Le SS Princess Alice est l'un des naufrages les plus déchirants de l'histoire, et il ne reçoit pas l'attention qu'il mérite. En 1878, ce bateau à aubes transportant des passagers naviguait le long de la Tamise à Londres lorsqu'il entra en collision avec un navire plus grand, le Bywell Castle, se brisant en quelques minutes. Tragiquement, plus de 600 personnes périrent, beaucoup parce que l'eau était fortement polluée par des eaux usées brutes, rendant la survie presque impossible. Des familles parties pour une agréable soirée se retrouvèrent soudainement prises dans un désastre horrifiant qui dévasta la ville. La tragédie provoqua une indignation publique, incitant à des améliorations de la sécurité fluviale et du contrôle de la pollution. Bien que moins célèbre que le Titanic, l'histoire de la Princess Alice est tout aussi saisissante et importante à se remémorer. Animation créée par Sympa.
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FunTranscript
00:00If I asked you to name the most famous wreck of all time, you would think of the Titanic, wouldn't you?
00:07The Atlantic Ocean, the hope of a new life, heartbreaking love stories.
00:12It had everything to become a hit at the box office.
00:15But I guess you've never heard of the SS Princess Alice who sank in the dirty waters of the Thames, carrying with her between 600 and 700 lives.
00:24Life in Victorian London of the 19th century was not easy, especially for the middle class.
00:29Affordable public transport and holidays made things a little easier.
00:34People could escape to the coast by train or boat, even if it was only for a day.
00:43Sheerness on Sheppey Island in Kent started as a fort under Henry Wheat, then turned into an animated city with a shipyard.
00:51When they added a station in 1863, it became a destination of choice for tourists and holidaymakers.
00:58Walks by the sea, charming throws and a whole bunch of fun activities to do by the sea, everything was there.
01:05A little inside the land along the Thames, there were the Rocherville Gardens.
01:10These gardens included arched lawns, ball fields, labyrinths, lakes, walks on the cliffs and even a floral bazaar.
01:19In addition, there was a aviary, a bear pit and the skeleton of a lost whale that had taken a bad turn in the Thames.
01:27Londoners of the late 19th century could get on a train or sail along the Thames by boat, and these two options were quite popular.
01:35But on September 3, 1878, many more people than usual chose the boat.
01:41They preferred this option on the railway after a passenger train collided with goods wagons in Kent, costing the lives of 5 people.
01:50The river seemed to be a safer way to travel.
01:54One of the ships available for the trip was the SS Princess Alice.
01:59The boat at Haube was launched for the first time in 1865 on the west coast of Scotland.
02:05Its original name was Le Butte, and it was used as a ferry for the passengers of the Weymouth Bay Railway Company.
02:12A few years later, it was sold and renamed after the third child of Queen Victoria.
02:18Then it was sold again and got the nickname of the Cat's Boat, because it transported the Persian cat on the Thames to Greenwich in 1873.
02:28The ship had undergone several modifications throughout its life.
02:31It had received new boilers and watertight locks.
02:34The trade office had inspected it and judged it safe.
02:38The year of its last trip, it was officially allowed to transport up to 936 passengers between London and Gravesend in a calm manner.
02:50On the day of the tragedy, the Princess Alice took part in what was called a Moonlight Walk,
02:55descending from Swan Pier near London Bridge to Sheerness in the Kent and back.
03:01The trip was not expensive, so most of the passengers were from the working class.
03:06There was also a fanfare on board to cheer people up.
03:10September 3 was a bright day, and many families were eager to enjoy the last rays of sun in the summer and the fresh air of the sea.
03:18The owner of the ship at the time, the London Steamboat Company, had several ships operating on the road.
03:25Passengers were free to get on and off different ships.
03:29Around 6.30 p.m., after a beautiful day at sea, the SS Princess Alice headed for Swan Pier.
03:36No one had an official list of passengers, so we will never know exactly how many people were on board that night.
03:43But it seems that the steamboat was almost at full capacity.
03:47As darkness and freshness settled in, many families decided to stay inside the lounge or in their cabins below.
03:56Some stories about steam are similar to fate.
03:59The captain of the Princess Alice left his pilot at Gravesend and replaced him with one of the passengers.
