AH-WR-2030

Finance

Passenger-Cargo Steamer · Lost 1908 · New York Harbor

The passenger-cargo steamer Finance was sunk in a collision near Sandy Hook on November 26, 1908, carrying general cargo, including gold; four of 148 aboard died.

Become Captain of Record

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built at Chester, Pennsylvania in 1882, the 295-foot passenger-cargo steamer Finance was carrying general cargo, including gold, from New York, New York to Cristobal, Panama under Captain Norman Mowbray. On November 26, 1908, she was rammed in fog by the White Star steamer Georgic, off Sandy Hook, at the entrance to New York Harbor. Four of 148 aboard died.

Vessel

Built: 1882
Builder: Not established
Yard: Chester, Pennsylvania
Material: Iron
Length: 295 ft
Beam: 38.4 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam (screw)
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: November 26, 1908
Cause: Collision
Location: Off Sandy Hook, at the entrance to New York Harbor
Water: Atlantic Ocean
Voyage: New York, New York → Cristobal, Panama
Cargo: General cargo, including gold
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: 4
Master: Norman Mowbray

The Wreck Today

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

Position

Coordinates: Not established
Accuracy: Position not established
Nearest: Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Region: New York Harbor

No pin: the museum describes its positions as approximations.

Evidence

Overall confidence: Partially documented (65/100)

Based on the New Jersey Maritime Museum's shipwreck database, compiled from newspapers, Life-Saving Service reports and books; those original records were not independently inspected.

New Jersey Maritime Museum — Shipwreck Database
Museum's compiled data sheet for this loss (dimensions, owner, master, voyage, crew, cargo, cause, lives lost).
The Georgic, 180 F. 863 (S.D.N.Y. 1910)
Federal court finding: Georgic and Finance collided in the Main Ship Channel off Sandy Hook on the morning of 26 November 1908.
Morning Oregonian, 27 November 1908 — Ships Collide; Six Are Drowned
Next-day wire report of the collision in dense fog.