CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

SS Atlantic (1870)

transatlantic liner

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ1473287
Source-derived summary

SS Atlantic was a transatlantic ocean liner of the White Star Line, and second ship of the Oceanic-class. The ship operated between Liverpool, United Kingdom, and New York City, United States.

During the ship's 19th voyage, on 1 April 1873, she struck rocks and sank off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, killing at least 535 people. It remained the deadliest civilian maritime disaster in the North Atlantic Ocean until the sinking of the La Bourgogne on 4 July 1898 and the greatest disaster for the White Star Line prior to the sinking of the Titanic on 15 April 1912.

History

Atlantic was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast in 1870, as one of the four Oceanic-class liners. The other vessels were Republic, Oceanic and Baltic. She was the second ship of the class. The four liners were built for the newly created Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, commonly referred to as the White Star Line. Her primary propulsion was a four-cylinder compound condensing steam engine producing 600 horsepower (450 kW) driving a single propeller giving her a speed of 14.5 knots (26.9 km/h; 16.7 mph). The engines were made by George Forrester and Company at the Vauxhall foundry, Liverpool.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “SS Atlantic (1870)” is transatlantic liner. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Atlantic, transatlantic and liner, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1873, 1898, 1912, 1870—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Atlantic, transatlantic and liner is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “transatlantic liner” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1473287. Authority coordinates are 44.442, -63.732. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1873, 1898, 1912 and 1870.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “SS Atlantic (1870)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow SS Atlantic (1870) primary sources, SS Atlantic (1870) archive and Atlantic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “SS Atlantic (1870)”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from SS Atlantic (1870)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.