Object Lessons from History - Rock of Ages

Most people will know about the RMS Titanic, and almost all of us will have watched a certain movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Titanic indeed was the most fatal maritime disaster in history during peacetime and has gained a status of a modern folklore. Yet, very few people will have even heard the name of her tragic predecessor, the SS Atlantic.

On April 1, 1873, SS Atlantic, then the greatest ship of her time, crashed against a rocky coast near Lower Prospect, Nova Scotia, killing some 550 passengers and crew out of approximately 975 in total. The sinking of the SS Atlantic was the largest maritime disaster of its time, preceding the Titanic disaster by nearly 40 years. 

The SS Atlantic was on her 19th crossing from Liverpool, England to New York when she was met with tragedy. She was plowing through a stormy weather throughout the voyage and was facing a delay. Concerned that the ship was running low on coal, Captain James Williams diverted the ship to Halifax, Nova Scotia to resupply.

Captain James Agnew Williams

However, the crew was woefully unfamiliar with the dangerously rocky coast of Nova Scotia. As a precaution, Captain Williams planned to stop the ship for the night once light from the Sambro Island Lighthouse would be spotted to the ship's port (left) side, which he calculated should be visible by 3:00AM. At 12:20AM, the captain retired from the bridge to take a short nap. He gave orders to Second Officer Henry Metcalf, the officer at the watch, to wake him up if the Sambro Lighthouse was spotted or if the time was 3AM. He also gave a separate order to his steward to wake him up at 2:40AM.
At 2:45AM, the steward was on his way to wake the captain, but was stopped by Officer Metcalf. For reasons unknown, Metcalf refused to wake the captain, stubbornly insisting that they were safe as long as the lighthouse was not seen. Not even the warnings of the helmsman who had been to Halifax could sway Metcalf. And so, 3AM came and went, but the captain was still asleep, the lighthouse was not spotted, and the ship was speeding through gale winds at full speed.

Unbeknownst to the crew, strong currents had pushed the ship 20 km, or 12.5 miles, to the west. Sambro Island Lighthouse was actually to the ship's starboard, or right, side. The crew kept checking the port side and so missed the light that should have been visible.

At 3:15AM, the lookout yelled, “Breakers ahead!” Realizing that land was far too close, Metcalf desperately ordered to turn the ship around. But the ship was traveling too fast to make any difference. The bow crashed head-on with the Golden Rule Rock off the shores of Mars Island. The stern then swung around to the shore and slammed against another rock, tearing off the keel and the propeller blades. The ship was now completely stuck on the rocky coast. 

The shock of the collision threw everyone awake, including the captain. Once back on bridge, the captain ordered for all passengers to be evacuated immediately and for the distress rockets to be fired to call for rescue. 

Panic-stricken and unable to collect their thoughts, passengers were scurrying around in total darkness, gathering belongings and looking for loved ones. Those who managed to get out of their cabins were crowded at the narrow staircases, unable to escape the fast-sinking ship. On top of the boat deck, lifeboats were either washed off or dashed against the ship's hull by the crashing waves, killing all onboard. Among the dead was Second Officer Metcalf. The distress rocket exploded onboard the ship, and the crewmen firing them dropped all remaining rockets into the sea. All avenues of escape had failed.

Suddenly, the ship rolled to its side, catching everyone off guard and drowning all women and children still crowded in the stern section. A survivor later described this cataclysm, "I then heard a dismal wail which was fearful to listen to. It proceeded from the steerage passengers below, who were then smothering. It did not last more than two minutes, when all was still as death." 

Passengers and crew were hanging onto the railings or were climbing onto the bow and the very nearly horizontal masts for higher ground. Many were swept away by the pounding waves. The ship was shredding in half and was now lying on its side. Waters were bursting out of the portholes. Everyone was struggling futilely against the inevitable. Then Quartermaster John Speakman and the others saw Golden Rule Rock and formed a new escape plan.

Speakman secured ropes to the rock from the bow of the ship, and ordered the surviving men to hang onto the ropes and move toward the rock, hoping the rock would provide a safer footing. After much struggle and more loss of life along the way, as many as 100 or 200 survivors were now standing on Golden Rule Rock. The same rock that blew a deathblow to SS Atlantic became salvation to her survivors!

Miraculously, Quartermaster Robert Thomas had been washed ashore and managed to alert the residents of Mars Island, who then banded together to rescue the stricken survivors.

Upon the aftermath of the disaster, approximately 550 had died out of the 952 or 975 onboard. Particularly devastating was that no women and only one child had survived. The sinking of the SS Atlantic was the deadliest maritime disaster in North Atlantic until the sinking of the SS La Bourgogne in 1898. It was also the worst disaster for her parent company, the White Star Line, until the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. This senseless tragedy could have been prevented had Office Metcalf humbly obeyed a simple order from his superior.

