RMS Republic

1909

Nantucket, the first CQD Location: North Atlantic, ~50 nmi S of Nantucket · Coordinates: 40.42°N 69.98°W · Casualties: 6 · Survivors: ~1,650 · Depth: 75 m · Cause: collision — Rammed in thick fog by the Italian liner SS Florida at 05:40 on 23 January 1909, fifty nautical miles south of Nantucket Lightship. Held afloat overnight; wireless operator Jack Binns tapped out the first CQD distress call ever transmitted at sea. Rescue ships took off all but six of the passengers before she sank the following evening under tow. · Fate: continental shelf · salvaged · Type: passenger liner · White Star Line · Tonnage: 15,378 tons · Crew: 300 · Flag: United Kingdom · Launched: 1903 White Star Line transatlantic liner, New York to Mediterranean, rammed in fog off Nantucket by the Italian liner Florida at 05:40 on 23 January 1909. Wireless operator Jack Binns tapped out the first CQD distress call ever sent at sea; the signal was received at Siasconset and relayed to rescue ships hours before the Republic finally went down. Six dead. The incident turned the wireless into the indispensable safety instrument of the twentieth century. The Vessel The RMS Republic was a White Star Line transatlantic passenger liner, built at the Harland & Wolff yard at Belfast between 1902 and 1903 and launched on 26 February 1903. She was 175 metres long, 15,378 gross tons, and powered by twin quadruple-expansion steam engines developing a combined 14,000 horsepower. Her design was a White Star Line "intermediate" liner: a step between the smaller Atlantic steamers of the 1890s and the subsequent Olympic-class superliners of 1911-1914. She was, at her commissioning in 1903, among the most technologically advanced passenger liners on the North Atlantic. Her accommodation configuration was approximately 225 first-class, 250 second-class, and 2,000 third-class (steerage) passengers, plus a crew of 300. Her commercial operation was the New York to Boston to Mediterranean run: a combination service carrying North American emigrant returns to southern Europe and affluent American tourists to Mediterranean port visits. Her specific claim to technological distinction was the installation of Marconi wireless telegraphy equipment, among the first passenger liners to carry this then-novel communication technology. In January 1909, Republic's Marconi operator was Jack Binns, 25, a trained Marconi wireless officer. Binns's specific technical competence would prove to be decisive in the subsequent disaster. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Inman Sealby, 50, an experienced career officer of the White Star Line. Her complement on 23 January The Disaster At approximately 05:42 on 23 January 1909, Florida emerged from the fog approximately 400 metres to the starboard bow of Republic, sailing at approximately 15 knots on a converging course. The two ships were on a collision bearing; the closing rate was approximately 35 kilometres per hour. Captain Sealby of Republic ordered full reverse to the engines and hard left rudder; Captain Angelo Ruspini of Florida similarly ordered emergency engine and rudder manoeuvres. Neither captain had sufficient reaction time to avoid the collision. At approximately 05:45 on 23 January 1909, SS Florida struck RMS Republic on the port quarter at approximately 4 knots relative impact speed. Florida's reinforced bow penetrated approximately 8 metres into Republic's hull, opening a breach approximately 12 metres long through Republic's port side amidships. The impact location was immediately below the first-class dining saloon; three passengers and three crew members were killed in the collision itself. The two ships separated after the collision. Florida was substantially damaged at her bow but was not in immediate sinking danger; her bow bulkhead had held, and her forward watertight compartments were flooding but containable. Republic, however, was holed below the waterline and taking on water at a rate that her pumps could not possibly address. The flooding extended through her port-side double-bottom into her engine-room, which began to flood progressively. The specific and historically-signifi