AH-WR-0574

City of Waco

Passenger And Cargo Steamship · United States · Lost 1875 · Texas & the Western Gulf

A Mallory Line steamship that caught fire at anchor off Galveston during a gale in 1875 and burned while nearby ships could only watch.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Documented Likeness. Drawn from surviving builder's plans or clear photographs of this vessel. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

City of Waco was a Mallory Line steamship that caught fire of undetermined cause at her anchorage off Galveston on the night of November 8-9, 1875, during a full autumn gale. Crews of a dozen or more nearby vessels watched the disaster unfold but could not reach her in the heavy weather, and in the age before wireless communication, help could not be summoned from the nearby city. Texas Historical Commission marine archeology stewards later located and identified the wreck, using a period painting of the ship by marine artist Antonio Jacobsen to help confirm the find.

Vessel

Built: Not established
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Not established
Length: Not established
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam
Owners: Mallory Line

Loss

Date: November 9, 1875
Cause: Fire
Location: At anchorage off Galveston, Texas
Water: Galveston Bay / Gulf of Mexico
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Described by the Texas Historical Commission as one of the state's worst maritime disasters; a precise toll was not established in the sources reviewed.
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: Not established
Condition: Not established
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 2000s
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 29.30° N 94.80° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Region: Texas & the Western Gulf

General area only: coordinate of Galveston, the named place of loss recorded for this vessel (at anchorage off Galveston), from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, not a surveyed wreck position.