The City of Brussels
Suitible for Sports Diver/Advanced Open Water and above
Depth 17-24m
Distance 18 miles
The City of Brussels in dry dock (c) Mystic Seaport Collection, Mystic, CT, USA, #1995.102.4
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Mystic Seaport Collection for kindly consenting to our using the dry dock image of The City of Brussels. Other information was obtained from the North Atlantic Seaway (N.R.P.Bonsor) and Illustrated London News (Jan 13 1883).
The Ship
The City of Brussels, of the Inman Line, was built in iron in 1869 by Tod & McGregor of Glasgow. At 3081 tons, her dimensions of 390x40.3x34 feet (118.86x12.19 metres) ended in a clipper stem. She was the first North Atlantic liner with a ration of length to beam of almost 10 to 1 (previously the custom was more like 8 to 1); in this respect she was preceded by the Bibby (later Leyland) Lines Iberian, Illyrian and Istrian of 1867. This practise was short lived however, although several other Inman ships (City of Washington, City of London, City of Paris, City of Limerick, City of New York and the Etna which was renamed City of Bristol) were lengthened when the success of the City of Brussels was realised.
The record breaking Brussels.
The City of Brussels was powered by horizontal trunk engines (single expansion) with a working pressure of 30 psi and coal consumption of 110 tons per day. These were upgraded in 1876 to compound engines which reduced the coal consumption to 65 tons per day, thereby increasing the cargo carrying capacity by several hundred tons. Twice during her 7 year service she broke her propeller shaft and had to continue the voyage under sail. She had accommodation for 200 cabin and 600 steerage passengers.
History
She was launched on the 10th August 1869 and began her maiden voyage on the 14th October 1869 from Liverpool to Queenstown (Cobh) and New York. Two months later she collected the Blue Riband of the North Atlantic for her east bound voyage from Sandy Hook to Queenstown from the 4th to 12th of December 1869, during which she covered 2780 nautical miles in the apparent time of 8 days and 55 minutes, corrected to the actual time of 7 days 20 hours and 33 minutes, an average speed of 14.74 knots.
In 1872 she had an iron promenade deck added, her tonnage increased to 3743 tons and her accommodation to 1000 in steerage.
On a voyage from New York to Liverpool with 167 persons on board, and having called at Queenstown on Saturday afternoon of the 6th January 1883, the City of Brussels was run down by the steamer Kirby Hall (Hall Line) which was on a trial trip to Liverpool from Glasgow prior to a voyage to Bombay.
About 8 miles to the west of the North West lightship at 6 am on the 7th, she was some 20 miles from Liverpool. In a dense fog Captain Land, with a pilot on board, laid too. About 6:45 a sound was heard and a large steamer was spotted only a few yards away. She struck the City of Brussels on the starboard bow cutting her half through. The Kirby Hall backed away, her bow stove in, standing by to take on board the passengers as the boats were lowered, with just sufficient crew to man them. The boats then returned to the City of Brussels although they couldn’t go along side for fear of being sucked down by the sinking ship, but a number of passengers, who jumped into the water, as well as the captain who was floating on a spar, were saved. After about 20 minutes the City of Brussels lurched, threw off some remaining people who had clung to her rigging, and sank.
The City of Brussels as she sucumbed to the sea after being mortaly wounded by the Kirby Hall
Eight crew and two Italian steerage passengers were drowned, including Mr Young, the second officer, and Mr Woods, the carpenter, on whom resuscitation proved useless. Also lost were Connor, quartermaster; Corcoran, saloon steward; James Quinn, lamp-trimmer; George Malcolm, foreman; Michael Smith and McLeod, able seamen.
She went down bow foremost in about 14 fathoms of water leaving only a portion of the top masts visible. At about 4 pm the fog lifted and the Kirby Hall weighed anchor and steamed into Birkenhead, arriving at about 10 pm. Her value with cargo was estimated at £300,000.
The incident was reported in the New York Times on the 9th January 1883.
William Inman generously allowed passage for the Band of H.M. Grenadier Guards to attend the World's Peace Jubilee and International Music festival, for which the Inman Line March was composed in 1872.
The Dive
Despite being the most dived wreck in Liverpool Bay, The Brussels still has plenty to offer the experienced Sport diver and above. She lies off the coast of the Wirral peninsula (approximately 1 hour’s fast RIB ride from New Brighton beach) in an average of 25m of water. Due to the reasonable depth and distance off shore, visibility seldom drops below 4m and has been known to push out to over 10m.
Despite the amount of time The Brussels has spent below the waves, she can still be easily navigated and her boilers are still clearly visible. New features of interest are discovered on virtually every dive. A 6 pounder iron cannon complete with oak carriage was lifted by Merseyside SAC on the 22nd March 1998 and now resides in our clubhouse.