View source for SS Central America

{{short description|Sidewheel steamer ship}}
{{About|the ship|related uses|Central America (disambiguation)}}
{{use mdy dates |date=March 2022}}
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1857}}
|Ship name=''Central America''
|Ship operator=[[U.S. Mail Steamship Company|United States Mail Steamship Company]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[William H. Webb|Webb]] yard<ref name= Patch>[https://patch.com/virginia/herndon/remembering-herndons-history-s-s-george-law-0 Remembering Herndon's History: The S. S. George Law] (Patch.com, September 6, 2015)</ref>
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|Ship launched=October 1852<ref name= Patch />
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|Ship fate=Sank September 12, 1857
|Ship notes=
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|Ship tonnage={{convert|2141|LT}}<!--long tons used for ship tonnage-->
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|Ship length={{convert|278|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
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|Ship crew= Captain [[William Lewis Herndon]]
First Officer [[Charles W. van Rensselaer]]
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'''SS ''Central America''''', known as the '''Ship of Gold''', was a {{convert|280|ft|m|adj=on}} sidewheel [[steamship|steamer]] that operated between [[Central America]] and the [[East Coast of the United States]] during the 1850s. She was originally named the '''SS ''George Law''''', after [[George Law (financier)|George Law]] of New York. The ship sank in a hurricane in September 1857, along with 425 of her 578 passengers and crew and 30,000 pounds (13,600&nbsp;kg) of gold, contributing to the [[Panic of 1857]].

==Sinking==
On September 3, 1857, 477 passengers and 101 crew left the City of Aspinwall, now the [[Panama]]nian port of [[Colón, Panama|Colón]], sailing for [[New York City]] under the command of [[William Lewis Herndon]]. The ship was laden with {{convert|10|ST}} of [[gold]] prospected during the [[California Gold Rush]]. The ship continued north after a stop in [[Havana]].

{{storm path|1857 North Carolina hurricane track.png|caption=Hurricane path}}
On September 9, 1857, the ship was caught up in [[1857 Atlantic hurricane season#Hurricane Two|a Category 2 hurricane]] while off the coast of the [[Carolinas]]. By September 11, the {{convert|105|mph|km/h|round=5|abbr=on}} winds, and heavy seas had shredded her sails, she was taking on water, and her boiler was threatening to fail. A leak in a seal between a paddle wheel shaft and the ship's side sealed its fate. At noon that day, her boiler could no longer maintain fire. Steam pressure dropped, shutting down both the bilge pumps. Also, the paddle wheels that kept her pointed into the wind failed as the ship settled by the stern. The passengers and crew flew the ship's flag inverted (a distress sign in the US) to signal a passing ship. No one came.

[[File:Wreck of the Central America.jpg|thumb|A depiction of the sinking]]
A bucket brigade was formed, and her passengers and crew spent the night fighting a losing battle against the rising water. During the [[Eye (cyclone)|calm]] of the hurricane, attempts were made to get the boiler running again, but these failed. The second half of the storm then struck. The ship was on the verge of foundering. The storm carried the powerless ship, and the strong winds would not abate. The next morning, September 12, two ships were spotted, including the brig ''Marine''. Only 100 passengers, primarily women and children, were transferred in lifeboats. The ship remained in an area of intense winds and heavy seas that pulled her and most of her company away from rescue. ''Central America'' sank at 8:00 that evening, with a loss of 425 lives. A Norwegian bark, ''Ellen'', rescued an additional 50 from the waters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/~dj114/SS_Central_America.pdf |title=COLUMBUS-AMERICA DISCOVERY GROUP and the SS CENTRAL AMERICA |last= |first= |date= |website=columbia.edu |publisher= |access-date=10 November 2024 |quote=}}</ref> Another three were picked up over a week later in a lifeboat.
[[File:CMDR-Wm Lewis Herndon.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Commander [[William Lewis Herndon]]. U.S.N.]]