04:05John Ayres was a sailor, but he had little experience on the Thames or with a ship like the Princess Alice.
04:12Alfred Thomas Merriman, a chef from eastern London, had been asked to work on the steamboat at the last minute.
04:19He was 30 and the father of four children, so he could not refuse an additional income.
04:24Around 7.40 p.m., he was standing on the bridge near the lounge door.
04:29At that moment, the Princess Alice had passed Tripcock Point and entered Galleon's Reach.
04:34Passengers could see the dock of North Woolwich in the distance.
04:38Many of them planned to land at this stop.
04:41It was then that Merriman noticed a huge ship carrying coal.
04:46It was the Bywell Castle.
04:48This ship normally transported coal to Africa, but it had just been repainted in a radobe basin.
04:55The Bywell Castle was heading for Newcastle to take coal and transport it to Alexandria in Egypt.
05:01The captain of the ship, Harrison, was not very familiar with his waters.
05:06So he called Christopher Dix, a seasoned pilot from the Thames, to lend him a hand, even if he was not obliged to.
05:13The ship had a part of the bow raised above the deck, and Dix could not really see what was in front of him.
05:19So they had a sailor in charge of the watch.
05:22Using Millwall at a speed of 5 knots, they tried to stay in the middle of the river, but other boats had other plans.
05:31When they approached Bay of Galleon Reach, Dix saw the red light at the bottom of Princess Alice, heading towards them but planning to go right.
05:42At the same time, Greensteed, the captain of Princess Alice, was going against the current of the river, trying to find calm waters on the south side.
05:50He adjusted his cap, heading along the Bywell Castle.
05:54The two crews realized that they were heading for a collision.
05:58Dix tried to move away, and even ordered to reverse the engines at full speed, but it was too late.
06:09The Bywell Castle collided head-on with Princess Alice, who was much smaller, weighing less than a third of the 890 tons of coal-carrying coal.
06:18He cut the steam in half.
06:21As Merriman remembered later, the laughter on board immediately turned into screams and panic.
06:28Some people rushed to the bridge to secure themselves.
06:32Merriman hurried to see the captain, asking what to do next.
06:37The captain's answer was gloomy.
06:39We are sinking quickly, do your best.
06:43The ends of the steamboat rose high in the air, and the environment darkened, dragging the passengers with it.
06:51The unfortunate people who were under the bridge were tragically trapped.
06:55The impact caused the eruption of tons of unused water from the exits near the collision site.
07:01The water became an emaciated mass of untreated waste, releasing a horrible smell.
07:06It was powerful enough to make even the most resistant sailors vomit.
07:11In the midst of the chaos, the passengers struggled to survive in the contaminated water.
07:15They inhaled dangerous waste without knowing it.
07:19The crew on board the Bywell Castle immediately activated.
07:22They threw ropes from their bridges, exhorting Princess Alice's passengers to get on board.
07:27All that could float, tonneau boards, were thrown into the water to serve as a floating device for those in need.
07:34Other members of their team launched a rescue channel, saving 14 people.
07:39The neighboring boats, moored along the banks, joined the mission, rescuing the survivors from the water.
07:48Many of Princess Alice's passengers did not know how to swim,
07:51and it was even more difficult for the ladies wearing long, heavy dresses.
07:55Merryman was one of the lucky ones who knew how to swim.
07:58He first hung on to a piece of wreckage, then, when others arrived,
08:03he moved away to swim and clung to a rope hanging on the side of the Bywell Castle.
08:08They managed to save about 130 people in this way.
08:12Another survivor was Robert Haynes, who played in Princess Alice's orchestra.
08:17He loved ships very much, and had noticed the Bywell Castle a few minutes before the collision.
08:22He chose not to follow the rest of the orchestra,
08:25who descended to take a break, and that saved his life.
08:28Princess Alice's twin ship, the Duke of Teck, arrived 10 minutes too late to assist in the rescue efforts.
08:35Only two people, who were under the bridge or in the living room, managed to survive the collision.
08:41We still do not know the total number of lives lost that day, but it is between 650 and 700.
08:48And what makes this story even more tragic, is that it was largely forgotten.