Virgin Shipwreck Diving--RMS Rhone

One of the most famous shipwrecks in the Caribbean lies just off Salt Island in the British Virgin Islands. The RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) Rhone was launched from Southampton, England in 1865. Constructed at the height of the Industrial Revolution, the RMS Rhone with her 310-foot iron hull and 40-foot beam was thought to be the fastest and most modern ship built up to that time. Her design and compartmentalized hull was a basic forerunner of the Titanic. Powered by both sail and one of the earliest steam-driven propellers, she could glide over the seas at 12 knots.

After only two years in service between Caribbean ports in the British Empire and mother England, she was caught in a ferocious hurricane on October 29, 1867. The captain had her moored at the West End of Tortola and thought he could make it safely through the island chain to open water to ride out the storm. Unfortunately, she struck a rock between Salt and Peter Islands and went down. The hull ripped open and water rushed in causing her massive boilers to explode. This blew the ship in two and she sank immediately losing 150 of the 171 passengers on board. Here is an item from the Port of Spain Gazette, Virgin Islands, May 1870:

"We paid a visit to the Murphys about two weeks ago, they are at Salt Island diving various things out of the wreck of the Steamer Rhone. I have never seen a diving dress, it was a novelty to all of us; the children were delighted to see Murphy in his dress, he certainly cut an awful figure, but when he went overboard and we saw him sinking, sinking until we lost sight of him it was something horrible-the water is 17 fathoms and you can't see the bottom-he was gone for hours, he sent up 12 bales of cotton and various other things; amongst other matters, a fine scull, which must have belonged to a very large man-the cotton is as good as the day it went down; he also saved the anchor and chains and lots of copper.

While he was down he sent a message up to invite the ladies down into the saloon of the Rhone. I took a slice of lamb over and we had a first rate dinner. When dinner was nearly ready, Murphy came up, rested for a few minutes and said "Now ladies, as I have nothing good to offer you, I will take a look into the other half of the ship (she is broken in two pieces) and see what can be got." They begged him not to go but off he went and in half an hour we had as much champagne, beer, and soda water, lemonade, seltza water, and brandy as we knew what to do with, the liquors were as good as they were the first day and it is nearly three years since they have been down; the champagne was first rate, as cool as possible, we drank it out of tumblers as we did not have champagne glasses.

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