PS General Slocum: Difference between revisions
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|Ship image=[[Image:SS General Slocum.jpg|300px|AlternateTextHere]] |
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{{Infobox Ship Career |
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|Ship name='''SS ''General Slocum''''' |
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|Ship owner=Knickerbocker Steamship Company |
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|Ship operator= |
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|Ship registry={{flag|United States|45 stars}} |
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|Ship namesake=[[Henry Warner Slocum]] |
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|Ship route= |
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|Ship builder=Divine Burtis, Jr. a [[Brooklyn]], New York boatbuilder. |
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|Ship launched=1891 |
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|Ship identification= |
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|Ship fate=Caught fire and burned to the water in [[New York]]'s [[East River]] on June 15, 1904. |
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{{Infobox Ship Characteristics |
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|Ship class=[[Sidewheeler]] [[passenger ship]] |
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|Ship tonnage= |
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|Ship displacement= 1,200 tons |
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|Ship length={{convert|235|ft|m}} |
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|Ship beam={{convert|37.5|ft|m}} |
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|Ship decks=three decks |
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|Ship power=three engines built by [[W. & A. Fletcher Company]] of [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]], [[New Jersey]] |
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|Ship propulsion=[[sidewheeler|Sidewheel boat]] each wheel had 26 paddles and was {{convert|31|ft|m}} in diameter. |
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|Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|km/h}} |
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|Ship crew= 22 |
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The '''SS ''General Slocum''''' was a [[steamship]] launched in 1891. It caught fire and burned to the water in [[New York]]'s [[East River]] on June 15, 1904. More than 1,000 people died in the accident, making it the New York City area's worst loss-of-life disaster until the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A Debate Rises: How Much 9/11 Tribute Is Enough?|first=N. R.|last=Kleinfeld|work=[[New York Times]]|date=[[2007-09-02]]|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/nyregion/02fatigue.html?ex=1346385600&en=7c3b9a843ec42d62&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink|quote=Few are alive anymore who can recall June 15, 1904, when 1,021 people died in the burning of the steamer General Slocum, the deadliest New York City disaster until Sept. 11, 2001. | accessdate=2009-04-13}}</ref> |
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==The ship== |
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The ship was named for [[American Civil War|Civil War]] officer and New York [[United States Congress|Congress]]man [[Henry Warner Slocum]]. |
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It was built by Divine Burtis, Jr., a [[Brooklyn]] boatbuilder. |
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Its [[keel]] was {{convert|235|ft|m}} long and the [[hull (ship)|hull]] was {{convert|37.5|ft|m}} wide. The ship was built mostly of [[white oak]] and [[yellow pine]]. She displaced about 1,200 tons. It had three engines, built by [[W. & A. Fletcher Company]] of [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]], [[New Jersey]]. It was a [[sidewheeler|sidewheel boat]]. Each wheel had 26 paddles and was {{convert|31|ft|m}} in diameter. Its maximum speed was about {{convert|16|kn|km/h}}. The ship had three decks. It usually had a crew of 22, including Captain William H. Van Schaick and two pilots. It was never christened. |
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==Ship history== |
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[[Image:General Slocum (Stanton profile drawing).jpg|thumb|left|drawing of ''General Slocum'' by Samuel Ward Stanton]] |
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The ''SS '''General Slocum''''' had seen a series of mishaps since its launch in 1891. Four months after launch, it ran aground off [[Rockaway Inlet|Rockaway]]. Tugs had to pull it free. On July 29, 1894, when returning from Rockaway one night with some 4,700 passengers, it struck a sand bar so forcefully its [[electrical generator]] went out. The ''General Slocum'' ran aground off [[Coney Island]] in August 1894 during a storm. The passengers had to be transferred to another ship. |
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In September of the same year, it collided with the [[tug]] ''R. T. Sayre'' in the [[East River]]. It sustained substantial damage and lost its ability to be steered. Another collision happened in July 1898 when it collided with the ''Amelia'' near [[Battery Park]]. |
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On August 17, 1901 it was carrying what was described as 900 intoxicated Paterson [[Anarchists]]. Some of the passengers started a riot and attempted to take control of the vessel from the captain. The crew fought back and maintained control of the ship. The captain then docked the ship at the police pier and 17 men were taken into custody by the police. |
