February 18, 1879 the 1,300 ton freighter Surbiton sailed out of New York for Rotterdam. Captain Abbott, her master, was making only his second or third crossing since being promoted from first mate. After leaving the U.S.A. he headed out into the North Atlantic. Abbott, his twenty-eight man crew, $100.000 in cargo and the ship were never seen again.

In April the master of SS Regent reported that he had found wreckage and a lifeboat that bore the name Surbiton on Mar. 18 at 39N - 61W (660 miles east of New York, 370 miles south of Halifax), but found no bodies or any clue as to what had happened.