'In 1889, a wooden-hulled ship and an iron-hulled ship collided, with disastrous results for the steamship. '
Late one night in 1889 on the English Channel, the 210-foot-long wooden-hulled cargo ship Vandalia collided head-on with the massive 3,000-ton, 380-foot-long iron-hulled steamship Duke of Buccleugh. In a matter of minutes, the Duke of Buccleugh disappeared beneath the waves, taking her captain and the entire crew of 47 with her. The Vandalia was damaged but did not sink. Historians at a loss to explain the collision's curious outcome have tended to blame the Duke's captain.