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Ship that sank in 1856 with 132 onboard discovered in Atlantic Ocean 200 miles off Massachusetts, group says
The wreck of a passenger steamship that sank in 1856 in the Atlantic Ocean has been discovered about 200 miles off the coast of Massachusetts, a New Jersey-based salvage group said.
Le Lyonnais was a trans-Atlantic steamship, built in England for a French company. The ship was meant to carry passengers and mail between England and America, and had both sails and a steam engine, according to Atlantic Wreck Salvage, the organization located the wreck.
Le Lyonnais was making its first trip from America to Europe, carrying 132 people when it collided with the Adriatic, an American sailing vessel, on Nov. 2, 1856. The ship sank due to damage sustained in the collision, and 116 of the people aboard Le Lyonnais died in the disaster.
D/V Tenacious, a dive vessel that locates, dives and salvages shipwrecks, first determined potential resting places for Le Lyonnais in 2022 and 2023. In August 2024, the vessel and a crew returned to dive the sites.
D/V Tenacious
After multiple search expeditions, the shipwreck was finally found off the coast of Massachusetts. The vessel was previously believed to have sunk southeast of Nantucket Shoals, according to the Asbury Park Press, but the D/V Tenacious team found the wreck on Georges Bank, about 200 miles from New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Multiple distinctive features helped the dive team confirm that the wreck was that of Le Lyonnais, the Asbury Park Press reported. The major clues were the discovery of the ship’s steam engine and its sail system. Divers also found iron hull plates and a screw propeller, according to a social media post by D/V Tenacious. At the time of the ship’s building, those were innovative features. Portholes were also recovered from the wreck.
Photo by Andrew Donn, D/V Tenacious
Diver Jennifer Sellitti, who wrote a book about the sinking of the Le Lyonnais, told the Asbury Park Press that the wreck is “very buried” in the sand and the site is in “very deep water” with poor visibility.
D/V Tenacious has not clarified the exact location of the wreck or said how far underwater the ship’s remains are. The team plans to return to the site to further catalog the artifacts there, the Asbury Park Press reported.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.