The Wreck Of Le Lyonnais, A French Steamship That Sank In 1856, Was Just Discovered Off The Coast Of Massachusetts

Le Lyonnais sank in November 1856 after colliding with another vessel, leading to the deaths of 114 passengers and crew members.

Atlantic Wreck SalvageMembers of Atlantic Wreck Salvage prepare to search the wreckage of Le Lyonnais.

In 1856, the French steamship Le Lyonnais sank off the coast of Massachusetts after colliding with another vessel, the Adriatic. The damage from the collision led to the deaths of 114 of the 132 people on board. Although lifeboats were deployed, storms and cold weather claimed the lives of most of those who initially escaped, leaving only a handful of survivors.

For more than a century, shipwreck hunters have searched for Le Lyonnais with little success. In 2016, the group Atlantic Wreck Salvage launched a new search. Now, eight years later, divers have located the remnants of the ship off the coast of Massachusetts.

The rusted engine cylinder and other artifacts confirmed the vessel’s identity. While the remains of Le Lyonnais are too deteriorated to be raised, the discovery provided closure to the explorers and honored the memory of those who perished.

The Sinking Of ‘Le Lyonnais’ Off The Coast Of New England

According to a Facebook post by D/V Tenacious, the dive vessel that located the wreckage, the 260-foot French steamship Le Lyonnais was built by the English company Laird & Sons in 1855 for Compagnie Franco-Américaine. The boat was meant to join five other steamships that would make transatlantic trips for both passenger travel and mail service.

D/V Tenacious/Atlantic Wreck SalvageA drawing of Le Lyonnais printed in The Times on Dec. 27, 1856.

Le Lyonnais, which featured both sails and a steam engine, also was one of the first ships equipped with a screw propeller and an iron hull.

In January 1856, Le Lyonnais made its maiden voyage across the Atlantic. However, it was only in service for several months before tragedy struck.

On Nov. 2, 1856, Le Lyonnais was departing the United States for Le Havre, France, when a sailing ship called the Adriatic struck the vessel and tore a small hole in its hull.

The crew of the Adriatic noticed that their ship did not suffer any major damage and assumed the same was true for Le Lyonnais. For this reason, the Adriatic did not stop and instead set course to the closest port for repairs. Back at sea, however, Le Lyonnais was in deep trouble. The small hole that the Adriatic believed to be inconsequential was actually a fatal blow.

D/V Tenacious/Atlantic Wreck SalvageDiver Joe Mazraani unearthing part of the ship’s rigging.

Three days after Le Lyonnais was struck, the ship sank, killing 114 of the 132 passengers and crew on board. While many people were initially able to escape, all but one of the lifeboats were ultimately lost at sea as well. When a German barque called the Elise came upon the last lifeboat a week later while traveling from Baltimore to Europe, the 16 people on board were the only remaining survivors of Le Lyonnais.

“Another terrible calamity has occurred at sea,” the New-York Daily Times reported on Nov. 15, 1856. “The captain and some 40 persons took to a raft which is believed to have gone to pieces early, many lives being lost.”

For the past 168 years, people have been searching for the wreckage of Le Lyonnais — and now the ship has finally been located.

A Wreck Salvage Company Finds ‘Le Lyonnais’ 168 Years Later

In the late 2000s, shipwreck hunter Eric Takakjian began searching for the wreck off the coast of New England to no avail. Then, in 2016, Joe Mazraani and Jennifer Sellitti of Atlantic Wreck Salvage joined Takakjian in the hunt. After eight years of reviewing historical data and searching the ocean floor using sonar, they finally found success in August 2024.

Sonar picked up the wreckage about 140 miles off the coast of Nantucket. Divers then confirmed the remains belonged to Le Lyonnais thanks to the ship’s unique engine cylinder.

D/V Tenacious/Atlantic Wreck SalvageThe rusted engine cylinder of Le Lyonnais was instrumental in identifying the shipwreck.

“Finding it in some ways is closure, in some ways is the end,” Sellitti told the Associated Press. “In some ways it’s the beginning — documenting it, determining what is down there and what should be brought up. This was a very early example of a steam engine.”

Nearly two centuries of life beneath the waves has deteriorated Le Lyonnais past the point of raising the vessel, but the Atlantic Wreck Salvage team has unearthed several artifacts, like a part of the ship’s rigging, from the wreckage.

Atlantic Wreck SalvageAtlantic Wreck Salvage members the pose with portholes from the wreck in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

The discovery of Le Lyonnais was a euphoric moment for the crew. For Sellitti, who authored a book about the wreck titled The Adriatic Affair: A Maritime Hit-and-Run off the Coast of Nantucket, the discovery signaled a conclusion to the mystery that had haunted her for nearly a decade.

“Being able to find this ship, I felt like I was giving closure to the people who suffered there,” Sellitti told The New York Times proudly.

After reading about the discovery of the French steamship that sank in 1856, dive into the stories of nine of history’s most famous shipwrecks. Then, read about the hunt for the SS Central America, the ship that sank carrying 15 tons of gold.