Steamship travel between Prince Edward Island, Halifax and Boston had become routine and usually without mishap by 1887. “However at one o’clock, Sunday morning, 16 July 1887, the splendid steamer Merrimac, sailing between Charlottetown, Halifax and Boston, struck on Little Hope Island, near Liverpool, N.S. and became a total wreck. There were 150 passengers on board for Boston.” This is the SS Merrimac.story....The Pioneer, 19 July 1887.

“The escape of the passengers and crew is one of the most marvelous ever known on the rock-bound coast of Nova Scotia. An experienced navigator said that the loss of the Merrimac is inexcusable, if not criminal. Capt Crowell should not have been within two miles of that well-known dangerous spot, with its doubly dangerous currents. If it was a foggy night he should have been five miles off. Near that Island are other dangerous ledges known to all navigators.”

“Four passengers who went to Liverpool told an almost incredible story of outrageous behaviour among the officers and crew and declare that it was a perfectly clear moonlight night with not the slightest sign of fog. The Merrimac was going 12 knots an hour, and crashed upon the rocks with tremendous force. The shock was something terrific and literally ripped the bottom out of the vessel, so that she filled almost immediately, but could not sink, having run right up on the breakers which surrounded the island at a distance of about 150 yards.”

“The reverberation of contact with the rocks going at such a rate caused the ship to wrench and roll for several minutes after the shock with such a force that the passengers thought she would break up in pieces. Within a minute of the first crash the deck was covered with screaming women and children dressed only in their night clothes, while the men were running around in all directions. The officers and crew seemed paralyzed and a scene of confusion that was indescribable prevailed.”

“Had the disaster taken place on a rough and dark night the passengers declare that not a soul would have been saved. Added to the utter demoralization of the crew was the fact that the boats could not be launched. There was something wrong with the tackle. The first boat had to be cut away and let fall into the sea. This operation precipitated two passengers jump into the sea, and they had a narrow escape from drowning. As it was, they were jammed between the boat and the wreck. As soon as this boat was righted, four passengers and eight sailors jumped into it and rowed away from the wreck.”

“While other boats were being launched the captain got jammed between some of the wreckage on deck and had his ribs broken. The disabling of Capt. Crowell added to the general confusion, but by this time other boats were being launched. The passengers had then dressed themselves and put on life preservers. Daylight was approaching and a sense of security was being felt.”

“The women were gradually lowered into boats and when all were safely taken off the wreck the first officer, with all four boatloads, rowed to Catherine’s River, four miles distant. The women, as indeed all the passengers, only saved what they stood upright in, and many of them were only half clad. But the astonished inhabitants of the shore did in all their power to make them comfortable.”

“About seven o’clock the life raft was launched. The second officer got ashore with a rope, and the male passengers were hauled from the wreck to the rocks on the island, a distance of about 150 yards. The whole of the male passengers were got ashore this way. Subsequently some stores were saved so as to keep the passengers from starving. The passengers say they hardly believed it possible that such utter demoralization could exist on a modern passenger steamer.”

“The loss on the cargo shipped from P.E.I. on the steamer will amount to about $8,000, having very little insurance. The cause of the wreck was confirmed because the steamer’s compass was out of order. The outrageous and disgraceful conduct of the officers and crew was blamed on the fact that they were all very drunk!”