In the early hours of 22 November 1873, Ville du Havre collided with the British three-masted iron clipper, Loch Earn and sank in 12 minutes with the loss of 226 lives.

[citation needed] Only 61 passengers and 26 crew members survived, rescued by Loch Earn and subsequently, an American vessel, Tremountain.

Launched in November 1865, she sailed on her maiden voyage from Le Havre for Brest and New York City on 26 April 1866.

[1] In September 1871, she sailed from Le Havre to Tyneside in Northern England where she was lengthened to 128.5 m (421.7 ft) by A. Leslie and Company, Hebburn-on-Tyne and her tonnage increased to 5,065 tons.

[1] On 15 November 1873, Ville du Havre sailed from New York with 313 passengers and crew on board, under the command of captain Marino Surmonte.

[6] The captain of Loch Earn, after first sighting Ville du Havre and realizing she was dangerously close, rang the ship's bell and "ported his helm", thus turning the boat to starboard.

[9] Shortly after the collision, Ville du Havre's main and mizzen masts collapsed, smashing two of the liner's life boats and killing several people.

Loch Earn, with its bow smashed in, commenced to sink as the bulkheads gave way, so she was abandoned at sea by her crew and sank shortly afterwards.

[15] Also among the victims were the French caricaturist Victor Collodion and his wife,[16] and the Venezuelan musician, lawyer and politician Felipe Larrazábal [es].

[17] Chicago lawyer and Presbyterian elder Horatio Spafford was to have been a passenger on board Ville du Havre.

[2] Spafford later wrote to Rachel, his wife's half-sister, "On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went down, in mid-ocean, the waters three miles deep.

[19] Philip Bliss, who composed the music for the hymn, called his tune Ville du Havre, after the sunken vessel.