History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name |
|
Owner | Phineas Banning |
Launched | 1859 |
Fate | Destroyed in boiler explosion, 27 April 1863 |
General characteristics [1] | |
Tons burthen | 60 tons bm |
Length | 60 ft (18 m) |
SSAda Hancock was a steam-powered tender owned by Phineas Banning used to transfer passengers and cargo to and from large coastal steamships in San Pedro Harbor in the early 1860s. On April 27, 1863, her boiler exploded in San Pedro Bay, the port of Los Angeles, near Wilmington, California, killing 26 people and injuring many others of the 53 or more passengers on board.
The vessel was built at San Pedro in 1859 as a tugboat and originally operated in the harbor there under the name Milton Willis. In 1861 she was bought by Phineas Banning, who renamed her Ada Hancock, after the daughter of his friend Winfield Scott Hancock. [2]
Harris Newmark wrote an account of this maritime disaster in his Sixty years in Southern California, 1853-1913. [3]
Edward Carlson of the 4th California Infantry Regiment remembered:
The day after my arrival at Wilmington, I witnessed one of the most distressing accidents that has ever taken place on this coast. The water in the bay was so shallow that the steamer had to anchor about three or four mile from the wharf; and to land the passengers, baggage, and mail, a small steamer called the Ada Hancock was employed. On her return trip to take the San Francisco bound passengers to the Senator, when about a mile from the wharf, she exploded. A few fellow soldiers and I had walked down from camp to take a sail on the steamer, as was often done by those stationed at the post. The wind, however, was blowing rather cold, and we concluded not to go, and turned back to camp. Hardly had we reached the middle of the wharf when we heard a sharp report, and quickly turning, we saw human bodies and debris flying in the air. The next moment all was still; but in that short moment more than twenty human beings had been hurled into eternity. But an instant before they were full of life, each one with some expectations from his contemplated voyage, each one with some cherished hope for the future, and no thought of death; and there I stood alive and well, who, but for a little chilly wind, would have been among them. Every available craft was manned, and hastened to the point of disaster, and soon the wounded and dead were brought ashore. As a great many of the dead were strangers, it was necessary to examine the bodies, and make record of letters and articles found on them, so that relatives and friends might afterwards claim them. This unpleasant duty fell upon me, in company with others. One poor fellow seemed as if he had fallen asleep; even his clothing showed not the slightest mark of disturbance, except a new pair of pegged boots, from which the soles and heels were completely blown off. But the rest were ghastly to behold and painful to remember. [4]
Newmark continued:
Frank Lecouvreur employed to take control of Phineas Banning's business affairs while he recovered from his injuries writes about the aftermath:
Among the dead Newmark listed: [3]
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