Download or read book America s Deadliest Shipwrecks written by Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-05-28 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts of the disasters *Includes online resources and bibliographies for further reading *Includes a table of contents The Sultana is a historical footnote because of the Civil War, but it was also intimately tied to the war. Although Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox was not technically the end of the Civil War, it took one of the last remaining Confederate armies out of the field. In fact, just the day before the disaster, as the Sultana was sailing up the Mississippi River to her rendezvous with destiny, Union Army soldiers cornered and killed Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Perhaps the cruelest irony of the disaster is that the Sultana was packed full of men who had survived every conceivable trial and tribulation of the war, from wounds and sicknesses to being prisoners. Having lost hundreds of thousands, America was almost numb to the loss of a couple of thousand more, especially when many of the dead were soldiers themselves, and in a sense, it was left for future generations to try to unravel what went wrong and to pay tribute to the men who died on that dark night. Under normal conditions, a ship that sank with more than 1,000 passengers aboard - most of whom died - would be big news, yet today the sinking of the PS General Slocum is often overlooked if not entirely forgotten. While it might have generated the type of publicity and reaction of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 or the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 under normal circumstances, deadliest disaster in New York City's history before 9/11, and the second deadliest maritime disaster in peacetime in American history has become something of a historical footnote. On June 15, 1904, an annual gala was held on the passenger ship PS General Slocum as it steamed up the East River, with about 1,400 people from St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church. Consisting mostly of German immigrants, the boat was packed with women and children, and when a small fire started on the ship shortly after the trip began, faulty equipment was unable to put it out or stop it from spreading. On top of that, the lifeboats were tied up and the crew, which never conducted emergency drills, was unprepared for a potential disaster. When parents put life preservers on their children and then had them enter the water, they soon learned that the life preservers were also faulty and didn't float. As the disaster unfolded, over 1,000 passengers burned to death or drowned, many swept under the water by the East River's current and weighed down by heavy wool clothing. Few people on board knew how to swim, exacerbating the situation, and eventually the overcrowded decks began to collapse, crushing some unfortunate victims. When people discuss deadly maritime disasters during the second decade of the 20th century in which more than 800 people were killed, they're often talking about the Titanic or Lusitania, not the Eastland on the Chicago River. However, shockingly enough, on July 24, 1915, a ship full of sightseers out for a day on the Great Lakes capsized while still tied to a dock, sending more than 2,500 passengers into the frigid water. By the time the ship was righted and rescue efforts were completed, nearly 850 people had been killed. As unbelievable as the incident seemed, the Eastland was actually susceptible to just such a problem as a result of its issues with listing, and on top of that, the ship seemed to have all sorts of bad luck in its past, including a collision with another boat and even a mutiny on board. If anything, the safety protocols established after the sinking of the Titanic, most notably the inclusion of enough lifeboats on board for every passenger, made the Eastland even more top heavy and contributed to the disaster. Ultimately, several individuals were charged with crimes in connection with the Eastland disaster, but none would be found guilty.
