Owing to the dense fog which prevailed on the Sound on Thursday the 13th inst., the boats from the East were detained above Hurlgate. The splendid steamer Cornelius Vanderbilt, of the Stonington and New York line, about half past five o’clock Friday morning while on her way to this city, ran ashore on the flats at East Randall’s Island, which flats are exposed at low water. When the hands saw the danger the boat was in, they attempted to throw out the anchor; but the chain caught in the windlass, and it did not reach the bottom so as to hold her. The boat swung around with the whole force of the tide, and grounded abreast of the island. The officers were afraid to use steam, as the boat might dash against the neighboring rocks, and perhaps be seriously damaged. The Connecticut came alongside and waited till 10 o’clock, when she took off her passengers—one hundred and twenty in number—and the mails, and brought them to the city. During Saturday and Sunday, the 18th and 10th, her builder, Mr. J. Simonson of Greenpoint, and his ship carpenters and caulkers were at work repairing the damage done by the rocks, and at high tide, the water having been pumped out of her, she came off easily. As the furniture had all been taken out of her lower cabin before the salt water reached it, the damage to the steamer will be very little. Her owners had intended to take her out of service next week for the purpose of strapping her hull with diagonal iron bracing, and this accident will only cause her to be dry docked a few days earlier than they had designed. The steamer came down to the city on Sunday, and is now at the Marine Railway, Long Island.
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, New York, NY, December 29, 1855
