AH-WR-0040

Lexington

Steamboat · United States · Lost 1840 · Long Island & the New York Approaches

A Long Island Sound passenger steamboat destroyed by fire in a January 1840 disaster that killed nearly everyone aboard and spurred national steamboat safety reform.

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Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents.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

Lexington was a fast side-wheel steamboat built in 1835 for Cornelius Vanderbilt's New York to Boston travel route via Long Island Sound. On the night of January 13, 1840, a fire broke out after the smokestack casing ignited cotton bales stowed on deck, and the vessel burned and sank in the Sound near Eatons Neck. Only four of about 150 people aboard survived the bitter cold water. The disaster shocked the nation and led to early federal steamboat safety legislation.

Vessel

Built: 1835
Builder: Bishop and Simonson
Yard: New York, New York
Material: Wood
Length: 220 ft
Beam: 21 ft
Tonnage: 490
Propulsion: Steam, side-wheel paddle
Owners: Cornelius Vanderbilt (early ownership); later New Jersey Steam Navigation Company

Loss

Date: January 13, 1840
Cause: Fire
Location: Long Island Sound, off Eatons Neck
Water: Long Island Sound
Voyage: New York, New York → Stonington, Connecticut
Cargo: Cotton bales and general freight
Aboard: 150
Lives lost: 139
Master: George Child

The Wreck Today

Depth: 140 ft
Condition: Largely disintegrated wooden hull remains on the sound floor; located by side-scan sonar survey.
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: 1983
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 40.93° N 73.40° W
Accuracy: General area only
Nearest: Eatons Neck, Long Island, New York
Region: Long Island & the New York Approaches

General area only: coordinate of Eatons Neck from the USGS Geographic Names Information System, marking the named place of loss recorded for this vessel (Long Island Sound, off Eatons Neck), not a surveyed wreck position.