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The ''General Slocum'' ran aground again in June 1902 with 400 passengers aboard. The passengers had to camp out, as it remained stuck throughout the night. |
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===The disaster=== |
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[[Image:General slocum burning.jpg|thumbnail|150px|right|Firefighters working to extinguish the General Slocum]] |
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[[Image:GeneralSlocum 04.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Wreckage of the General Slocum]] |
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[[Image:GeneralSlocum 05.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Victims of the General Slocum washed ashore at North Brother Island]] |
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[[Image:GeneralSlocum 06.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Carrying away a body from North Brother Island]] |
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The ''General Slocum'' worked as a passenger ship, taking people on excursions around [[New York City]]. On Wednesday, [[June 15]], [[1904]], the ship had been chartered for $350 by the [[St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church]] in the German district [[Little Germany, New York|Little Germany]], [[Manhattan]]. This was an annual rite for the group, which had made the trip for 17 consecutive years. Over 1,300 passengers, mostly women and children, boarded the ''General Slocum''. It was to sail up the [[East River]] and then eastward across [[Long Island Sound]] to Locust Grove, a picnic site in [[Eatons Neck]], [[Long Island]]. |
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The ship got underway at 9:30am. As it was passing East 90th Street, a fire started in a storage compartment in the forward section, possibly caused by a discarded cigarette or match. The first notice of a fire was at 10am - eyewitnesses locate the initial blaze at several locations, including a paint locker filled with flammable liquids or a cabin filled with [[gasoline]]. Captain Van Schaick was only notified ten minutes after the fire was discovered - a twelve year old boy had tried to warn him earlier, but was not believed. |
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On board the ''Slocum'', where the Captain has ultimate safety authority, no effort had been made to maintain or replace safety equipment. The ship's dryrotted fire hoses fell apart when the crew attempted to put out the fire. Likewise, the crew had never had a fire drill. Although the ship had [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]] and [[life preserver]]s, survivors reported that the life preservers were useless and fell apart in their hands. The lifeboats were tied up and inaccessible. Desperate mothers placed [[life jackets]] on their children and tossed them into the water, only to watch in horror as their children sank instead of floated, due to the condition of the jackets. Also, the population of the boat consisted mainly of women and children, most of whom could not swim. |
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It has been suggested that the manager of the [[life preserver]] manufacturer actually placed iron bars inside the [[Cork (material)|Cork]] preservers to meet minimum weight requirements at the time. Many of the life preservers had been filled with cheap and less effective granulated cork and brought up to proper weight by the inclusion of the iron weights. Canvas covers, rotted with age, split and scattered the powdered cork. Managers of the company (Nonpareil Cork Works) were indicted, but not convicted. |
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Captain Van Schaick mishandled the situation badly. He decided to continue his course rather than run the ship aground or stop at a nearby landing. (Van Schaick would later argue he was attempting to prevent the fire from spreading to riverside buildings and oil tanks.) By going into headwinds and failing immediately to ground the [[Ship|vessel]], he actually fanned the fire. Very flammable paint also helped the fire to spread out of control. |
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Some passengers attempted to jump into the river, but the women's clothing of the day made swimming almost impossible. Many died when the three-level floors of the overloaded boat collapsed; others were mauled by the still turning paddles as they attempted to escape into the water or over the sides.<ref name=gentile>Gentile, "Shipwrecks of New Jersey", 2001</ref> |
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By the time the ''General Slocum'' was beached at [[North Brother Island]], just off the [[Bronx]] shore, an estimated 1,021 people had been killed by fire or [[drowning]], with 321 survivors. Two of the 30 crew members died. The Captain lost sight in one eye due to the fire. Reports indicate that Van Schaick deserted the ''Slocum'' as soon as it ran aground, jumping into a nearby [[tug]], along with several crew. Some say his jacket was hardly rumpled. He was hospitalized at [[Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center|Lebanon Hospital]]. |
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There were many acts of heroism among the passengers, witnesses, and emergency personnel. Staff and patients from the hospital on North Brother Island participated in the rescue efforts, forming human chains and pulling victims from the water. |
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==Aftermath== |
