The Mohegan Letter

S.S.Mohegan
Dover.
Oct 13th 1898


Dear Sir,
We left Gravesend at 2.30 P.M. & arrived at Dover at 7.30. The firemen are not quite up to the mark just yet so that we have been kept for steam. I am pleased to say that there is no sign of leaks in the ?????? but there are a few rivets & parts of the shell leaking and 1 check valve slightly.

We have been making 62 revolutions on 175lbs steam. The HP crank pin has been working warm & has had water on but getting her away again now. I have just come off the boiler tops & find all right except Port main stop valve has a pump on the spindle. I hope this will disappear on a full head of steam. We have three engineers on watch in the channel keeping 14 hour watches.

Just as the dinner was about to be served all the lights went out owing to a fuse burning out. On the whole I think they are satisfactory.

I sent the drawings you wired me on by Mr.Melvin.

Trusting that this will find you better & that we shall have a good voyage.

I am Dear Sir
Yours most respectfully
W.Kinley




This letter was written by W Kinley, the Mohegan's assistant engineer, from the Mohegan the day before the vessel's loss on the Manacles. It was sent to the engineering superintendent of the Atlantic Transport Line. The letter was kept in a desk virtually undisturbed until the 1970s and its significance has only just been appreciated.

Jonathan Kinghorn of Lexington, Massachussetts, is the great grandson of the engineering superintendent for the ATL and he read about the Mohegan on our website. He kindly sent me a copy of the letter which I have transcribed above as well as a scanned copy of the original.

W.Kinley was drowned in the Mohegan disaster and his body was taken from St Keverne church to London for burial.

Terry Moyle
27 March 2006