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{|{{Infobox ship begin|display title=''Royal Tar'' fire}} <!-- age of sail -->
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Steamboat disasters and railroad accidents in the United States - to which is appended accounts of recent shipwrecks, fires at sea, thrilling incidents, etc. (1840) (14738302046).jpg
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Canada
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Maine}} - {{shipboxflag|NB}}
|Ship name=PSS ''Royal Tar''
|Ship owner=John Hammond, Daniel McLaughlin and Mackay Brothers & Co.
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= William and Isaac Olive, Carleton	
|Ship original cost= abt. $40,000
|Ship laid down=[[Carleton, New Brunswick|Carleton]] (St. John, NB)
|Ship launched=November 1835
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship route=St. John, Eastport and Portland, Maine
|Ship fate= Burned and sank October 25, 1836
|Ship status= Sunk off [[Vinalhaven Island]], Maine
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Coastal trading vessel|Coastal steamer]]
|Ship tons burthen=400
|Ship length= {{convert|160|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|24|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft=
|Ship speed= {{convert|8|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship sail plan=[[Schooner]]-rigged
|Ship complement=21
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''''Royal Tar'' fire''' was a ship fire, in 1836, in which the passenger [[steamship]] ''Royal Tar'' caught fire and burned, while transporting a [[circus]] with its animals.
[[File:The tragedy of the seas; or, Sorrow on the ocean, lake, and river, from shipwreck, plague, fire and famine (1841) (14590893110).jpg|thumb|Wreck of ''Royal Tar'']]

==Ship career==
''Royal Tar'' was the first steamer on the route between St. John, Eastport and Portland, Maine. It was built at the shipyard of William and Isaac Olive, Carleton, and launched in November 1835.

==Last voyage==
On sailing from its berth at Peter's wharf, Eastport on October 21, the ship had a crew of 21, and 70 passengers, including a number of women and children. The passenger list was larger than usual, as it had the members of a [[menagerie]], ''Burgess and Dexter's Zoological Institute'',<ref>{{cite news|last=Phillips|first=Fred H.|title=On Rail, By Ship ... The Circus Came To Town|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Zjk_AAAAIBAJ&pg=4188,4386330&dq=october+1836+royal-tar&hl=en|access-date=6 October 2013|newspaper=Windsor Star|date=Jul 22, 1969|location=Fredericton|page=9}}</ref> managed by a Mr. Fuller. The animals included an elephant, two camels, and a variety of captive beasts and birds. There was also a large waxwork exhibit and a huge show wagon called an [[omnibus]], as well as wagons required for carrying the cages, with the horses needed to pull them. Two of the ship's four [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]] were offloaded to make room for the animals.

There was heavy weather along the coast in the latter part of October 1836, and when ''Royal Tar'' left Eastport on the evening of  October 21, the wind was blowing so hard from the westward that the steamer put into [[Little River (Maine)|Little River]] (near [[Cutler, Maine|Cutler]]) for safety. The gale continued for three days, but on the afternoon of October 24, another attempt was made to resume the voyage. Finding a heavy sea outside and the wind still from the westward, the steamer put into [[Machias Bay]] and again came to anchor, remaining until midnight, when the wind shifted to the northwest and the voyage was again resumed.

===Fire===
At about 1:30 on the afternoon of October 25, the engineer reported that the water had been allowed to get too low in the boiler. On hearing this report, the captain ordered the engine stopped and the safety valve opened, the steamer being brought to anchor about {{convert|1+1/2|mi|km}} from the Fox Islands, in [[Penobscot Bay]]. The fire in the furnace was extinguished, but in about a half hour, the steamer was found to be on fire under the deck over the boiler, near the animal cages. An effort was made to extinguish the flames by means of a hose attached to the pump, but it proved fruitless. The fire spread rapidly and soon consumed the firefighting equipment.

===Rescue===
The ship only had two lifeboats remaining. Captain Reed and two of the crew, lowered the small boat at the stern and got into it, in order to prepare rafts and save as many people as possible. Sixteen able-bodied men lowered the second and larger boat and rowed away, until they reached [[Isle au Haut, Maine|Isle au Haut]].

The steamer endeavored to make for the nearest land. Captain Reed stood by with the boat, and as the terrified passengers began to jump overboard, was able to save several lives. Of the animals, only the two horses survived.

The fire was seen by the US [[revenue cutter]] ''Veto'', which reached the scene half an hour later. The schooner's boats were small and of little use to the rescue. Captain Reed and his men, however, used their boat to rescue about 40 more persons.

Despite their efforts, 32 lives were lost.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dreadful Disaster – Steamer Royal Tar Burnt! – Thirty - two Lives Lost!|url=http://archives.gnb.ca/Documents/IrishPortal/Newspapers/0461.pdf|access-date=14 May 2013|newspaper=The Courier|date=October 29, 1836}}</ref>

===Aftermath===

On November 12, a schooner arriving at Portland reported having passed the remains of a burned steamer near [[Cashes Ledge|Cash's Ledge]]. A traveler's trunk, with about $90 in it was picked up at sea. This was the only trace of the ship recovered, although debris was later spotted.