SS Atlantic during body and cargo recovery

Had Officer Metcalf obeyed the captain’s direct order to wake him up at 3AM, had he listened to Quartermaster Thomas’ warnings, or had he allowed the captain's steward do his duty, Captain Williams would have been awake before 3AM, and the ship would have stopped for the night. Then in the morning, everyone would have realized in horror how close the ship was to the shore. And most importantly, no lives would have been lost so needlessly. How much difference a simple act of disobedience makes!

Officer Metcalf's disobedience was a defiance to the captain’s authority and showed that he did not trust his superior, only himself. And when the ship was sinking, a fight broke out between Metcalf and the captain in another astonishing display of insubordination. The captain deemed the lifeboats to be too dangerous to launch because of the stormy seas, but Metcalf insisted for the lifeboat to be lowered along with the other mob of men. Suddenly, the lifeboat crashed into the sea, and Metcalf and everyone onboard lost their lives. Thinking he knew better than his superior, Metcalf knew nothing of what he was doing.

How often are we prone to do the same with God! When God instructed Adam and Even not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they decided instead to trust in the words of a serpent and ate the fruit. And that simple act of disobedience led to the entrance of sin into the world. Every wicked deed, thought, and every tragedy and suffering (including the SS Atlantic disaster) all stem back to that one moment of mistrust, pride, and disobedience. 

When God promised Abraham that he would have his son and descendants through the aging Sarah, Abraham instead married Hagar to fulfill that promise himself. For after all, how could an elderly couple possibly even hope to have a child? However, this lack of faith led to a tension that tore the family apart and eventually, to the seemingly never-ending conflict between the descendants of Ishmael and of Isaac. 

And finally, when Jesus told His disciples that He was to be crucified and resurrected, Judas Iscariot instead did what he deemed a better idea: betray Jesus to the priests and the rabbis so that He would reveal His divinity and become the kingly Messiah he and many other Jews hoped for. However, Jesus was instead captured, beaten, and crucified by His own people. Devastated, Judas took his own life.

We may look at these examples and say we would not have done the same in their position, but are we really any better? How often do we continually make plans and take actions of our own will and not ask for God's will? How often do we turn down God's calling and simply take our own path, thinking that obeying would lead us to something uncomfortable? How often do we think that God is giving us a stone or a serpent instead of bread or a fish, just because His will does not line up with ours?

Because of our sinful nature, we are inclined for pride and mistrust, two traits that lead to disobedience. Many times, our own paths feel so much better than God's even though He has "thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jeremiah 29:11). The many tragic stories in the Bible tell us that disobedience, prompted by lack of faith, only leads to unnecessary sadness, heartache, and regret. Worst of all, it robs us of the blessing God wanted to give us.

As the master entrusted the talents to his three servants, Jesus has entrusted the world to His followers. As stewards of the world, we have a responsibility to be its light and salt. If we persist in our own mistrust and pride by not investing our gifts to do God's work and not obeying His commandments, we not only risk the fate of the servant who did not use his one talent, we also lead others down to our path of destruction. Just as Metcalf's disobedience, mistrust, and pride led SS Atlantic and all onboard to crash against Golden Rule Rock, we, along with the others we have caused to stumble, will be rebelling against the Almighty God and be destroyed.

The Bible refers to God many times as the rock of salvation and strength. Jesus once said, "…the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner...whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matthew 21:42,44). Daniel chapter 2 has a vision in which a metallic statue representing kingdoms of the world is destroyed by a stone "cut out of the mountain without hands" (Daniel 2:45).

 The same Rock will destroy all those who choose to be in rebellion against Him; yet, the same Rock is there not to condemn, but to save. Just as the same rock that destroyed SS Atlantic became salvation to her survivors, the same God is there to be salvation and strength to all those who will cling to Him by faith and obedience. 

Friends, this world has been in rebellion against an Almighty and Righteous God, and it is headed towards judgment and destruction. If we persist in our pride, mistrust, and disobedience, we will be partaking in that destruction. Yet, God "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Friends, let us not forsake this love. Let us forsake our sins, go forward to the throne of grace, and entrust our lives to the One who willingly took our punishment. Let us be as the wise man who built his house upon the rock and build our lives upon Jesus Christ, our Rock of salvation. 

Will you hide yourself in the Rock of Ages, cleft for you and me?

Afterword:
I had the privilege of watching videos about SS Atlantic from the team behind an upcoming game Titanic: Honor and Glory. Learning about this forgotten disaster was upsetting and inspired me to write this devotion. For further research, you can look up more about SS Atlantic through these videos, through the SS Atlantic Heritage Society, and through the book SS Atlantic: the White Star Line's First Disaster at Sea by Greg Cochkanoff and Bob Chaulk. 

This blog post is dedicated to the passengers and crew, perished and survived, in the sinking of SS Atlantic in April 1, 1873.

Links:

Amazon page for SS Atlantic by Greg Cochkanoff and Bob Chaulk

The Wreck of the SS Atlantic Documentary

SS Atlantic Real Time Sinking Documentary

SS Atlantic Heritage Park Society - Official Website