The Ship of Gold – “The Greatest Treasure Ever Found”
165 years ago, the Sidewheel Steamer, S.S. Central America, sunk in a hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas, taking the lives of 425 men and over 4,700 pounds of California gold, 8,000 feet below the Atlantic.
SS Central America (Lost 1857)
In the 1850s, passengers and gold, in the form of coins, ingots, and nuggets, regularly traveled from California to New York, not over land, but by sea. Typically the route consisted of a side-wheel steamer from San Francisco to Panama, then across the cape via railroad, and then reloaded on a different side-wheel steamer from Panama to New York. The SS Central America, was a 280 foot side-wheel steamer that operated between Central America and the eastern coast of the U.S. at that time.
On September 3, 1857, 477 passengers and 101 crew members left a Panamanian port, with a one night stopover in Havana, Cuba, and then sailing for New York City, under the command of William Lewis Herndon. The ship was heavily laden with 10 to 15 tons of cargo and gold that was prospected during the California Gold Rush, which is how this ship picked-up the nickname, “Ship of Gold.” The $2.6 million dollars’ worth of gold onboard later would prove to have a numismatic value estimated at well over $100 million.
On September 9th, the ship was caught up in a Category 2 hurricane, while off the coast of the Carolinas. By September 11th, there were 105 mph winds and heavy surf, which shredded the sails, and swamped the ship, shutting down the boilers, about 200 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Only 153 survivors, primarily women and children, managed to make it in lifeboats.
On September 12, 1857, the Central America sunk in the hurricane two hundred miles off the Carolina Coast in 8,000 feet below the Atlantic, taking the lives of 425 men and over 4,700 pounds of California gold. This enormous loss shook public confidence in the economy and contributed to the “Panic of 1857.” The sinking of the SS Central America, known as “The Ship of Gold,” was one of the worst peacetime tragedies of men, ship, and gold lost at sea. It contributed to the deepest depression of the 19th Century both economically and emotionally.
