Published Nov 15, 2026 2:08 PM EST Long before the Titanic, the most famous shipwreck in the US was the SS Central America. The wooden steamship helped connect San Francisco with New York City before the construction of a coast-to-coast rail network, and sank off the coast of South Carolina in 1857. 425 people died. Most people today haven’t heard of it. That loss of life alone should be reason enough for people to remember the ship.