French Ship That Sunk in 1856 Discovered off Massachusetts Coast

A French ship that sunk in 1856 was recently discovered off the coast of Massachusetts.

Last month, Atlantic Wreck Salvage, a New Jersey-based salvage firm, discovered the wreckage of the Le Lyonnais, a French steamship that sunk in 1856. Decades later, a marine salvage crew is preparing to add a new chapter to the story of the Le Lyonnais, a passenger liner built as steamships began to replace vessels from the Age of Sail.

The discovery of the steamship marks the culmination of years of effort and the start of a new chapter, said Jennifer Sellitti, spokesperson for Atlantic Wreck Salvage and a crew member aboard the company’s dive vessel, D/V Tenacious. The next phase will involve documenting and mapping the wreck site, as well as identifying artifacts that can be retrieved, Sellitti explained.

“Finding it in some ways is closure, in some ways is the end. In some ways it’s the beginning—documenting it, determining what is down there and what should be brought up,” Sellitti said. “This was a very early example of a steam engine.”

Le Lyonnais, a 260-foot vessel, was designed to transport passengers and cargo between New York and France, according to Jennifer Sellitti. Equipped with both sails and a horizontal steam engine, as well as an iron hull, the ship exemplified the technological innovations that transformed maritime shipping in the mid-19th century.

Disaster hit during Le Lyonnais’ maiden return voyage to Le Havre from the U.S., when the ship collided with the Adriatic, a barque vessel built in Maine and bound for Savannah, Georgia, according to research by Atlantic Wreck Salvage. The findings are forming the basis of a book by Sellitti, titled The Adriatic Affair.

The collision left a gaping hole in Le Lyonnais’ hull, ultimately causing the ship to sink. Of the 132 passengers and crew on board, 114 perished. Meanwhile, the Adriatic managed to return to New England for repairs.

The salvage team located Le Lyonnais by combining historical research with sonar technology to pinpoint the wreck’s location. However, the ship is likely too deteriorated to be recovered, according to Sellitti.

Despite the ship’s poor condition, its historical significance makes the discovery noteworthy, said Eric Takajian, a member of the crew that located Le Lyonnais.

“Being one of the first French passenger steamships to have a regularly scheduled run crossing the Atlantic and an early transitional steamship make Le Lyonnais’ discovery significant,” Takajian said.

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.