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N0KFQ > TODAY 27.04.11 19:09l 48 Lines 2120 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 7055_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Apr 27
Path: IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<VE3UIL<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 110427/1655Z 7055@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Apr 27, 1865:
Union soldiers die in steamship explosion
The steamboat Sultana explodes on the Mississippi River near
Memphis, killing 1,700 passengers including many discharged Union
soldiers.
The Sultana was launched from Cincinnati in 1863. The boat was
260 feet long and had an authorized capacity of 376 passengers
and crew. It was soon employed to carry troops and supplies along
the lower Mississippi River.
On April 25, 1865, the Sultana left New Orleans with 100
passengers. It stopped at Vicksburg, Mississippi, for repair of a
leaky boiler. R. G. Taylor, the boilermaker on the ship, advised
Captain J. Cass Mason that two sheets on the boiler had to be
replaced, but Mason ordered Taylor to simply patch the plates
until the ship reached St. Louis. Mason was part owner of the
riverboat, and he and the other owners were anxious to pick up
discharged Union prisoners at Vicksburg. The federal government
promised to pay $5 for each enlisted man and $10 for each officer
delivered to the North. Such a contract could pay huge dividends,
and Mason convinced local military authorities to pick up the
entire contingent despite the presence of two other steamboats at
Vicksburg.
When the Sultana left Vicksburg, it carried 2,100 troops and 200
civilians, more than six times its capacity. On the evening of
April 26, the ship stopped at Memphis before cruising across the
river to pick up coal in Arkansas. As it steamed up the river
above Memphis, a thunderous explosion tore through the boat.
Metal and steam from the boilers killed hundreds, and hundreds
more were thrown from the boat into the chilly waters of the
river. The Mississippi was already at flood stage, and the
Sultana had only one lifeboat and a few life preservers. Only 600
people survived the explosion. A board of inquiry later
determined the cause to be insufficient water in the
boiler--overcrowding was not listed as a cause. The Sultana
accident is still the largest maritime disaster in U.S. history.
73, K.O. N0KFQ
Another old retired guy
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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