==Aftermath==
In the immediate aftermath of the sinking, the greatest attention was paid to the loss of life, which was described as "appalling" and as having "no parallel" among American navigation disasters.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2886840/steamship_disasters_from_journal_of/|title = Steamship Disasters|last = Staff|date = 6 November 1857|work = [[Olney Times]]|access-date = 2015-07-26|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|type = reprint from "Journal of Commerce"}}{{Open access}}</ref> At the time of her sinking, ''Central America'' carried gold then valued at approximately {{Currency|8 million}} (2021 value of $765&nbsp;million, based on a gold price of $1,738.70 per [[troy ounce]] = $56,087 per kg). The valuation of the ship itself was substantially more than those lost in other disasters of the period, being $140,000 ({{Inflation|US|140000|1857|fmt=eq|r=-4}}).<ref name=":0" />

Commander [[William Lewis Herndon]], a distinguished officer who had served during the [[Mexican–American War]] and explored the [[Valley of the Amazon|Amazon Valley]], was captain of ''Central America'' and went down with his ship. Two US Navy ships were later named [[USS Herndon|USS ''Herndon'']] in his honor, as was the town of [[Herndon, Virginia]]. Two years after the sinking, his daughter [[Nell Arthur | Ellen]] married [[Chester Alan Arthur]], later the 21st President of the United States.

==Wreck, gold, and artifacts==
===Thompson expedition===
====Discovery of wreck and recovery of gold and artifacts====
[[File:MonaLisaofthedepths.webp|thumb|A [[daguerreotype]] photograph of a young woman found in the wreck of the ship]]
The ship was located by the Columbus-America Discovery Group of Ohio, led by [[Tommy Gregory Thompson]], using [[Bayesian search theory]]. A [[remotely operated vehicle]] (ROV) was sent down on September 11, 1988.<ref>Kinder, Gary. "Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea". New York: ''Atlantic Monthly'', 1998. Print.</ref> Significant amounts of gold and artifacts were recovered and brought to the surface by another ROV built specifically for the recovery. The total value of the recovered gold was estimated at $100–150 million. A recovered gold ingot weighing {{convert|80|lb|kg|abbr=on}} sold for a record $8 million and was recognized as the most valuable piece of currency in the world at that time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Gold-Rush-brick-sells-for-8-million-80-pound-2860207.php|title=Gold Rush brick sells for $8 million / 80-pound ingot bought by executive|author=Anastasia Hendrix, Chronicle Staff Writer|date=9 November 2001|work=SFGate|accessdate=31 December 2015}}</ref>
The Columbus-America Discovery Group's eventual discovery of the wreckage may have been spurred on by initial interest by [[Harry John]], an heir to the [[Miller Brewing Company]] fortune who, near the end of his life launched unsuccessful, haphazard treasure hunts funded by a supposedly charitable foundation he had run for decades.<ref>{{cite news |title=Harry John was not your average American Catholic. |publisher=The Free Library|url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Harry+John+was+not+your+average+American+Catholic.-a013286023 |access-date=February 1, 2023}}</ref>

====Legal issues====
Thirty-nine insurance companies filed suit, claiming that they had the right to it because they paid damages in the 19th century for the lost gold. The team that found it argued that the gold had been abandoned. After a legal battle, 92% of the gold was awarded to the discovery team in 1996.<ref name=Myers>{{cite news|last1=Lee Myers|first1=Amanda|title=Feds chase treasure hunter turned fugitive|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/13/feds-chase-treasure-hunter-turned-fugitive/15578721/|accessdate=13 September 2014|agency=AP|work=USA Today|date=13 September 2014}}</ref>

Thompson was sued in 2005 by several investors who had provided $12.5 million in financing and 2006 by several crew members over a lack of returns for their respective investments. In 2009, he had an off-shore account in the Cook Islands of $4.16 million (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=4160000|start_year=2009}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).<ref name="dispatch.com">[https://www.dispatch.com/news/20181130/ The Columbus Dispatch, November 30, 2018]{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-06-13|title=The Curse of the Ship of Gold|url=https://narratively.com/the-curse-of-the-ship-of-gold/|access-date=2021-08-09|website=Narratively|language=en-US}}</ref> Thompson went into hiding in 2012.<ref name=Myers /><ref name=Gray>{{cite news |last1=Gray |first1=Kathy |title=Judge appoints receiver in gold-ship lawsuit |url=http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/05/28/gold-ship-receivership.html |accessdate=13 September 2014 |work=[[The Columbus Dispatch]] |date=29 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=September 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913213849/http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2013/05/28/gold-ship-receivership.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="BBC 2015">{{cite news|title=US fugitive treasure hunter appears in Florida court|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31039492|accessdate=30 January 2015|agency=BBC News|publisher=BBC|date=29 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="WaPo 2015">{{cite news|last=Phillip |first=Abby |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/30/how-treasure-hunter-tommy-thompson-one-of-the-smartest-fugitives-ever-was-caught/ |title=How treasure hunter Tommy Thompson, 'one of the smartest fugitives ever,' was caught |newspaper=The Washington Post |accessdate=2015-12-31}}</ref> A [[receivership|receiver]] was appointed to take over Thompson's companies and, if possible, salvage more gold from the wreck,<ref name=Gray /> in order to recover money for Thompson's various creditors.<ref name=Myers />

