SHIPWRECK OF A PASSENGER STEAMER WITH 132 ON-BOARD DISCOVERED IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN

Le Lyonnaise, was a French owned ship, built in England to carry passengers and mail between England and America. The ship had both a sail and steam engine system. It was making its maiden voyage from America to Europe, carrying 132 passengers when it collided with the Adriatic, an American sailing vessel on 2nd November, 1856. The damage caused by the impact led to the sinking of the ship, killing 116 passengers on-board.

The shipwreck was discovered by Atlantic Wreck Salvage, a New Jersey based group through its dive vessel D/V Tenacious. The potential resting place of Le Lyonnaise was found by D/V Tenacious in 2022 and 2023. In August 2024, serious efforts began to locate the remains. The varying accounts of the place of impact, meant that there were very many misses when it came to the dive expeditions to trace the actual location of the shipwreck on the seabed. The vessel was previously believed to have sunk southeast of Nantucket Shoals, but was eventually found in Georges Bank, which is roughly 200 miles from New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Multiple distinctive features helped the dive team confirm that the identity of the shipwreck to be that of Le Lyonnais, with the ship’s steam engine and its sail system to be the major clues. Divers so managed to find the iron hull plates and a screw propeller, which were nuanced features for ships built in that era. Besides these, the divers also found Portholes from the shipwreck.

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.