The Wreck of "The London"
The sky darkened over the English Channel as Captain Martin Graves gripped the railing of *The London*, his fingers white from cold and tension. The steamship, a proud vessel bound for Australia, had set sail from Plymouth just days before, carrying hundreds of passengers—wealth seekers, families, and merchants—all chasing the promise of a new world. But on this fateful evening in January 1866, the sea had other plans. A storm had risen suddenly, as if summoned from the depths. The wind howled like a chorus of lost souls, and the waves reared up like towering cliffs of water. Rain lashed the decks, and the ship groaned under the onslaught. The *London* was a mighty ship, but no vessel could stand against nature’s fury forever. Below deck, terror spread faster than the rising water. The second-class cabins were filled with cries of panic. Children clung to their mothers, and men fought their way to the upper decks, desperate for air. In the...