WASHINGTON: A US dive team has located the ruin of a French steamship, Le Lyonnais, that sank within the Atlantic Ocean in 1856 after a “hit-and-run” collision with an American crusing vessel, claiming 114 lives. Le Lyonnais, which become constructed in 1855 and was considered trendy at the time, changed into returning to France after completing its maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York whilst the disaster happened. Jennifer Sellitti of Atlantic Wreck Salvage, a New Jersey-based agency, said a group on the dive boat D/V Tenacious discovered the wreckage of Le Lyonnais last month after a two-decade search. Sellitti stated divers undoubtedly identified the deliver in waters 200 miles (320 kilometers) off of New Bedford, Massachusetts, in an area referred to as the Georges Bank. They aren’t revealing the exact region for now. “She genuinely would not appearance as excellent as she used to,” Sellitti advised AFP. “She turned into without a doubt damaged aside. “The North Atlantic is a brutal area to be a shipwreck — storms, tides,” she said. “The Nantucket shoals are recognised for shifting sands that simply completely bury wrecks.” Sellitti stated measurements of an engine cylinder had been key to figuring out the vessel. The iron-hulled Le Lyonnais, which had each sails and a steam engine, become constructed via a British shipmaker, Laird & Sons, for Compagnie Franco-Americaine to offer passenger and mail service across the Atlantic. “The 1850s turned into the beginning of the transition from sail to steam,” Sellitti said. “This was an early strive by means of France to have its first a success passenger line.” Le Lyonnais had sailed to New York carrying cargo and mail, she said, and turned into returning to Le Havre with its first passengers, most of whom had been French.
