The Worst Maritime Disaster in the United States

While researching my family heritage (see post dated December 30, 2009) my brother directed me to a website that mentioned the sinking of the SS Sultana, known as the worst maritime disaster in the United States. "The SS What?", you ask. Exactly!

After seeing the site my brother directed me to, I got thinking. How could a shipping disaster that claimed more lives than the sinking of the Titanic go unnoticed? Show me one history book that mentions the SS Sultana. While, local history texts may mention it, on a national level the event is no where to be found. According to Fire Service History, two books have been written about the incident. Neither, however, are mainstream. The first is The Sultana Tragedy: America's Greatest Maritime Disaster by Jerry O. Potter. The second, Disaster on the Mississippi: The Sultana Explosion, April 27, 1865 by Gene Eric Salecker. So I again ask, how does a shipping disaster that claimed more lives than the Titanic go unnoticed?

To begin with, the SS Sultana was a steamship operating on the Mississippi River. During the Civil War, the ship was used to transport Union soldiers and supplies into the Confederacy. On April 27, 1865 when the SS Sultana sank, the war was nearly over. The Sultana began transporting Union prisoners of war back to St. Louis. En route, the steamship had to stop in Vicksburg for some repairs to one of the boilers and take on more passengers. Although the ship was only certified to carry 376, more than 2,000 were believed to be on board. At approximately 2 a.m. on April 27, 1865, the hasty repairs to the boiler gave way causing the ship to explode. Because the Sultana was heading upstream against the strong spring currents, the ship required more steam (and thus more pressure) to sail upriver. The ship was also listing because of the excessive weight from overcrowding. The boiler explosion killed more than 1,500 people. Official estimates are 1,547, but many historians believe that upwards of 1,800 were sent to their deaths. Official reports point to the boiler explosion as the cause, but a Confederate sabotage theory has also been advanced.

Casualties from the RMS Titanic number 1,517, thirty less than the estimates from the SS Sultana, yet the Sultana has been forgotten by history. Why? Because of when it sank. On April 27, 1865, the United States was mourning the loss of President Lincoln who had been assassinated two weeks earlier. As the first U.S. President to be assassinated, Lincoln's death held the nation captive for several months. Lincoln's body would not be laid to rest until the following month after a long tour around the country. Immediately following Lincoln's assassination, the conspiracy to kill several key government officials became known. This too turned the nation's attention away from a small steamship that sank on the Mississippi River and thus relegated the SS Sultana into near oblivion.