Ortigia Strikes Oncle Joseph and Maria P (1880&1895)

“The Ortigia, on her previous voyage, had a collision in the same spot with a French steamer, and this fact adds strength to the belief that she was responsible for this morning’s disaster” - The New York Times, July 22nd, 1895. Though the two accidents were fifteen years apart the two disasters had some striking similarities. On both occasions, the Ortigia had struck an emigrant ship full of sleeping passengers at night, and on both occasions, the Ortigia was found to not be at fault. Not only that but on both occasions the accident had happened off of La Spezia, Italy. It was enough to catch anyone’s attention.  Ship Name: Oncle Joseph  Tonnage: 823 Year Built: Unknown Ship Type: Iron Screw Propelled Steamship  Nationality: French Location Wrecked: Of La Spezia  Reason For Wreck: Collision with the Ortigia  Year Wrecked: 1880 Lives Lost: 238 Ship Name: Maria P  Tonnage: 772 Year Built: 1886 Nationality: Italian  Ship Type: Iron Hulled Screw Propelled Steamer Location Wrecked: Off La Spezia  Reason For Wreck: Collision with the Ortigia  Year Wrecked: 1895 Lives Lost: 148 Sources:  https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/florio.shtml https://books.google.com/books?id=k9VCAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA573&dq=oncle+joseph+ortiga+1880&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqvbOIqZKBAxW_lIkEHZYgDQ84ChDoAXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=oncle%20joseph%20ortiga%201880&f=false https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196567066?searchTerm=oncle%20joseph https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3750501/3750504/14/uncle%20joseph%20italian%20ship https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053704/1880-11-30/ed-1/seq-2/ /https://www.franceandcolonies.org/docs/FIRST_MARITIME_CONNECTIONS_WITH_MADAGASCAR_by_Luc_Monteret.pdf https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267146579?searchTerm=oncle%20joseph https://books.google.com/books?id=x1As_Nss03MC&pg=PA242&dq=oncle+joseph+ortiga+1880&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwih2OnSqJKBAxVkjIkEHWuXBe4Q6AF6BAgIEAI#v=onepage&q=oncle%20joseph%20ortiga%201880&f=false https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/209047136?searchTerm=maria%20p%20ortigia https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/62119201?searchTerm=oncle%20joseph https://books.google.com/books?id=8e5VAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1348&dq=oncle+joseph+ortiga+1880&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijlNOgqZKBAxVOrokEHeUsDkw4FBDoAXoECA0QAg#v=onepage&q=oncle%20joseph%20ortiga%201880&f=false https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/238524952?searchTerm=maria%20p%20ortigia https://law.justia.com/cases/foreign/international/1927-pcij-series-a-no-10.html https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1895/07/22/103368769.html?pageNumber=1 https://newspaperarchive.com/decatur-bulletin-sentinel-jul-27-1895-p-6/ https://books.google.com/books?id=_mbUAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA184&dq=maria+P+1895+ship+ortigia&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj36rDSvLKBAxXnjokEHZHtCOMQ6AF6BAgFEAI#v=onepage&q=maria%20P%201895%20ship%20ortigia&f=false