Download or read book The SS Eastland Disaster written by Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-04-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the tragedy by survivors, witnesses and rescuers *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "And then movement caught my eye. I looked across the river. As I watched in disoriented stupefaction a steamer large as an ocean liner slowly turned over on its side as though it were a whale going to take a nap. I didn't believe a huge steamer had done this before my eyes, lashed to a dock, in perfectly calm water, in excellent weather, with no explosion, no fire, nothing. I thought I had gone crazy." - Jack Woodford, writer The Great Lakes have claimed countless thousands of vessels over the course of history, including swallowing up gigantic freighters like the Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship of its day to sail the Great Lakes and still the largest to lie below Lake Superior's murky depths. Given the dangerous conditions and precarious history associated with America's largest freshwater lakes, it's somewhat ironic that the deadliest maritime disaster took place in Chicago aboard a ship that capsized while docked to a pier. When people discuss deadly maritime disasters during the second decade of the 20th century in which more than 800 people were killed, they're often talking about the Titanic or Lusitania, not the Eastland on the Chicago River. However, shockingly enough, on July 24, 1915, a ship full of sightseers out for a day on the Great Lakes capsized while still tied to a dock, sending more than 2,500 passengers into the frigid water. By the time the ship was righted and rescue efforts were completed, nearly 850 people had been killed. As unbelievable as the incident seemed, the Eastland was actually susceptible to just such a problem as a result of its issues with listing, and on top of that, the ship seemed to have all sorts of bad luck in its past, including a collision with another boat and even a mutiny on board. If anything, the safety protocols established after the sinking of the Titanic, most notably the inclusion of enough lifeboats on board for every passenger, made the Eastland even more top heavy and contributed to the disaster. Ultimately, several individuals were charged with crimes in connection with the Eastland disaster, but none would be found guilty. The SS Eastland Disaster: The History of the Deadliest Shipwreck on the Great Lakes chronicles the story of the disaster and its aftermath. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Eastland like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book White Hurricane written by David Geren Brown and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Autumn gales have pursued mariners across the Great Lakes for centuries. On Friday, November 7, 1913, those gales captured their prey. After four days of winds up to 90 miles an hour, freezing temperatures, whiteout blizzard conditions, and mountainous seas, 19 ships had been lost, two dozen had been thrown ashore, 238 sailors were dead, and the city of Cleveland was confronting the worst natural disaster in its history. Writer and mariner David G. Brown combines narrative intensity with factual depth to re-create the events of the "perfect storm" that struck America's heartland."--Publisher's description
Download or read book Graveyard of the Pacific written by Randall Sullivan and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2023-06-06 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid portrait of the Columbia River Bar that combines maritime history, adventure journalism, and memoir, bringing alive the history—and present-- of one of the most notorious stretches of water in the world Off the coast of Oregon, the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean and forms the Columbia River Bar: a watery collision so turbulent and deadly that it’s nicknamed the Graveyard of the Pacific. Two thousand ships have been wrecked on the bar since the first European ship dared to try to cross it in the late 18th century. For decades ships continued to make the bar crossing with great peril, first with native guides and later with opportunistic newcomers, as Europeans settled in Washington and Oregon, displacing the natives and transforming the river into the hub of a booming region. Since then, the commercial importance of the Columbia River has only grown, and despite the construction of jetties on either side, the bar remains treacherous, even today a site of shipwrecks and dramatic rescues as well as power struggles between small fishermen, powerful shipowners, local communities in Washington and Oregon, the Coast Guard, and the Columbia River Bar Pilots – a small group of highly skilled navigators who help guide ships through the mouth of the Columbia. When Randall Sullivan and a friend set out to cross the bar in a two-man kayak, they’re met with skepticism and concern. But on a clear day in July 2021, when the tides and weather seem right, they embark. As they plunge through the currents that have taken so many lives, Randall commemorates the brave sailors that made the crossing before him – including his own abusive father, a sailor himself who also once dared to cross the bar – and reflects on toxic masculinity, fatherhood, and what drives men to extremes. Rich with exhaustive research and propulsive narrative, Graveyard of the Pacific follows historical shipwrecks through the moment-by-moment details that often determined whether sailors would live or die, exposing the ways in which boats, sailors, and navigation have changed over the decades. As he makes his way across the bar, floating above the wrecks and across the same currents that have taken so many lives, Randall Sullivan faces the past, both in his own life and on the Columbia River Bar.
Download or read book Shipwrecks in the Americas written by Robert F. Marx and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1987-01-01 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Expert guide to locating, surveying, excavating, identifying sunken vessels. Also detailed catalog of 4,000 wrecks arranged by year and locale. 73 illustrations. Bibliography.
Download or read book Graveyard of the Pacific written by Randall Sullivan and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2023-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid portrait of the Columbia River Bar that combines maritime history, adventure and memoir, bringing to life one of the most notorious stretches of water in the world.
