On September 15, 1873 the steamer Ironsides went down in violent and rough seas in Lake Michigan. The cargo and passenger ship was tossed around and battered until the hull cracked and began leaking. The howling winds and angry waves prevented any possibility of rescue by a passing ship. Small cracks gave way to gaping holes and the water rushed in…
Category: Maritime History
The S.S. Carnatic
On September 14th, 1869, the British passenger and cargo ship S.S. Carnatic sank in the Red Sea off the east coast of Egypt. She was traveling from Alexandria to Bombay carrying 34 passengers and 176 crew, along with cargo of copper, cotton, …
The Sinking of the S.S. Austria
On September 13, 1858, the German steam and sail ship S.S. Austria was transporting passengers from Hamburg, Germany to New York City. Still in the Atlantic, about 500 miles east of Newfoundland, Captain F. A. Heydtmann ordered the ship to be fumigated. The boatswain was ordered to dip a red-hot metal chain into a bucket of tar, which would produce toxic…
The Ship of Gold
On September 12th, 1857, the SS Central America sank in the waters off Charleston, SC after being caught in a vicious hurricane. The ship had been battered, its sails torn, and its boilers flooded before finally sinking to the bottom, 8000 ft below. It has been called the “The Ship of Gold” because it was…
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.