Paddler disasters

[Paulrjordan]

Steamboat disasters were terrifying events and the "Slocum" was New
York's worst tragedy prior to September 11, 2001.

Her centennial is this year on June 15th.

A fire aboard the General Slocum on June 15, 1904, turned into the
worst maritime disaster in the New York area's history.. From its
first summer afloat in 1891, the ship, named for Civil War hero Henry
W. Slocum, was ill-fated. In the years before the fire, the
paddlewheel steamboat managed to run aground six times and collide
with four other vessels. Five weeks before the disaster, the ship was
checked by the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service, which certified its
13-year-old lifebelts as "up-to-date and of good quality." The
inspectors never checked the fire pump and hoses or noticed the 6
lifeboats were stuck to the ship by a thick coat of paint.. St.
Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, which served primarily German
immigrants in lower Manhattan, chartered the aging Slocum for its
17th annual excursion to the Locust Grove Picnic Ground on Eatons
Neck.. The death toll was ultimately set at 1,021.

A very good account of this can be found in Edward T. O'Donnell's
hardcover book, "SHIP ABLAZE - THE TRAGEDY OF THE STEAMBOAT GENERAL
SLOCUM" which was published last year. You can find copies of it on
Amazon for under $10.00. It's being published this year in soft cover
in time for the Centennial.

A very rare and quite valuable book (never under $US60.00) is Northrup
and Howell's 1904 account of the "General Slocum" disaster called
"NEW YORK'S AWFUL STEAMBOAT HORROR."

The third book on the subject comes from Claude Rust in his 1981 work
called "THE BURNING OF THE GENERAL SLOCUM". Again this is fairly
expensive at not generally found under US50.00.

I am sure there must be a whole host of websites devoted to this as
the disaster reaches it's 100th Anniversary.

I also have historical and model building information on "Sultana"
somewhere buried in my mountain of "papers to sort- one day!". A
fairly good book on the subject was written by James Elliott in 1962
called "TRANSPORT TO DISASTER." Easy to find at under US$15.00.

These two events rank amongst the worst American paddler disasters
but we should also remember the sinkings of the "Portland"
and "Actic". I'm sure there must be many more and I'd be very
interested in hearing from any Paddleducks who can contribute more on
this subject.

I became interested in paddler disasters after meeting Bill Ballenger
the noted modeler who had built a magnificent museum model of the ill-
fated American sidewheeler "Central America". He lent me the book by
Gary Kinder called "SHIP OF GOLD IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA: The History
and Discovery of America's Richest Shipwreck" which deals with her
sinking and eventual deep sea recovery of one of the world's greatest
treasure troves of gold and artifacts. It also captures vividly the
indescribable horror of a major ship disaster. It's very well worth
reading and hardcover copies are widely available for under US$5.00.

I have since developed an interest in paddler disasters as they
inspire excellent modeling subjects which not only capture important
moments in history but also provide a very tangible tribute to those
who perished under what must have been terrifying circumstances.

A little known British paddler disaster occurred in 1878 when the
paddle steamer "Princess Alice" collided with the collier "Bywell
Castle" near Woolwich on the Thames in England and sank in less than
4 minutes with a loss of 640 lives. This is accounted in a book
called "THE GREAT THAMES DISASTER" by Gavin Thurston and published in
1965.

Now, I wonder if there are any other paddler disasters throughout the
world which match the horror and loss of life of the ones I've
referred to? I'd be very interested to hear.

PJ

[Paulrjordan]

Just for the record. The Great Lakes excursion steamer "Eastland"
which sunk at her pier in Chicago in 1915 with the loss of over 800
lives has sometimes been referred to as a "sidewheeler". Just for the
record, she was actually a twin propeller.

PJ

[TEX]

Thanks to all for the interesting stories. Due to my interest in
Civil War history, I had read about the Sultana several years ago,
but didn't remember the her name. The website article was much more
detailed than the one I read. I never figured steam to have that
much explosive power to be seen miles away. ... ) TEX

[rshogan]

Hi,
I'm new to this list and have been following this thread with some interest. I have worked with steam being in the heating business, and it sure can be dangerous. Figuring that water water at 0 psi turns to steam at 212 deg., at about 100 psi, water turns to steam 330 deg. at abt. 200 psi, it's steam at about 400 deg. With the boilers leaking they must have been filling the boilers with water and firing at full tilt. Evidently they over fired and had no way to put the fire out or for the steam to escape. Probably melted the skin off of more than a few.
The firemen on these boats really had a lot of responsibility, it wasn't just shoving in wood or coal. With a modern steam boiler if it over fires, controls will shut the heat source down, but these wood and coal fired boilers reacted slowly and you would have to anticipate when to stop firing as the pressure or temperature goes up.
Just my 2 cents.
Robert

[Paulrjordan]

Hi Robert and welcome to Paddleducks...yes, the power of steam is
tremendous and one can't help but feel moved at the incredible pain
which must have been inflicted by so many in paddle steamer boiler
explosions..of which there were MANY!

As the "General Slocum" Centennial approached in June, you and other
PD's might be interested in some of the events which are being
planned in New York to commemmorate the horrifying event.

Lots of information can be found on the Greater Astoria Historical
Society Website at:
http://www.astorialic.org/events/slocum_ann2.shtm

There you will also find images taken from the 1904 Book "New York's
Awful Steamboat Horror". Some of them are quite disturbing and
illustrate vividly the horror of the event.

The Maritime Industry Museum, founded in 1986 and located on the
campus of the SUNY-Maritime College campus at Fort Schuyler, NY, has
had as one of its prime missions promoting the remembrance of the
Slocum disaster. The museum has a permanent exhibit on the Slocum
which they claim includes the only known model of the steamer, a
collection of vintage and contemporary photos, books from 2004 and
other memorabilia. The museum has held seminars on the disaster,
water borne memorials, and an annual service at the Slocum Fountain
in Manhattan.

Their website can be found at:
http://www.maritimeindustrymuseum.org/slocum.htm

Adella Wotherspoon, the last survivor of the General Slocum disaster
died in February of this year.

On Tuesday, June 15, 2004, the History Channel will air a documentary
on the Slocum disaster.

PJ
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

[Brian Peck]

I thought I read somewhere recently that the last living survivor of
the General Slocum disaster had just died.

Also, has anyone else noted the article on the BBC news website
(under South Asia) about Bangladesh's paddle steamers. It's
called "Rocket power on Bangladesh rivers". Kind of interesting
though lacking good pictures.

Brian