3-082-221 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Loss of the North German Lloyd steam-ship "Elbe," on January 30, off Lowestoft: landing of survivors at Lowestoft, 1895. 'Sketch by our Special Artist, Mr. Melton Prior. At half-past five o'clock in the morning, the North German Lloyd steamer Elbe came into collision forty-seven miles south-west from Haaks light-ship off Lowestoft with another steamer, and in twenty minutes foundered. The Elbe had only left Bremen on the previous day for Southampton and New York, and carried 199 passengers and a crew of 149, most of the souls on board being of German nationality. There were only twenty survivors from this terrible disaster - five passengers, the chief engineer, the third officer, the purser, a German pilot, the English pilot, and ten of the crew...The Elbe was struck abaft the engine-room, and the inrush of water through the large hole soon caused the steamer to sink...Instantly the officers...commenced lowering the boats...only one boat survived the storm. This was picked up by a Lowestoft smack, the Wildflower, and reached Lowestoft safely in the afternoon...The German Consul at Lowestoft conveyed them to the Sailors' Home and the Suffolk Hotel, where they were carefully tended after their frightful experiences'. From "Illustrated London News", 1895.