Thompson was located in January 2015, along with assistant Alison Antekeier, by [[United States Marshals Service]] agents and was extradited to Ohio to provide an accounting of the expedition profits.<ref name="BBC 2015" /><ref name="WaPo 2015" /> In November 2018, Thompson agreed to surrender 500 gold coins but then claimed he had no access to the missing coins.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dispatch.com/news/20181117/treasure-hunter-tommy-thompson-testifies-that-he-doesnt-have-access-to-missing-gold-coins |title=The Columbus Dispatch, November 17, 2018 |access-date=November 17, 2018 |archive-date=November 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117160946/https://www.dispatch.com/news/20181117/treasure-hunter-tommy-thompson-testifies-that-he-doesnt-have-access-to-missing-gold-coins |url-status=dead }}{{subscription required}}</ref> On November 28, 2018, a jury awarded investors $19.4 million in compensatory damages: $3.2 million to the Dispatch Printing Company — which had put up $1 million of $22 million invested — and $16.2 million to the court-appointed receiver for the other investors.<ref name="dispatch.com"/>{{failed verification|date=December 2018}}

===Subsequent events===

In March 2014, a contract was awarded to [[Odyssey Marine Exploration]] to conduct archeological recovery and conservation of the remaining shipwreck.<ref>{{cite news | title=Odyssey Marine Exploration to salvage gold from 1857 shipwreck | date=5 May 2014 | work=[[Tampa Bay Times]] | url=http://www.tampabay.com/news/nation/odyssey-marine-exploration-to-salvage-gold-from-1857-shipwreck/2178347 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506045810/http://www.tampabay.com/news/nation/odyssey-marine-exploration-to-salvage-gold-from-1857-shipwreck/2178347 | archive-date=6 May 2014 }}</ref> The original expedition excavated only 5 percent of the ship, according to a court-appointed receiver.<ref name=Myers />

Universal Coin & Bullion, a precious metals dealer based in [[Beaumont, Texas]], exhibited gold and silver coins recovered from ''Central America'' in May 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=$5+ Million Historic Gold Rush Sunken Treasure Display In Dallas |url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/_5_million_historic_gold_rush_sunken_treasure_display_in_dallas/prweb15434482.htm |publisher=PR Web |date=April 30, 2018}}</ref>

[[Heritage Auctions]] sold several gold pieces recovered from the ''Central America'' at auction in 2019, highlighted by the considerable size of the 174.04-ounce (4.93&nbsp;kg){{discuss|unsourced inference of units}} Harris, Marchand & Co. gold ingot which sold for $528,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=528000|start_year=2019}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=Numismatic News|title=Gold ingot tops Heritage's Long Beach sale|url=https://www.numismaticnews.net/us-coins/gold-ingot-tops-heritages-long-beach-sale|access-date=2021-08-09|website=Numismatic News|date=February 22, 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