Download or read book Ashes Under Water written by Michael McCarthy and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-10-07 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of the worst disaster on the Great Lakes in U.S. History. On July 24th, 1915, Chicago commuters were horrified as they watched the SS Eastland, a tourism boat taking passengers across Lake Michigan, flip over while tied to the dock and drown 835 passengers, including 21 entire families. Rockefeller, Morgan, and Carnegie had bought into the ship business in the Midwest, creating a boom market and a demand for ships that were bigger, longer, faster. The pressure-filled and greedy climate that resulted would be directly responsible for the Eastland disaster and others. As dramatic as the disaster was, the subsequent trial was even more so. The public demanded justice. When the immigrant engineer who was being scapegoated for the accident was left out to dry by the ship’s owners, penniless and down-on-his-luck Clarence Darrow decided to take his case. The defense he mounted, which he was too ashamed to even mention in his memoirs, would be even more shocking.
Download or read book Ashes Under Water written by Michael McCarthy and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of the worst disaster on the Great Lakes in U.S. History. On July 24th, 1915, Chicago commuters were horrified as they watched the SS Eastland, a tourism boat taking passengers across Lake Michigan, flip over while tied to the dock and drown 835 passengers, including 21 entire families. Rockefeller, Morgan, and Carnegie had bought into the ship business in the Midwest, creating a boom market and a demand for ships that were bigger, longer, faster. The pressure-filled and greedy climate that resulted would be directly responsible for the Eastland disaster and others. As dramatic as the disaster was, the subsequent trial was even more so. The public demanded justice. When the immigrant engineer who was being scapegoated for the accident was left out to dry by the ship's owners, penniless and down-on-his-luck Clarence Darrow decided to take his case. The defense he mounted, which he was too ashamed to even mention in his memoirs, would be even more shocking.
Download or read book Surviving the Essex written by David O. Dowling and published by University Press of New England. This book was released on 2016-04-12 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Surviving the "Essex" tells the captivating story of a ship's crew battered by whale attack, broken by four months at sea, and forced - out of necessity - to make meals of their fellow survivors. Exploring the Rashomon-like Essex accounts that complicate and even contradict first mate Owen Chase's narrative, David O. Dowling examines the vital role of viewpoint in shaping how an event is remembered and delves into the ordeal's submerged history - the survivors' lives, ambitions, and motives, their pivotal actions during the desperate moments of the wreck itself, and their will to reconcile those actions in the short- and long-term aftermath of this storied event. Mother of all whale tales, Surviving the "Essex" acts as a sequel to Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea, while probing deeper into the nature of trauma and survival accounts, an extreme form of notoriety, and the impact that the story had on Herman Melville and the writing of Moby-Dick.
Download or read book A Sea of Misadventures written by Amy Mitchell-Cook and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2013-11-30 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Sea of Misadventures examines more than one hundred documented shipwreck narratives from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century as a means to understanding gender, status, and religion in the history of early America. Though it includes all the drama and intrigue afforded by maritime disasters, the book's significance lies in its investigation of how the trauma of shipwreck affected American values and behavior. Through stories of death and devastation, Amy Mitchell-Cook examines issues of hierarchy, race, and gender when the sphere of social action is shrunken to the dimensions of a lifeboat or deserted shore. Rather than debate the veracity of shipwreck tales, Mitchell-Cook provides a cultural and social analysis that places maritime disasters within the broader context of North American society. She answers questions that include who survived and why, how did gender or status affect survival rates, and how did survivors relate their stories to interested but unaffected audiences? Mitchell-Cook observes that, in creating a sense of order out of chaotic events, the narratives reassured audiences that anarchy did not rule the waves, even when desperate survivors resorted to cannibalism. Some of the accounts she studies are legal documents required by insurance companies, while others have been a form of prescriptive literature—guides that taught survivors how to act and be remembered with honor. In essence, shipwreck revealed some of the traits that defined what it meant to be Anglo-American. In an elaboration of some of the themes, Mitchell-Cook compares American narratives with Portuguese narratives to reveal the power of divergent cultural norms to shape so basic an event as a shipwreck.
