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| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Pacific |
| Namesake | Pacific Ocean |
| Operator | Collins Line |
| Route | New York-Liverpool |
| Builder | Brown & Bell, New York |
| Cost | $700,000 |
| Launched | 1 Feb 1849 |
| Maiden voyage | 25 May 1850 |
| Honors and awards | Blue Riband holder, 21 Sep 1850–16 Aug 1851 |
| Fate | Lost with all aboard under unknown circumstances, possibly sunk by iceberg, January 1856 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger ship |
| Tonnage | 2,707 gross register tons |
| Length | 281 ft (85.6 m) |
| Beam | 45 ft (13.7 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × 95-inch cylinder (2.4 m), 9-foot stroke (2.7 m) side-lever engines, auxiliary sails |
| Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
| Capacity | Passengers: 200 1st class, 80 2nd class |
| Crew | 141 |
SS Pacific was a wooden-hulled, sidewheel steamer built in 1849 for transatlantic service with the American Collins Line. Designed to outclass their chief rivals from the British-owned Cunard Line, Pacific and her three sister ships (Atlantic, Arctic and Baltic) were the largest, fastest and most well-appointed transatlantic steamers of their day.
Pacific's career began on a high note when she set a new transatlantic speed record in her first year of service. However, after only five years in operation, the ship, with her entire complement of almost 200 passengers and crew, vanished without a trace during a voyage from Liverpool to New York City, which began on 23 January 1856. As of 2023[update] Pacific's fate is not known. A message in a bottle found on the remote island of Uist within the Hebrides in 1861 declared her sunk by icebergs.[1]
- ^ "Reminisecence of the Lost Steamship Pacific.; INTERESTING STATEMENT". The New York Times. London Shipping Gazette. 1861-08-07. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
Our readers may have observed recently, amongst our maritime extracts, the copy of the contents of a slip of paper, found in a bottle some weeks ago, on the western coast of Uls, in the Hebrides, and forwarded to us by our agent at Sternoway. The paper in question, apparently the leaf of a pocketbook, used in the hurry of the moment, was covered on both sides with pencil marks, from which the following was with difficulty deciphered: On board the Pacific, from L'pool to N. York. Ship going down. (Great) confusion on board. Icebergs around us on every side. I know I cannot escape. I write the cause of our loss, that friends may not live in suspense. The finder of this will please get it published, WM. GRAHAM. If we are right in our conjecture, the ship here named is the Pacific, one of the Collins line of steamers, which vessel left Liverpool on Jan. 23, 1856, three days before the Persia, and has not since been heard of; and this slip of paper, three inches by two, is probably the only record of the fate of that missing ship.