AH-WR-0530

Larchmont

Passenger Steamer · United States · Lost 1907 · Long Island & the New York Approaches

A Joy Line side-wheel passenger steamer that collided with a schooner in a bitter February gale in 1907, killing roughly 150 people.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Larchmont was a wooden side-wheel passenger steamer operated by the Joy Line between Providence and New York. On the freezing night of February 11, 1907, she collided with the coal schooner Harry P. Knowlton in Block Island Sound during a fierce gale and sank quickly. Only 19 survivors were confirmed, making it one of New England's deadliest peacetime maritime disasters.

Vessel

Built: 1885
Builder: Not established
Yard: Not established
Material: Wood
Length: 252 ft
Beam: 37 ft
Tonnage: Not established
Propulsion: Steam, side paddlewheel
Owners: Joy Line

Loss

Date: February 11, 1907
Cause: Collision
Location: Block Island Sound, south of Watch Hill, Rhode Island
Water: Long Island Sound / Block Island Sound
Voyage: Providence, Rhode Island → New York City
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Approximately 150 lives were lost, one of the worst maritime disasters in New England history; exact toll disputed in contemporary accounts.
Master: George W. McVay

The Wreck Today

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

Position

Coordinates: 41.27° N 71.82° W
Accuracy: Approximate position
Nearest: Block Island Sound, near eastern Long Island Sound
Region: Long Island & the New York Approaches

Wreckhunter.net's dedicated Larchmont data page publishes a coordinate (41-16-00 N / 71-49-18 W) and Loran-C bearing for the wreck site, located about 3 miles southeast of Watch Hill, RI, in Block Island Sound; this is the site's own compiled approximate position, not an official chart position.