Oil Painting, <I>The</I> Queen of the Ocean <I>Going to the Rescue of the</I> Ocean Monarch
date: label: Date made
content: 1848
label: ship launched
content: 1847-06
label: ship burned and sank
content: 1848-08-24
name: label: shipbuilder
content: McKay, Donald
label: ship captain and possible patron of painting
content: Littledale, Thomas
label: ship owners
content: Enoch Train's White Diamond Line
label: maker
content: Walters, Samuel
notes: label: Description
content: The <I>Ocean Monarch</I> was one of nine large packet ships built by the famous shipbuilder Donald McKay in Boston for Enoch Train’s White Diamond Line of Boston-Liverpool vessels. The <I>Monarch</I> measured 179 feet in length and 1,301 tons and was launched in July 1847. On August 24, 1848 the vessel cleared Liverpool for Boston with 396 passengers, including 322 Irish emigrants. Just a few hours later a few miles off the coast of Wales, a fire around the mainmast was reported, probably started by a passenger smoking. The <I>Monarch</I> stopped and dropped two anchors to gain control of the fire, but it spread too quickly, starting a panic among the passengers.
label: Description
content: Commander Thomas Littledale of the yacht <I>Queen of the Ocean</I> was first on the scene. Returning to Liverpool with a group of friends after the Beaumaris regatta, he managed to rescue 32 people from the burning ship, including Captain Murdoch. Other ships picked up another 188 persons; the ship and 178 passengers were lost when the ship sank at its anchors in 85 feet of water.
label: Description
content: The painting shows the middle stage of the fire, with one mast down and red flames at the stern and amidships. Panicked people are crowded forward of the smoke and flames, overflowing out on the bowsprit and to the very tip of the jib-boom. Some survivors can be seen in the sea clinging to the wreckage of the mizzenmast. To the right is the yacht <I>Queen of the Ocean</I> and a sailboat.
label: Description
content: This painting is believed to have been commissioned by Capt. Littledale to feature his heroic rescue. The Museum owns another Walters painting of the disaster that features another vessel in the foreground, and two other Walters paintings in different collections highlight still other vessels’ rescue of the passengers and crew.
label: Description
content: The dramatic loss of the <I>Ocean Monarch</I> and so many of its passengers so close to shore so soon after departure, as well as its thrilling rescue, touched off an international wave of sympathy and a media storm on both sides of the Atlantic.
topic: label: Subject
content: Maritime
label: related event
content: Expansion and Reform
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Cigna Maritime Collection
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: On the Water exhibit
label: See more items in
content: Art
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0279.066
label: accession number
content: 2005.0279
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0279.066
objectType: label: Object Name
content: painting
label: Object Name
content: painting, oil
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: oil on canvas (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: without frame: 31 3/8 in x 47 3/4 in; 79.6925 cm x 121.285 cm
label: Measurements
content: with frame: 38 3/8 in x 54 3/8 in; 97.4725 cm x 138.1125 cm