4. The collision of SS Princess Alice and SS Bywell Castle was the largest waterway loss of life in British history, resulting in the deaths of between 600-700 passengers.
Formerly known as PS Bute, SS Princess Alice was a passenger paddle steamer operating as a transport vessel between London and Gravesend. Captained by William R.H. Grinstead and with a capacity of 936 passengers, during an evening return on September 3, 1878, to Swan Pier, situated near London Bridge, the boat encountered a collier: SS Bywell Castle. Weighing more than three times the weight of the steamer, the oceanic coal transport met the Alice mid-river. Whilst Grinstead maneuvered his ship into the correct passing position, the collier did not, instead placing itself directly into the path of the smaller vessel.
Striking Princess Alice on her starboard side, the passenger ship was split in two. Sinking within four minutes, despite efforts by the crew of Bywell Castle to rescue survivors from the water most were unable to swim and wearing heavy clothing. Carrying a near-full contingent of passengers, it is estimated that between six to seven hundred people died in the largest loss of life of any British waterway accident. Although subsequent investigations did not directly point blame at either party, despite evidence suggesting Bywell Castle was more at fault, just five years later the collier sunk off in the Bay of Biscay killing all forty crewmen.