In the early morning hours of May 29, 1914, the luxury passenger ship Empress of Ireland collided with the Norwegian collier Storstad. Over 1000 on board the Empress perished.
Category: Episodes
Episode releases, images, show notes, and sources.
Wrecktoberfest – Volume 2: Ghosts of the Queen Mary
The RMS Queen Mary served as a luxury passenger liner in the 20th Century, and even as a transport ship during World War 2. Now it is known as one of the most haunted places in the world.
Wrecktoberfest: Volume 1
Wrecktoberfest special! The spooky tales of the ghost ship Ourang Medan, and the haunted St. Augustine Lighthouse.
The Andrea Doria – The Pride of Italy
In 1956, the Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm in dense fog off Nantucket Island. The beautiful and luxurious ship was lost to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Tragedy of the Estonia
On September 28, 1994, the passenger and vehicle ferry MV Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea, killing 852 people on board. The exact cause of its demise is still controversial.
Episode 3: The Summit Venture and the Sunshine Skyway Bridge
On the morning of May 9th, 1980, the cargo freighter Summit Venture rammed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida. Harbor Pilot Captain John Lerro lost all visuals and radar during a terrible and violent microburst, and veered out of the channel. Thirty-five motorists plunged to their deaths after the south span of the…
Episode 2: The S.S. Sultana Part 2
Carrying over 2200 passengers and crew, and with an improperly repaired boiler, the Sultana left Vicksburg heading north up the Mississippi River. In the early morning hours of April 27th, 1865, three out of the four boilers suddenly exploded. Despite rescue efforts, about 1200 people lost their lives. Jerry Potter, author of The Sultana Tragedy:…
Episode 1: The S.S. Sultana Part 1
In April of 1865, the Civil War was coming to an end. Robert E. Lee surrendered, and soon other Confederate generals would surrender as well. Thousands of Union soldiers remained in Confederate prison camps, and the Confederare government agreed to release them. Many of these men were sent to Camp Fisk, a few miles from Vicksburg, Mississippi. Here, they would wait until steamboats could arrive to transport them back north to their homes. Jerry Potter, author of The Sultana Tragedy: America’s Greatest Maritime Disaster joins me.