Sinking of the Achilleus

Sinking of the RMS Achilleus

An artist's conception of Achilleus in her intended Sebastians Star livery.
Date	21–22 March 1915 (1915-03-22)
Time	23:40–02:20 (02:38–05:18 AMT)
Duration	2 hours and 40 minutes
Location	North Merillian Ocean, 370 miles (600 km) sotheast of the southeast United Federation
Type	Maritime disaster
Cause	Destroyed by internal explosion,
Participants	Achilleus crew and passengers
Outcome	Maritime policy changes
Deaths	1,290–1,490

The RMS Achilleus sank in the early hours of the morning of the 22 March 1915 in the North Merillian Ocean in one of the most disastrous maritime disasters in history and the highest casualty maritime incident outside of wartime. She sank on the return trip from her maiden voyage, departing from Port Harrison in the Anglican Colony of Grennola and heading back to Saint Sebastian, Angland. When she sank she had an estimated 2,399 people on board when internal issues caused an explosion in the engine which killed up to 600 of the passengers immediately as well as causing the ship to sink. The explosion is the largest accidental explosion in Anglican history.

No prior warning to the explosion was noted however a Naval Court enquiry into the explosion easily ruled out external explosions, such as torpedos or a mine left in the ocean from World War One. Survivor accounts claim notices of a flash of flame near the aft turret and then one or two explosions quickly following. The captain's logbook was recovered partially intact which agrees with the testimony of survivors that said the eight-inch ammunition magazines had been restowed in order to keep the cordite propellant charges together in lots that morning. This resulted in at least 40 charges being left exposed and as boiler charges heated up it caused the exposed charges to explode. Upon the explosion and sinking, the remaining crew used distress flares and wireless radio to attract outside help as passengers were placed into lifeboats.

In accordance with practise guidelines at the time, Achilleus' lifeboats were to move passengers onto another vessel in case of emergency and not to hold the capacity of the entire onboard crew. Therefore; when the ship began to sink rapidly in the early hours of the morning and with help miles away there was many passengers left at the mercy of the iced north Merillian sea.

21st March 1915

Prelude

The Achilleus was holding ammunition for the Anglish Royal Navy during it's naval voyage due to worries of piracy around western Atusia. According to the captain's logbook as well as the testimony from surviving Chief Gunner's Clerk Toby Clarke, said that eight-inch mmunition magazines were being restowed to keep the cordite propellant charges together in lots that morning. This resulted in at least 40 reactive charges being left exposed in the cross passages of the ships magazines with the magazine doors left open when the crew were called to evening roll-call at 10:30 PM. These same passages also were used to hold hundreds of six-inch and twelve-pounder shells, and the maritime court later concluded that the cordite charges had been stowed against one of the boiler-room bulkheads which was reason for increasing in temperature as the boilers were fired up, against captain's wishes. After hours of heating, this caused the cordite charges to be ignited and the explosion to be caused from detonating ammunition and explosives.

22nd March 1915

Explosion and Immediate Aftermath

Depiction of the sinking of the Achilleus, Christopher Griffiths 1920.

The explosion occurred in the boiler, in the lower keel of the boat, at 1:30 AM on the morning of the 22nd March 1915. Upon cognite explosion, it is estimated the initial impact killed almost 600 of the passengers, mostly those in the lower-class district of the boat which was located closest to the boiler. Three minutes after the explosion, at 1:32, Captain Freddie White ordered Quartermaster Conor Burke to change the direction of the ship heading toward the United Federation in hope to attract Trianian attention. Panic ensued on board as the lower parts of the ship immediately began to be filled with icey water from the Merillian, killing many due to cold shock immediately. The entirety of the holds at the bottom of the ship were completely destroyed immediately, with a cloud of smog rising to the top layers of the ship causing some to suffocate.

Aftermath

Grief and Public Outrage

A Retoria paperboy outside the Sebastians Star Offices.

When the Nisus arrived back into Port-334 in New Cester on the evening of the 29th March 1915, some 35,000 people were awaiting it's arrival after being alerted to the disaster following a stream of radio messages from Nisus and other rescue ships. It was only after Nisus docked - A week after the disaster - that the public finally realised the true scale of the sinking.

Even prior to the Nisus arriving in New Cester efforts had already began from Angland by the Sebastian Star Company to send vessels in order to recover the bodies. By the time Nisus got to New Cester, Sebastian Star vessels had already retrieved 431 bodies; 109 being buried at sea while the rest of the bodies were taken to the Gavrilian port of Elvaris where 190 were buried. Memorials were erected in many major cities, including New Cester, Saint-Sebastian, Port Harrison, Retoria, Jefferson and Elvaris. Memorial ceremonies were held on either side of the Merillian and funds were raised by the Anglican government to aid the survivors back to health. Under request of former Anglican Prime-Minister Neville Matthews, an annual minutes silence occurs on the 22 March each year at 12:00 AMT. The bodies of a vast majority of the Achilleus' victims were never recovered, with evidence of some deaths being found as recent as 2018 when the wreck of the ship was discovered.

The public reaction to the event back in Angland was one of shock and outrage, with directed hate toward certain aspects of the sinking aimed at surviving crew. Why was the engine left unchecked? Why so few lifeboats? Why such a long response time? Anglican newspaper The Independencia targetted these issues by writing a public letter to parliament to make a change to maritime safety laws. An aftershock in the general population occurred directly following the disaster as cruise companies struggled for passengers over the following decade as fear of a similar situation occurring was at large.

In places closely associated with the Achilleus the sense of grief was much deeper, especially in Saint Sebastian where the heaviest losses occurred. Home port to the ship, 700 of the ship's crew were locals as well as many passengers. Crowds of grieving women gathered in the port - the mothers, sister and partners of some of the crew - gathered outside of the Sebastian Star Offices in Saint Sebastian for news of their loved ones fates. Shipworkers in Blaenanerch packed into churches and wept as the ship was the symbol of the industrial achievements of the city.