''Central America''′s {{convert|268|lb|adj=on}} [[ship's bell]]<ref name=usnabell>{{cite news |title=USNA Gifted Recovered Bell From Fabled "Ship of Gold" |url=https://www.usna.edu/NewsCenter/2022/05/USNA_Gifted_Recovered_Bell_From_Fabled_Ship_of_Gold.ph |publisher=MEDIARELATIONS@USNA.EDU |date=May 23, 2022 |access-date=August 19, 2022}}</ref><ref name=coinnewsbell>{{cite news |title=Fabled Sunken Treasure Ship's Bell Donated to US Naval Academy |url=https://www.coinnews.net/2022/05/24/fabled-sunken-treasure-ships-bell-donated-to-us-naval-academy/ |publisher=coinnews.net |date=May 24, 2022 |access-date=August 19, 2022}}</ref><ref name=coinworldbell>{{cite news |title=Manley donates bell recovered from 1857 shipwreck |last=Bullfinch |first=Chris|url=https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-coins/manley-donates-bell-recovered-from-1857-shipwreck |publisher=Coin World |date=May 27, 2022 |access-date=August 19, 2022}}</ref> — larger than most ship′s bells of its time at {{convert|2|ft|1}} tall and a little over {{convert|2|ft|1}} wide at its lower [[flange]] edge<ref name=usnabell/><ref name=coinnewsbell/> and embossed with "MORGAN IRON WORKS" and "NEW YORK 1853"<ref name=coinworldbell/> — was discovered in her wreck in 1988.<ref name=usnabell/><ref name=coinnewsbell/> It was displayed publicly at the [[Columbus Museum of Art]] in [[Columbus, Ohio|Columbus]], [[Ohio]], in 1992;<ref name=coinworldbell/> at the [[Columbus Zoo and Aquarium]] in [[Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio|Liberty Township]] in [[Delaware County, Ohio|Delaware County]], Ohio, in 1993;<ref name=coinworldbell/> and at the [[American Numismatic Association]]′s World′s Fair of Money in [[Rosemont, Illinois|Rosemont]], [[Illinois]], in 2021.<ref name=coinworldbell/> It was offered as a gift to the [[United States Naval Academy]] in [[Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis]], [[Maryland]], in August 2021,<ref name=coinnewsbell/><ref name=coinworldbell/> and the [[United States Department of the Navy]] accepted the offer.<ref name=coinnewsbell/> It was positioned next to the [[Herndon Monument]] at the Academy<ref name=usnabell/> and was dedicated in a ceremony on May 23, 2022.<ref name=usnabell/><ref name=coinnewsbell/><ref name=coinworldbell/>

==See also==
Other successful treasure recoveries include:
* [[Nuestra Señora de Atocha|''Nuestra Señora de Atocha'' (1622)]]
* [[SS Georgiana|SS ''Georgiana'' (1865)]]
* [[SS Republic (1853)|SS ''Republic'' (1865)]]
* [[RMS Republic (1903)|RMS ''Republic'' (1903)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Gary Kinder (author)|Kinder, Gary]]. (1998). ''Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea''. Atlantic Monthly Press. {{ISBN|0-87113-717-8}}
* Thompson, Tommy. (2000). ''America's Lost Treasure''. Atlantic Monthly Press. {{ISBN|0-87113-732-1}}
* Klare, Norman. (1991 and 2005). ''The Final Voyage of the Central America, 1857: The Saga of a Gold Rush Steamship''. {{ISBN|0-87062-210-2}} and {{ISBN|0-9764403-0-X}}
* Stone, Lawrence D. [http://www.metsci.com/Portals/0/Search%20for%20the%20SS%20Central%20America%20-%20Mathematical%20Treasure%20Hunting%20-%20Interfaces%2022,%201%20Jan.%20-Feb.%201992.pdf ''Search for the SS Central America: Mathematical Treasure Hunting''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041106/http://www.metsci.com/Portals/0/Search%20for%20the%20SS%20Central%20America%20-%20Mathematical%20Treasure%20Hunting%20-%20Interfaces%2022,%201%20Jan.%20-Feb.%201992.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }}. Technical Report, Metron Inc. Reston, Virginia.
* Concepción de León, New York Times, Dec. 19, 2020: [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/us/tommy-thompson-gold-treasure-hunter.html Treasure Hunter Notches 5th Year in Prison for Refusing to Forfeit His Loot]

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Central America (ship, 1852)}}
*[http://www.klaretaylorpublishers.com Final Voyage of the ''Central America'' by Normand E. Klare 1982 Second Edition] 
*[http://www.sscentralamerica.com America's Lost Treasure: The Wreck of the SS ''Central America''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814010544/http://www.sscentralamerica.com/ |date=August 14, 2019 }}
*[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96509552/ The Central America Engulphed (sic) in the Ocean]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051218050924/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Wrecks/centralamerica.html Wreck of the ''Central America'']
*[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1857/09/23/78506576.pdf "The Central America: Further of the Disaster", New York Times, 23 Sept 1857]
*::– "Detailed and Very Interesting Statement of Captain Badger" and "Protest of the Surviving Officers"
*[http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdeadly.shtml NOAA list of deadliest hurricanes]
* http://www.wncrocks.com/ARCTIC%20DISCOVERER.html

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{{List of Ships Built by William H. Webb}}{{1857 shipwrecks}}

{{Authority control}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Central America}}
[[Category:1852 ships]]
[[Category:1857 meteorology]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1857]]
[[Category:1988 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Carolina coast]]
[[Category:Treasure from shipwrecks]]
[[Category:California Gold Rush]]
[[Category:Paddle steamers of the United States]]