Download or read book Disasters at Sea written by Liz Mechem and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2014-07-01 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fully illustrated collection of the most thrilling shipwrecks of all time! Experience the mystery and wonder of the bottom of the sea with over sixty accounts of shipwreck catastrophes. Illustrated with detailed maps and shipwreck locations, Disasters at Sea takes readers on a fascinating journey through history and to the ocean floor. Learn all about the historical details and theories of the most infamous shipwrecks—from the most well-known sinkings like the Titanic, to the obscure, mysterious drifting ghost ships and unexplained disappearances. Subjects include: • Tragedies by Mother Nature • Shipwrecks and war • Fatal errors • Legends, myths, mysteries • And many more! Whether by human error, collision, piracy, or mutiny, this book has them all. With shipwrecks from the Old Testament, to ancient Greece, to modern times, this exciting book is compellingly written with accompanying sources, high-quality images, and a great deal of evidence. Find out interesting tidbits about Christopher Columbus’s Santa Maria, which eluded discovery for centuries despite long-term investigations. Stay afloat with the Mary Celeste and the Carroll A. Deering—ships that did not wreck at all but whose entire crews disappeared, never to be found. Readers are no doubt familiar with the tragedy of the Titanic, but this book also recounts the Wilhelm Gustloff, which took nine thousand lives at the end of World War II. Disasters at Sea is sure to offer an addicting and thrilling voyage that will leave you reading over and over again. This is an exciting book for the history buff—or for anyone looking for a fascinating read! Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Download or read book New Jersey Shipwrecks written by Margaret Thomas Buchholz and published by Cormorant Books. This book was released on 2009-08 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Foundation for Coast Guard History¿s award for ¿a brilliantly researched chronicle of shipwrecks along the New Jersey Shore from 1642 to the present day.¿ New Jersey Shipwrecks takes us on a gripping voyage through the ¿Graveyard of the Atlantic,¿ a name bestowed upon the state¿s treacherous shoals and inlets. Before this coastline became a summer playground of second homes and resort beaches, it was a wild frontier of uninhabited and shifting sandbars. From the days of sail to steam and oil, ships (and submarines) have been drawn to this coast. And, for thousands of vessels, it became their final resting-place. Early rescuers braved the seas in small boats, using simple buoys and rope to help victims. Others invented new technologies to assist in rescues. Quoting from original letters and reports, Shipwrecks reveals the sense of duty and honor which prevailed in these brave rescuers. Many devoted their lives ¿ literally ¿ to help save others whose lives were turned upside down in stormy Atlantic waters. From the early wrecks of the 18th century to the present day, the life-and-death drama of maritime disasters is captured in Shipwrecks, along with the history of the U. S. Lifesaving Service (later to become the Coast Guard), lighthouses, legends, and true accounts of heroism. 142 historic photographs and illustrations are displayed in this quality, large-format softcover, which also includes a listing of the hundreds of wrecks along the New Jersey Shore, as well as an index and bibliography.
Download or read book The Explosion of the SS Sultana written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-09 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the explosion and sinking of the Sultana *Includes a bibliography for further reading There is a popular saying that declares "timing is everything," and in no other field of study is that truer than in history. For instance, under normal conditions, a ship that sank with more than 2,000 passengers aboard - most of whom died - would be big news, yet today the sinking of the SS Sultana is often overlooked if not entirely forgotten. While it might have generated the type of publicity and reaction of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 or the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 under normal circumstances, the explosion and sinking of the Sultana on April 27, 1865 has become something of a historical footnote. The irony is that the Sultana is a historical footnote because of the Civil War, but it was also intimately tied to the war. Although Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox was not technically the end of the Civil War, it took one of the last remaining Confederate armies out of the field. Furthermore, on the night of April 14, many of the Union's hopes for the future were dashed when President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D. C. The people of the nation quickly became a volatile mix of grief and outrage, uninterested in anything that did not relate to the death of their beloved president. In fact, just the day before the disaster, as the Sultana was sailing up the Mississippi River to her rendezvous with destiny, Union Army soldiers cornered and killed Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. The Sultana's chief engineer, N. Wintringer, tried to give his readers a sense of the context in which the accident took place when he wrote, "As I was chief engineer of that ill-fated steamer at the time of her explosion I thought that my recollections of that terrible calamity would be of some interest. I believe that George Oayton, one of the pilots and myself were the only officers of the boat that escaped