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Hi Shangas and Celeste,
There is also one of the darkest stories of the sea: the burning of the turbo electric Ward liner MORRO CASTLE in September 1934. Over 130 people (mostly passengers) were burned or drowned in the disaster, and the exact cause is still a mystery. Indeed, one of the heros of the disaster, the radioman, may have set the fire - in his later career he murdered two neighbors and ended in prison. There was a good book on the story: SHIPWRECK by Max Thomas and Max Morris Witt (I think that is their names).
Some mysteries do get somewhat solved. In 1898 the steamer Portland was lost in a terrible gale off Massachusetts, but her exact fate was unknown (all the 200 people on board were lost - no survivor accounts). But four years ago the wreck was found. From studying it, apparently a wave smashed the superstructure of the boat (where the passengers were) and carried it away.
Then the ship sank.
There are also the trio of dreadful shipwrecks in the U.S.:
1) The Sultana - probably the worst shipwreck in American history - 1,700 to 1,900 returning Union soldires blown up, burned to death, or drowned when the steamer Sultana blew up (probably due to a boiler explosion - but possibly a hidden explosive in the coal supply has been suggested) on the Mississippi River south of Memphis.
2) The General Slocum - called "the Titanic of Queens" as this excursion boat burned in June 1904 with over 1020 men, women, and children (most from the "Little Germany" section of Manhattan) were burned to death or drowned in the area around North Brother Island between the East and Harlem Rivers and the Long Island Sound. Prisoners from Rykers Island assisted in rescuing survivors. The disaster has some personal connection to me. My grandmother was visiting a school friend who was ill and upset that she and her family were unable to go on the excursion. While grandma comforted her friend as best she could, they hears screams from the street - people were yelling that the Slocum was on fire!
3) The Eastland - The worst disaster in the history of the Great Lakes (though not as well recalled as the Edmund Fitzgerald which has a song about it). Eight hundred passengers were drowned on the Chicago River when the Eastland capsized while still moored to it's pier (the passengers were going on an excursion). Recent studies show that safety devices were added to the Eastland in the wake of the Titanic, and helped increase its unsteadiness. Those 800 passengers perhaps should be added to the 1490 to 1522 from the Titanic as killed by the same set of circumstances and results.
4) The Waratah - the great mystery of the sea from 1909, when this large British vessel on a schedule run from London to Australia and back disappeared in heavy seas off South Africa. They still try to find it's wreckage around the Cape of Good Hope.
Best wishes,
Jeff
There is also one of the darkest stories of the sea: the burning of the turbo electric Ward liner MORRO CASTLE in September 1934. Over 130 people (mostly passengers) were burned or drowned in the disaster, and the exact cause is still a mystery. Indeed, one of the heros of the disaster, the radioman, may have set the fire - in his later career he murdered two neighbors and ended in prison. There was a good book on the story: SHIPWRECK by Max Thomas and Max Morris Witt (I think that is their names).
Some mysteries do get somewhat solved. In 1898 the steamer Portland was lost in a terrible gale off Massachusetts, but her exact fate was unknown (all the 200 people on board were lost - no survivor accounts). But four years ago the wreck was found. From studying it, apparently a wave smashed the superstructure of the boat (where the passengers were) and carried it away.
Then the ship sank.
There are also the trio of dreadful shipwrecks in the U.S.:
1) The Sultana - probably the worst shipwreck in American history - 1,700 to 1,900 returning Union soldires blown up, burned to death, or drowned when the steamer Sultana blew up (probably due to a boiler explosion - but possibly a hidden explosive in the coal supply has been suggested) on the Mississippi River south of Memphis.
2) The General Slocum - called "the Titanic of Queens" as this excursion boat burned in June 1904 with over 1020 men, women, and children (most from the "Little Germany" section of Manhattan) were burned to death or drowned in the area around North Brother Island between the East and Harlem Rivers and the Long Island Sound. Prisoners from Rykers Island assisted in rescuing survivors. The disaster has some personal connection to me. My grandmother was visiting a school friend who was ill and upset that she and her family were unable to go on the excursion. While grandma comforted her friend as best she could, they hears screams from the street - people were yelling that the Slocum was on fire!
3) The Eastland - The worst disaster in the history of the Great Lakes (though not as well recalled as the Edmund Fitzgerald which has a song about it). Eight hundred passengers were drowned on the Chicago River when the Eastland capsized while still moored to it's pier (the passengers were going on an excursion). Recent studies show that safety devices were added to the Eastland in the wake of the Titanic, and helped increase its unsteadiness. Those 800 passengers perhaps should be added to the 1490 to 1522 from the Titanic as killed by the same set of circumstances and results.
4) The Waratah - the great mystery of the sea from 1909, when this large British vessel on a schedule run from London to Australia and back disappeared in heavy seas off South Africa. They still try to find it's wreckage around the Cape of Good Hope.
Best wishes,
Jeff
Hi Esther, Welcome to the Casebook. We know what you mean about loving anything to do with the Titanic! Enjoy you time here. Looking forward to chatting with you.
"What our ancestors would really be thinking, if they were alive today, is: "Why is it so dark in here?"" From Pyramids by Sir Terry Pratchett, a British National Treasure. 
Actually I thought of doing that when I first registered but then, out of superstition, changed my mind.
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