Four men, nine women and ten children were lost. Several of the men became well known locally in the later years, including Andrew Garrison, Captain John Hammond, John Ansley, George Eaton, James H. Fowler, and W. H. Harrison. Stinson Patten, of Fredericton, and J. T. Sherwood, British consul at Portland, were also among the saved. The passengers continued on to Portland.<ref>{{cite news|last=French|first=Winifred|title=Flaming Death of The Royal Tar|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rjtlAAAAIBAJ&pg=1962,3267781&dq=october+1836+royal-tar&hl=en|access-date=6 October 2013|newspaper=[[The Quoddy Tides]]|date=Oct 23, 1970|department=Across Your Editor's Desk|page=4}}</ref>

The ship was uninsured and the total loss was estimated at about $100,000. The captain, with others of the crew, reached St. John on the following Saturday, where he learned that his son had died on the same day as the fire.

Captain Reed became harbormaster of St. John in 1841, and died in August 1860. For a number of years it was the custom of the St. John men who survived the disaster to take supper together on the anniversary of the fire.

==Treasure==

The ship's safe, containing a large number of gold and silver coins, was forgotten during the rescue attempt. Subsequent efforts to find either the wreckage or the safe have proven fruitless.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jameson|first=W.C.|title=Buried treasures of New England : legends of hidden riches, forgotten war loots, and lost ship treasures|year=1998|publisher=August House Publishers|location=Little Rock, Ark.|isbn=0874834856|pages=21–24|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rVSUVR2wI2cC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=Royal+Tar+fire#v=onepage|chapter=The Royal Tar Tragedy}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Warner|first=Mark|title=The Tragedy of the Royal Tar: Maine's 1836 Circus Steamboat Disaster|publisher=Warner Publishing Newcastle, Maine|location=Newcastle, Maine|pages=119 pages|no-pp=yes|url=http://www.workingwaterfront.com/articles/The-Tragedy-of-the-Royal-Tar-Maines-1836-Circus-Steamboat-Disaster/13887/|year=2010|isbn=978-0966138238}}
* {{cite book|last=Van Dusen|first=Chris|title=The Circus Ship|publisher=Candlewick Press|year=2009|pages=40 pages|isbn=978-0763630904|no-pp=yes}}
* {{cite book|last=Stone|first=Bruce|title=Autumn of the Royal Tar|year=1995|publisher=Laura Geringer Book|location=New York|isbn=0060214929|pages=[https://archive.org/details/autumnofroyaltar0000ston/page/168 168 pages]|edition=1st|no-pp=yes|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/autumnofroyaltar0000ston/page/168}} 
* {{cite news|title=The Loss Of The Royal Tar. Story Of One Of New Brunswick's Worst Sea Disasters|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=37&dat=19030831&id=8P8HAAAAIBAJ&pg=4972,5423253|access-date=14 May 2013|newspaper=St. John Daily Sun|date=Aug 31, 1903|page=7}}
* {{cite web|last=silverseas94|title=A Lesser Known Wreck|url=http://shiprex.net/2012/11/09/a-lesser-known-wreck/|work=Shiprex|access-date=14 May 2013|date=November 9, 2012}}
* {{cite AV media|title=The Royal Tar|people=[[Schooner Fare]] | medium= MP3 Music|work=Our Maine Songs|date=June 15, 1999
|publisher= Outer Green Records|ASIN= B004LEPO3E}}
* {{cite news|last=Swartz|first=Brian|title=The Day The Circus Went Down With The Ship|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4x8zAAAAIBAJ&pg=4238,242512&dq=october+1836+royal-tar&hl=en|access-date=6 October 2013|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=Mar 16, 1993|pages=2–3B}}
* {{cite book|title=Unexpected Circus|year=1939|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/08/27/archives/the-new-books-for-younger-readers-unexpected-circus-an-indiscreet.html}}
* {{cite news|title=LONG-REMEMBERED SHIPWRECK.|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/502067655.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jun%209,%201912&author=&pub=Boston%20Daily%20Globe&edition=&startpage=&desc=LONG-REMEMBERED%20SHIPWRECK.|access-date=6 October 2013|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=Jun 9, 1912|department=Sunday Magazine|page=4}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.wreckhunter.net/DataPages/royaltar-dat.htm Royal Tar] Wreckhunter.net Hunting New England Shipwrecks
* [http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?18097 PSS Royal Tar (+1836)] Wrecksite

{{1836 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Maine}}

[[Category:Ship fires]]
[[Category:1832 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in New Brunswick]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Maine coast]]
[[Category:Paddle steamers]]
[[Category:Steamships of Canada]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1836]]
[[Category:Circuses]]
[[Category:Circus disasters]]