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Seven people were indicted by a Federal [[grand jury]] after the disaster: the Captain; two inspectors; and the president, secretary, treasurer and commodore of the Knickerbocker Steamship Company. Only Captain Van Schaick was convicted. He was found guilty on one of three charges: [[criminal negligence]], failing to maintain proper [[fire drill]]s and [[fire extinguisher]]s. The jury could not reach a [[verdict]] on the other two counts of [[manslaughter]]. He was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. He spent three years and six months at [[Sing Sing Correctional Facility|Sing Sing]] prison before he was paroled. President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] declined to pardon Captain Van Schaick, and he was not released until the federal parole board, under the [[William Howard Taft]] administration, voted to free him on August 26, 1911.<ref name=robinson>Eric Robinson, New-York Historical Society Library</ref> He was [[presidential pardon|pardoned]] by President Taft on [[December 19]], [[1912]]<ref>{{cite news |
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| date=[[1912-12-20]] |
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| title = Van Schaick Pardoned. Captain of the Ill-Fated Slocum Is Restored to Full Citizenship. |
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| work= [[New York Times]] |
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|quote=President Taft to-day granted a pardon to Capt. William H. Van Schaick, who commanded the steamboat General Slocum, destroyed by fire in the East River in 1904, with the loss of 1,030 lives, most of whom were women and children. The pardon becomes effective on Christmas day. |
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| url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9902E0DA1E3AE633A25753C2A9649D946396D6CF |
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| accessdate=2009-04-13 |
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}} |
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</ref>, and died in 1927 <sup>[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=13144]</sup>. |
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The Knickerbocker Steamship Company, which owned the ship, paid a relatively small fine despite evidence they may have falsified inspection records. The remains of the ''General Slocum'' were recovered and converted into a [[barge]], which sank in a storm during 1911. |
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The disaster motivated federal and state regulation to improve the [[Boat_safety#Safety|emergency equipment]] on passenger ships. |
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The neighborhood of Little Germany declined following the disaster - |
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many socially prominent people had been lost, and with the trauma and arguments that followed the tragedy, most of the German settlers eventually moved uptown. The church that chartered the ship for the fateful voyage is now a [[synagogue]]. |
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==Survivors== |
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On [[January 26]], [[2004]] the last surviving passenger from the ''General Slocum'', [[Adella Wotherspoon]] (nee Liebenow), died at the age of 100. At the time of the ''General Slocom'' disaster she was a six-month old child. Mrs. Wotherspoon was the youngest survivor of the tragedy that took the lives of her two older sisters. When she was one year old she unveiled the Steamboat Fire Mass Memorial on [[June 15]], [[1905]], at Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery, in [[Middle Village, Queens]].<ref name="Unveiling"> |
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{{cite news |
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| title = Thousands Sob as Baby UnVeils Slocum Statue |
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| quote = Ten thousand persons saw through their tears a baby with a doll tucked under her arm unveil the monument to the unidentified dead of the Slocum disaster yesterday afternoon in the Lutheran Cemetery, Middle Village, L.I. |
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| work= [[New York Times]] |
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| url = http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40714FC3B5E12738DDDAF0994DE405B858CF1D3 |
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| date = [[June 16]], [[1905]] |
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| accessdate = 2007-06-26 |
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}} |
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</ref> Prior to Mrs. Wotherspoons passing the previous oldest surviving member was [[Catherine Uhlmyer|Catherine Connelly (nee Uhlmyer-Gallagher)]] (1893-2002) who was eleven years old at the time of the accident. |
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==In popular culture== |
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{{Trivia|date=March 2009}} |
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[[Image:General Slocum Memorial.JPG|thumb|right|150px|The General Slocum disaster memorial in [[Tompkins Square Park]], Manhattan, New York City. Tompkins Square Park is in the heart of [[Alphabet City, Manhattan|Alphabet City]], what was once Little Germany.]] |
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*There is a reference to the disaster in [[James Joyce]]'s ''[[Ulysses (novel)|Ulysses]]'', the events of which take place on the following day ([[June 16]], [[1904]]). |
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*The first scenes of the film ''[[Manhattan Melodrama]]'' recreate the disaster. |
