The SS Oregon
was built by John Elder & Company at the Fairfield Ship Builders
Yard, near Glasgow, Scotland, for Stephen Barker Guion who owned the
‘American Lines’. The ship, constructed of iron, was one of
the
largest and fastest passenger liners of her time. The Oregon
measured
approximately 520 feet in length with a 40 foot beam. She weighed
7,375 tons and was originally capable of carrying approximately 1,400
passengers. From Harper's Weekly |
|
Chronology |
|
1883 | SS Oregon was
launched on 21 June, Glasgow, Scotland. |
1883 | Maiden voyage from
Liverpool to New York completed in just over seven days. |
1884 |
Bankruptcy caused
Stephen Guion to return the Oregon to the
builders, who in turn sold her to the Cunard Steamship Company in
May. By the end of the year the Oregon held the
"Blue Riband" for both the fastest eastward and westward voyage between
Liverpool and New York. |
1885 | Used
by the British government as a dispatch vessel to support the Royal
Navy fleet from spring to the end of the summer. In November the Oregon returned
to her role as a passenger liner. |
1886 |
6 March departs Liverpool for New York under the captaincy of Philip Cottier with 205 crew members and just short of 650 passengers. |
Among the Oregon’s cargo were foodstuffs and cloth, building materials, valuables, and 598 bags of mail. The mail which originated from places such as the UK, Europe, the Mediterranean and Scandinavia, contained the Chignecto Marine Railway Transport Company’s contract that had been signed by the British shareholders, and was on its way to Canada. The Oregon was thought to be hit by the schooner Charles H. Morse in the early hours of 14 March. Crew members attempted to patch the three holes made on the port side of the Oregon with sail cloth but to no avail. Four hours after the collision, the pilot boat Phantom arrived to assist the Oregon, followed by the schooner Fannie A. Gorham and the German liner Fulda. Eight hours after the collision, the SS Oregon sank. There were no fatalities on the SS Oregon, but the schooner Charles H. Morse and the nine people aboard were not seen again. There is still controversy about the sinking of the Oregon as so little remained of the schooner with which it presumably collided. |