Watch stops 5 minutes after Ship Explodes !

[Webwatchmaker]

The boiler of the Steam Boat 'Pulaski' exploded at 11.00pm in 1838 and the watch hands are said to show it stopped just five minutes later. Hmmm !

Looks like a very nice 18ct English lever fusée. With a gold champlevé dial.





Over the years I've been sent the odd Rolex which didn't look much better than this watch !

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[RustyBin5]

Or it was running 5 mins fast

[200mwaterresistant]

Nautical time.

[PickleB]

According to Wiki:

That night at about 11 p.m., when the ship was 30 miles off the coast of North Carolina, the starboard boiler exploded, destroying the middle of the ship. Some passengers were killed immediately. Knocked out by the explosion, the mate Mr. Hibberd assessed the small boats and put three in the water. Because two had been over exposed to sunlight, they were in poor condition, and one sank immediately. Ten persons got in one boat and eleven, including Hibberd in another. They started rowing away from the sinking ship, which went down in 45 minutes.

...so immersion could have been some time after the explosion.

[Webwatchmaker]

The hands aren't synchronised !

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[PickleB]

The hands aren't synchronised !

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I'm getting confused! Looking at the picture (rather than glancing at it) the hands look more like 10:05 than 11:05. Then this link says:

The Pulaski’s Starboard Boiler Blows Up

Around ten o’clock the night of Wednesday, June 13, 1838, the Pulaski’s starboard boiler suddenly exploded, shattering the starboard side of her mid section and dislodging the bulkhead between the boilers and the forward cabins. The explosion swept some passengers into the sea and scalded others to death. First Mate S. Hibbert, on watch at the forecastle, unsuccessfully searched for Captain Dubois who was never seen again. Panicky passengers, most of them wearing their night clothes, sought refuge on the promenade deck. The bow of the Pulaski rose out of the water and eventually she ripped apart.

See also:

• Gold watch found at 1838 shipwreck
  
  
• Full text of "The Loss of the Steamer Pulaski"

[Webwatchmaker]

It probably was 10.05 but it looks like the hour hand is midway between 10 and 11.

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[TomGW]

It probably was 10.05 but it looks like the hour hand is midway between 10 and 11.

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It does look a little like that. However, if you extend a line from the 'pip' at 4 through the centre spindle the hour hand is fairly much in line, so pointing directly at the 10 position. What appears to be the IX might be a mark on the dial. Similarly, from 6 through the centre suggests the minute hand is about 2 mins past the hour, i.e. 10:02

[Dave+63]

It does look a little like that. However, if you extend a line from the 'pip' at 4 through the centre spindle the hour hand is fairly much in line, so pointing directly at the 10 position. What appears to be the IX might be a mark on the dial. Similarly, from 6 through the centre suggests the minute hand is about 2 mins past the hour, i.e. 10:02

Can’t disagree with any of that and it’s not inconceivable that it was running 2 minutes fast.

[Webwatchmaker]

The spade of the hour hand looks slightly bent to the right. I would say it's more likely 10.02 than 11.05.

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[PickleB]

Let's not forget that most people in 1838 would be operating on some form of local mean time.

[Webwatchmaker]

Let's not forget that most people in 1838 would be operating on some form of local mean time.

I think that archaeologists often make misleading presumptions. One thing that springs to mind is the assumption that mesolithic hunter gatherers were nomadic idiots. It now appears that they not only planned for the future, but were traders in many goods including decorative cultural artifacts.

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[Umbongo]

Or it was running 5 mins fast

Most likely.

Or the owner set it to another person's watch, or a local clock or, like many,set it fast so as never to be late for an appointment, or as you say, it was simply just running fast.

I know many people in the present day who set their watch to the nearest 5 minute marker - in fact my wife even sets the microwave to a reasonably accurate, but still only approximate, time. A great many people outside of this forum don't really care about dead on accuracy in a watch.

I think one thing we can be 100% certain of is that the original owner didn't google Greenwich mean time or phone the speaking clock! :)

[RustyBin5]

Most likely.

Or the owner set it to another person's watch, or a local clock or, like many,set it fast so as never to be late for an appointment, or as you say, it was simply just running fast.

I know many people in the present day who set their watch to the nearest 5 minute marker - in fact my wife even sets the microwave to a reasonably accurate, but still only approximate, time. A great many people outside of this forum don't really care about dead on accuracy in a watch.

I think one thing we can be 100% certain of is that the original owner didn't google Greenwich mean time or phone the speaking clock! :)

Or it went down in the lifeboat that sank and it took 5 mins to do so? 🤣

[TomGW]

The reports state that 'about' or 'around' 10pm the starboard boiler exploded. I don't see any reason to assume that the watch was anything other than 100% correct at the time.

[Webwatchmaker]

The reports state that 'about' or 'around' 10pm the starboard boiler exploded. I don't see any reason to assume that the watch was anything other than 100% correct at the time.

Haha. There's always one !

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