victoria Day Distaster. Petrolia, Ontario: Skinner Printing, 1978.
Reaney, James. "My London: Sad and ugly scenes followed the Thames River tragedy." The London Free Press , May 2015.http://www.lfpress.com/2015/05/21/my-london-sad-an...
Various primary newspapers clippings provided by: "Victoria (Steamboat), capsized, May 24 1881." Maritime History of the Great Lakes, 1881. Accessed October 17 2016. http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/59596/data
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