Three days after the collision, an inquest at Woolwich Town Hall tried to establish what had happened.
Over the following ten weeks, more than 100 witnesses, including survivors from the Princess Alice, gave their accounts of the collision.
The jury returned a verdict of Death by Misadventure, accepting that the collision was an accident. However, they criticized the commanders of both vessels, claiming that:
the collier should have stopped her engines earlier
the paddle steamer should have stopped or made for the north side of the river.
The jury also criticized the number of passengers on the Princess Alice and the poor provision of lifeboats and lifebuoys.
While the local coroner was presiding over the inquest, the Board of Trade was conducting its own hearing. They concluded that both commanders had shown poor judgement. They recommended that two vessels under steam should always 'pass each other on the port side'.
The outcome
As a result of the Board of Trade enquiry, new rules for navigating the Thames came into force in 1880. The new regulations:
tightened up the procedures for steamships passing on the river
reduced the number of passengers ships could carry
increased the number of lifebelts vessels had to provide for their passengers.
Another consequence of the disaster was that the Thames Division of the Metropolitan Police equipped itself with steam launches. Up to then the police had relied on rowing galleys. The first two launches were introduced in the early 1880s.
Woolwich Town Hall at the time of the inquest. © NMM
