View source for SS Vesta

{{Short description|French iron screw steamer (1853–1875)}}
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|Ship caption= Rudimentary sketch of the Vesta after the Disaster
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|Ship name=SS ''Vesta''
|Ship owner=*1853–1855 Société Terreneuvienne<ref name = Paine/>
*1855–1863 Compagnie Générale Maritime<ref name=Brown/>
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|Ship name=''Amberes''
|Ship owner=1863–1875 J Amann<ref name=Brown/>
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|Ship fate=Sunk in [[Santander, Spain|Santander]] harbour 1875<ref name=Brown/>
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|Ship tonnage={{GRT|250}}<ref name = Paine/>
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|Ship length={{convert|152|feet|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}<ref name = Paine/>
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'''SS ''Vesta''''' was a propeller-driven fishing vessel 250 gross tons, built in 1853 at [[Nantes]], France, by Hernoux et Cie of [[Dieppe]] for the Société Terreneuvienne of [[Granville, Manche|Granville]] in [[Normandy]].<ref name = Paine/> The company had extensive fishing interests in the [[Grand Banks]] area off [[Newfoundland]], which it operated from a base in [[Saint Pierre Island]].<ref>Shaw, pp. 102–03</ref> On 27 September 1854 ''Vesta'' was eastbound with a crew of 50, returning 147 fisherman and salters home. In a heavy fog, ''Vesta'' collided with the [[Collins Line]] passenger paddle steamer [[SS Arctic|SS ''Arctic'']].<ref>Brown, pp. 41–44</ref>  A {{convert|3|m|ft|0|abbr=off|adj=on|spell=on}} section of ''Vesta''{{'}}s bow was sheared off, but the watertight bulkhead behind the bow remained intact and kept out the sea, keeping the vessel afloat.<ref name = Paine>Paine, p. 545</ref>

The much larger ''Arctic'', which initially had appeared to have sustained only superficial damage, had been fatally holed below the waterline. Lacking watertight compartments, the hull filled with water and the ship sank, four hours later, with great loss of life.<ref>Flayhart, pp. 26–30</ref> By contrast, the only casualties from ''Vesta''{{'}}s  crew and passengers were about a dozen who precipitately left the ship in a lifeboat, which was then accidentally run down by the ''Arctic''.<ref>Shaw, pp. 121–22</ref>

After the collision, ''Vesta''{{'}}s  captain, Alphonse Duchesne, brought the ship slowly to [[St John's, Newfoundland]], which she reached on 29 September, and was repaired.<ref>Flayhart, p. 34</ref> On 20 March 1855 ''Vesta'' sailed for home, and was forced into Liverpool after fighting ice and storms for 17 days.<ref name = Paine/> Later that year she was sold to the Compagnie Générale Maritime of [[Le Havre]], and after further changes of ownership, passed in 1863 to J Amann of [[Bilbao]] and was renamed ''Amberes''. She was used as a freighter, generally working between northern Spanish ports and [[Antwerp]]. In 1875, the shipping registers reported her as sunk  in [[Santander, Spain|Santander]] harbour.<ref name=Brown>Brown, pp. 158–59</ref>

==See also==
*[[SS Arctic disaster|SS ''Arctic'' disaster]]

==Notes and references==
;Citations
{{reflist }}
;Sources
*A.C. Brown: ''Women and Children Last''. Frederick Muller, London 1962 {{ISBN?}}
*William H Flayhart: ''Perils of the Atlantic: Steamship Disasters, 1850 to the Present''. W.W. Norton, New York 2003 {{ISBN?}}
*Lincoln P Paine:  ''Ships of the World:  An Historical Encyclopedia''.  Houghton Mifflin, Boston 1997 {{ISBN?}}
*David W Shaw: ''The Sea Shall Embrace Them''. The Free Press, New York 2002 {{ISBN?}}

{{1854 shipwrecks}}
{{1875 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vesta}}
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1854]]
[[Category:Ships built in France]]
[[Category:1853 ships]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of France]]
[[Category:Steamships of France]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1875]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of Spain]]
[[Category:Steamships of Spain]]