AH-WR-0192

Henry Clay

Steamboat · United States · Lost 1852 · Hudson River

A premier Hudson River steamer, pushed to destruction in a race with her rival, burned and beached near Riverdale in 1852 and spurred the first federal steamboat safety law.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Historically Reconstructed. Drawn from partial documentation of this vessel together with her known class and configuration. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Henry Clay was launched in 1851 by Thomas Collyer of New York as a premier Hudson River passenger steamer built for speed. On July 28, 1852, while racing the rival steamer Armenia down the river, her boilers were pushed to extreme temperatures and fire broke out amidships. The captain beached the burning vessel near Riverdale, but dozens of the roughly five hundred aboard perished, among them former New York mayor Stephen Allen. The disaster was a primary catalyst for the Steamboat Act of 1852.

Vessel

Built: 1851
Builder: Thomas Collyer
Yard: New York, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 198 ft
Beam: Not established
Tonnage: 542 tons
Propulsion: Walking beam steam engine
Owners: Not established

Loss

Date: July 28, 1852
Cause: Fire
Location: Beached near the Riverdale-Yonkers boundary
Water: Hudson River
Voyage: Albany, New York → New York, New York
Cargo: Passengers and freight
Aboard: 500
Lives lost: 50
Master: John Tallman

The Wreck Today

Depth: Intertidal; the hull was beached
Condition: Destroyed by fire; machinery salvaged and the hull left to deteriorate.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established