Sinking of the RMS Stella del Nord
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| Date | 3 May 1908 |
|---|---|
| Time | 1:20 AM – 3:20 AM |
| Duration | 2 hours |
| Location | South Malian Sea |
| Type | Maritime disaster |
| Cause | Collision with iceberg on 3 May |
| Outcome | Maritime and wireless operation policy changes |
| Deaths | 1,237 |
The RMS Stella del Nord sank in the early morning of 3 May 1908 in the South Malian Sea during her 106th voyage from Andria to Moddra to Kenlis. Although she was not the largest or most prestigious ocean liner in service during her time, she had an impeccable reputation for comfort and safety. She had an estimated 2,095 people on board when she struck an iceberg at around 1:40AM (ship's time) on sunday, 3 May 1908. Her sinking over the course of approximately two hours resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people making it the deadliest peacetime maritme disaster in Tyran's history.
Stella del Nord received three warnings of sea ice on 2 May 1908 and slowed down to half speed when her lookouts began to see ice on the horizon. A moonless and windless night, it was difficult to spot ice and at 1:00AM a large iceberg was spotted directly forward of the ship. Although only traveling at a speed of 10 knots, she glanced the iceberg on her starboard side and opened up four of her eleven compartments to the sea (all three holds and adjacent boiler room). Stella del Nord had previously suffered a similar glancing blow from an iceberg in 1903, but only two compartments had been breached. After Captain Taddea Fiorina had assessed the damage, it was clear that the ship would sink and the crew preceded to use distress flares and wireless messages to attract help as passengers were loaded into lifeboats.
In accordance with safety regulations at the time, which had not been updated since the late 1860s, the Stella’s lifeboat system was designed to ferry passengers to nearby recue vessels and not to hold everyone on board simultaneously. Despite the training and experience of the crew who loaded each lifeboat to maximum capacity before launching, this meant that there was no safe refuge for many of the remaining people on board.
Stella del Nord sank with over a thousand people with those who did not immediately drown perishing as a result of cardiac arrest, cold shock, and cold incapacitation. An effort was made by some of the lifeboat to return to those in the water and of the fifteen retrieved, only ten would survive. The Syaran cargo ship SCS Simple Truths and Ossorian ocean liner LPR Bradán Feasa arrived at 6:00AM and 7:00AM respectively and rescued all the survivors by 10:15AM the same day. The disaster shocked the nations of Tyran that resulted in two public inquiries which resulted in major changes to maritime safety and wireless policies and regulations.
Background
The RMS Stella del Nord was the first of two Star-class ocean liners being operated by the Cacertian Alberreno Line and possessed an unrivaled reputation for safety and comfort at the time of her sinking. Although she never held the title of largest or most luxurious ocean liner, she had garnered a reputation as an unsinkable ship after three previous accidents that would have likely foundered similar vessels.
On 4 December 1900, the Stella was making a return trip from Kenlis to Moddra when she struck an iceberg head-on at full speed in foggy conditions. Despite suffering a crushed bow, she was still able to complete her voyage to Moddra where she was subsequently repaired. In February 1903, a glancing hit from an iceberg opened up two of her compartments to the sea but a combination of her watertight bulkheads and pumps kept her safely afloat to reach Kenlis. In third accident in October 1905, which occurred near Andria, Stella was rammed by the similarly sized RMS Cirano Rella but was unloaded at the time and only manned by her crew. Despite the large gash below her waterline, once again her watertight doors and compartments proved their durability and allowed her to return to port.
The ship was commanded by 44 year-old Captain Taddea Fiorina who had previously served on the Stella del Nord during the 1903 iceberg strike and had recently transferred back from the Stella del Sud when the Nord’s current Captain Giannino Contarini had fallen ill. She possessed two decades of seafaring experience, eight as captain, and commanded an equally experienced and trained crew.
2 May 1912
Iceberg Warnings
On 3 May 1908, Stella del Nord’s radio operators received three messages from other ships warning of drifting ice which had been observed by some of her passengers during the afternoon. The ice conditions in the Malian Sea were later considered to be the worst in several decades which contributed to the lookouts being unaware that they were about to steam into a field of drifting ice several kilometers wide and nearly four times as long.
The first warning came from the White Star Line’s RMS Cavaliere D’Argento which reported sightings of growlers and field ice. Captain Fiorina acknowledged receipt of the message and ordered a new course in an attempt to take the ship away from the approaching obstacles.
At 1:45 in the afternoon, the Ossorian ship LPR Tobar Sagais, which was to the Stella’s west, also reported seeing pack ice and field ice. This message was also acknowledged by Fiorina. The final warning received by the ship would come from the LG Abhainn an Lagáin which would be the first vessel to report seeing large icebergs at 8:30PM.
Captain Fiorina passed along to First Officer Amelio Califano and Second Officer Linda Cornelio to reduce speed if they deemed it necessary to safely proceed to their destination. This would be the crew’s seventh run from Moddra to Kenlis and, while they had acknowledged the danger of ice, the Stella had survived two previous encounters with icebergs which included a head-on collision in fog which crushed her bow and a previous glancing hit on her port-side. It is speculated by some that the Stella’s perceived durability contributed to the crew’s decision to continue their journey instead of stop for the night.
3 May 1912
Collision
On the early morning of 3 May, the majority of the ship’s passengers were still asleep in bed and command of the ship had passed from Second Officer Cornelio to First Officer Califano at midnight. In the hand-off for the watch, Cornelio had informed Califano that while on duty she had begun spotting growlers and pack ice, but nothing else of significant note and had maintained their course and speed. Lookouts Domenica Carafa and Ristoro Barbieri had taken their posts at the forward crow’s nest during the midnight changeover. Following the disaster, Carafa noted that the air temperature was near freezing and that the ocean was completely calm. At the time, it was not known that such conditions, particularly exceptionally calm water, were signs of close proximity to ice.
Not long after taking their posts, Carafa and Barbieri had reported seeing pack ice and “some icebergs, although they could not be sure”. In response, Califano ordered the ship to half-speed, hoping it would allow them time to maneuver the ship after proper warning from Carafa and Barbieri. Despite clear skies, it was a moonless night and with calm waters there was nothing to indicate the position of nearby icebergs. The lookouts were equipped with binoculars, but given the total darkness of the night, the binoculars were ineffective.
At 1:00AM, Carafa reported a large iceberg direct ahead of the ship and rang the lookout bell three times. She telephoned the bridge and informed Sixth Officer Anita Giordani that there was an iceberg directly ahead. Giordani quickly relayed the message to Califano who ordered Pilot Bastiano Alban to change the ship’s course. It is generally agreed that Califano had given the order “hard astarboard” would result in the ships rudder being moved all the way starboard in an attempt to turn the ship port.
The Stella avoided a direct head-on collision with the iceberg and several seconds passed in which the crew believed they had safely avoided the obstacle. However, nearly 30 seconds later, the Stella suffered a glancing blow from an underwater ice spur that is now hypothesized to have been jutting out from below the waterline several meters. Domenica and Ristoro, both of whom would survive the incident, later testified that they believed they had safely cleared the iceberg as “the distance between the ship and the berg appeared to be no less than six meters.” The iceberg scraped alongside the starboard side of the ship below the waterline for about six seconds. Not long after feeling the shudder and observing the collision, Califano ran to the bridge and immediately closed the vessel’s watertight doors later ordering the ship’s engines shut down.