The Adriatic Affair

After more than eight years of research, shipwreck hunter Jennifer Sellitti has delivered the first and definitive account of the sinking of Le Lyonnais and the hunt for Captain Jonathan Durham.

The American sailing vessel Adriatic collided with the French steamship Le Lyonnais on November 2, 1856, off the coast of Nantucket in what can best be described as a maritime hit-and-run. Adriatic’s captain, Jonathan Durham, rendered no aid and left the passenger steamship to fend for herself. 114 people died in the collision and in the days that followed.

Durham did not count on a hero, French sailor Jean-Marie-Louis Choupault, who helped 18 Le Lyonnais passengers and crew adrift on a small lifeboat in the brutal North Atlantic. Durham continued with business as usual, including delivering a load of timber to France. French authorities seized his ship as damages and put him on trial, but his adventures did not end there. News of his daring escapades made Durham a celebrity in America. The outbreak of the Civil War ended further inquiry into what became known in diplomatic circles as “the Adriatic affair,” and the victims of the disaster never received justice.

In August of 2024, Jennifer, her partner Joe Mazraani, and a team of explorers discovered, dived, and identified the wreckage of Le Lyonnais on the eastern edges of Georges Bank. The book includes an epilogue that chronicles what it takes to chase shipwrecks far from shore in the often-punishing North Atlantic, the search for and discovery of Le Lyonnais, and how it changed their lives.