Bound for England from New York, the packet ship 'Albion' struck the coast of Kinsale, Ireland on April 22, 1822 during a storm. The vessel crashed into rocks of a perpendicular cliff, and citizens from a nearby neighborhood could do little in their attempt to provide assistance. This was the first disaster by a North Atlantic packet line. 46 lives were lost. Survivors wrote harrowing accounts of their experiences; one of whom was William Everhart, who was pulled to safety after standing for hours at the foot of a rock exposed to the crashing sea. He described the event to the painter Thomas Birch, who painted the scene that was later made into a print.