with our lives. ... The 'Sultana' left Cairo on that fatal trip the 15th of April, 1865, the day after the death of President Lincoln, and as all wire communications with the south were cut off at that time, the 'Sultana' carried the news of his assassination and death to all points and military posts on the Mississippi river as far as New Orleans." In short, the entire nation was in a state of chaos and too exhausted from four years of war that culminated in the death of the president to give the disaster the attention and grief it deserved. Perhaps the cruelest irony of the disaster is that the Sultana was packed full of men who had survived every conceivable trial and tribulation of the war, from wounds and sicknesses to being prisoners. Having lost hundreds of thousands, America was almost numb to the loss of a couple of thousand more, especially when many of the dead were soldiers themselves, and in a sense, it was left for future generations to try to unravel what went wrong and to pay tribute to the men who died on that dark night. The Explosion of the SS Sultana chronicles the story of America's deadliest maritime disaster. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the explosion and sinking of the Sultana like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book The Science of a Shipwreck written by Lisa Amstutz and published by Cherry Lake. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses the science behind shipwrecks. The chapters examine history's deadliest shipwrecks, explain how ships sink, and show how scientists and engineers are designing safer ships. Diagrams, charts, and photos provide opportunities to evaluate and understand the scientific concepts involved.
Download or read book The Sinking Of The Eastland written by Jay R. Bonansinga and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At once riveting and poignant, The Sinking of the Eastland brings to life a bygone era that yielded one of the most significant American disasters of the last century. Includes 16 pages of black and white photos.
Download or read book The Sinking of the SS Central America written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-22 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the sinking written by passengers *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "Captain Herndon pointed to the thinning clouds and predicted that their breaking up portended an end to the storm. He spoke to the men at the pumps; he cheered the men in the bailing lines. He told them he thought the storm was abating, and that if they would just continue to bail until noon, the steamer might be saved. ... Though the passengers received the captain's comments with great cheer, Herndon knew his hope was false. He knew the sea would rise again and the wind would blow with even greater fury. He knew that a ship floating 750 tons of iron with water filling her hold, and more water constantly rushing in, could remain afloat but a short while longer." - Gary Kinder, Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea: The History and Discovery of the World's Richest Shipwreck There have been countless numbers of shipwrecks over the course of history, but few have had as great an impact as the sinking of the SS Central America in a hurricane in September 1857. The California Gold Rush was in full swing, state of the art steamer ships were used to transport the discovered gold back east, and the Central America was one of them. On its fateful voyage, the ship was carrying nearly 600 passengers and a huge haul of up to 20 tons of gold worth an estimated $2 million at the time. On the way from Cuba to New York City, the Central America was caught in a Stage 2 hurricane that it never had a chance of knowing about ahead of time. With winds over 100 miles per hour, the hurricane ripped its sails, and the ship started taking on water while struggling to keep its boiler going. These conditions all but doomed the ship, and while over 150 passengers were ferried in lifeboats to another ship for rescue, the intensity of the storm kept the other passengers of the Central America away from salvation. When the ship finally sank, 425 passengers went down with it, and only a handful of survivors were picked up in the ensuing days. The loss of life was a big enough calamity, but the Central America had gone down with so much gold that it scared the American public, which was already beginning to deal with a financial downturn that culminated in the Panic of 1857. This was understandable given that the ship was carrying the modern equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars, and in fact, when 20th century salvage teams located the search and began bringing gold back up to the surface, they found one 80 pound piece that immediately became the most valuable piece of currency in the world. Naturally, lawsuits over the recovered gold sprang up, and the Central America has remained controversial ever since. The Sinking of the SS Central America: The Tragic Story of the Richest Shipwreck in History chronicles the tragic fate of the ship, the tribulations the survivors had to endure in the aftermath of the sinking, and its impact on the Panic of 1857. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the USS Indianapolis like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book Great Shipwrecks of the Maine Coast written by Jeremy D'Entremont and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No one knows the maritime history of the Northeast any better than D'Entremont, and with this small volume he begins a series of histories about the shipwrecks, lighthouses, and sea heroes of New England. Includes archival black-and-white photos and etchings.