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*The 2005 [[Hugo award]] nominated novella ''[[Time Ablaze]]'' by [[Michael A. Burstein]] ([[Astounding magazine|''Analog'']], June 2004) concerns a time traveler who comes to record the disaster. The story was published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the disaster. |
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* German Television produced and showed an hour long documentary The Slocum is on Fire! by Christian [[Baudissin]] in 1998 about the disaster and its impact on the German community of New York. |
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*The General Slocum disaster was featured in the documentary ''My Father's Gun''. |
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*The General Slocum disaster is at the center of the novel ''The Unresolved'', by [[T.K. Welsh]]. |
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*The disaster is also mentioned in Kevin Baker's novel ''Dreamland.'' |
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*The story of the General Slocum was described as an "Avoidable Catastrophe" in Bob Fenster's book, ''Duh! The Stupid History of the Human Race'', in Part One, which discusses stories involving stupidity. |
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*The General Slocum disaster plays a prominent role in Richard Crabbe's novel ''Hell's Gate'' |
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* The story is told from the imagined point of view of survivor Adella Wotherspoon in a song recorded by the Brooklyn-based history band [[Pinataland]]. |
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* The disaster is mentioned in the novel ''Forever'' by [[Pete Hamill]] |
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* The disaster is mentioned in the novel ''[[It's Superman!]]'' by [[Tom De Haven]]. |
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* A description of the disaster and the following events in relation to September 11 is given in Act II by David Rakoff in Episode 194: Before and After (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=890) of the radio program ''This American Life.'' |
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*The disaster plays a prominent role in ''In the Shadow of Gotham'' by Stefanie Pintoff. |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==Further reading== |
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* Jay Nash, ''Darkest Hours''. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1976. ISBN 0882291408 |
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* Werner Braatz and Joseph Starr, ''Fire on the River: The Story of the Burning of the General Slocum''. Krokodiloplis Press, 2000. ISBN 0974936308 |
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* Ed O'Donnell, ''Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum''. Broadway, 2003. ISBN 0767909054 |
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==See also== |
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*[[Eastland]] |
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*[[List of historic fires]] |
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*[[Sultana (steamboat)|''Sultana'' disaster]] |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/boards/slocum.pdf US Coast Guard Accident Report] |
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*[http://www.generalslocum.com/ ''Ship Ablaze''] - website devoted to the ''General Slocum'' disaster |
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*[http://www.maritimeindustrymuseum.org/slocum.htm Maritime Industry Museum: ''General Slocum''] |
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*[http://www.nyhistory.org/slocum New York Historical Society: ''General Slocum''] |
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*[http://www.forgotten-ny.com/YOU%27D%20NEVER%20BELIEVE/brothers/brothers.html Brothers: NYC's worst maritime tragedy] - Photos of the islands in 2004 and images of the ''General Slocum'' from [http://www.forgotten-ny.com Forgotten New York]. |
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*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8133 General Slocum Steamboat Mass memorial monument at Find-A-Grave] |
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*http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs743a,0,7616452.story |
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{{Slocum}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:General Slocum}} |
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[[Category:Transportation accidents in New York City]] |
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[[Category:Fires in New York City]] |
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[[Category:General Slocum fire| ]] |
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[[Category:1904 fires]] |
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[[Category:German American history]] |
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[[Category:History of New York City]] |
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[[Category:Maritime incidents in the United States]] |
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[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1904]] |
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[[Category:Shipwrecks in rivers]] |
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[[Category:Engineering failures]] |
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[[Category:Rockaway, Queens]] |
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[[Category:1891 ships]] |
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Revision as of 15:29, 27 May 2009
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