SS Portland
Side-Wheel Paddle Steamer · United States · Lost 1898 · Cape Cod & Nantucket Shoals
A Boston-to-Portland passenger steamer that sailed into the ferocious 1898 'Portland Gale' and was lost with all aboard, giving the storm its name.
Become Captain of RecordSee Shipwreck on Map
The Vessel and Her Loss
The side-wheel steamer Portland ran the overnight route between Boston and Portland, Maine. On the night of November 26, 1898, she departed Boston despite storm warnings and was overtaken by an intense blizzard that came to be called the Portland Gale. She foundered in Massachusetts Bay with everyone aboard lost, an estimated 192 people, making it one of New England's worst maritime disasters. Her wreck was located and confirmed within Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in the early 2000s.
Vessel
- 1889
- New England Shipbuilding Co.
- Bath, Maine
- Wood
- 291 ft
- 42.1 ft
- Not established
- Steam, side-wheel paddle
- Portland Steam Packet Company
Loss
- November 27, 1898
- Storm
- Off Cape Cod, Massachusetts Bay
- Massachusetts Bay
- Boston, Massachusetts → Portland, Maine
- Not established
- Not established
- 192
- Hollis Blanchard
The Wreck Today
- 400 ft
- Largely intact on the seabed, resting upright, identified through sonar and archaeological survey.
- Not established
- 1945 (general area); confirmed 2002
- Within Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Position
- 42.19° N 70.13° W
- Approximate position
- Provincetown, Massachusetts
General position within Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary as surveyed by NOAA.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (82/100)
The exact number aboard and lost is not established with certainty because no complete manifest survived the disaster.
NOAA Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
Vessel dimensions, wreck depth, and loss narrative.
Historical context of the Portland Gale and casualty estimate.
