Posted on 04/28/2016 3:02:01 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Sultana was a Mississippi River side-wheel steamboat. On April 27, 1865, the boat exploded in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. An estimated 1,800 of her 2,427 passengers died when three of the boat's four boilers exploded and she burned to the waterline and sank near Memphis, Tennessee.
(Excerpt) Read more at en.wikipedia.org ...
This was a terrible tragedy at the time as thousands died. They, all the men recently released as POWs, were desperate to get home to northern states.
I’m familiar with the Sultana, being kind of a maritime disaster buff. Also with the Gustloff and the Goya, which I recently saw some dive footage of.
Those old steamers were dangerous. There is a steamer that gives day and evening cruises out of New Orleans. You can learn a lot of steamer history while taking one of those cruises.
Mark Twain, in “Life on the Mississippi” writes about a similar disaster, caused when two brothers who were rival steamboat captains got into a race and one the boats’ boiler burst.
The original lyrics to “Oh Susanna!” contain a reference to a steamboat accident:
The bullgine bust, the horse ran off, I really thought I’d die;
I shut my eyes to hold my breath—Susanna, don’t you cry.
as well as less politically correct language. “Bullgine” was the sailors term for a steam engine.
Greed leads to disaster.
In the end, no one was ever held accountable for the greatest maritime disaster in United States history.
I thought maybe this was the boat on which Twain’s brother died so horribly.
For anyone who loves literature, boats, rivers and our storied past, Life on the Mississippi is a wonderful read. Possibly my favorite of his books.
When I was a kid I had a record of Judy Collins’ folk songs. One of the songs was The Bullgine Run.
Thanks for the history lesson.
So I am NOT the only shipwreck buff!
I’ve scoured books about maritime disasters and am very familiar with the Sultana explosion and fire. But one of my favorites (besides Titanic, which has been Cameron’d to death) is the Andrea Doria/Stockholm collision.
I also followed intently the recent story of the Costa Concordia, including her parbuckling resurrection and reclamation.
I just love big ships.
Many of them were also greatly weakened and emaciated, after their stint as POWs. When the ship exploded and they were forced into the water, few had the strength to survive more than a few minutes. As the article notes, the Mississippi was experiencing one of its worst floods ever, and the water was still very cold, the result of snow melt and runoff from the upper reaches of the Ohio, Missouri and other rivers that flow into the Mississippi.
And in typical government fashion, no one was ever held accountable.
I had no idea steam boats carried that many passengers.
The Titanic carried 2,224 people including crewmembers.
She is still a beautiful ship. So was the Doria. And the Costa Concordia.
I saw her in concert a few months ago. I don't think she sang that song. Now I will have to look it up.
Yep, the Empress is a fascinating story too. As is the Normandie, sister ship to the Ile de France, which rescued so many of the Doria’s passengers.
I don’t think she’s sung The Bullgine Run in 40 years. But it’s on an early record - sorry, I forget which one.
Google Judy Collins sings Bullgine Run on You Tube. There she is in 1963 singing it. But it’s definitely not about a steamer from the lyrics. It’s about a whaling ship called the Margaret Evans.
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