Author: Cruiser Evan
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The SS Sultana Explosion: The Deadliest Ship Disaster in U.S. History
Most people have heard of ship disasters like the sinking of the Titanic and the attack against Lusitania, but there are a number of equally disastrous (and deadly) ship wrecks that seem to have been largely forgotten, or in any case they are not nearly as well known as some shipwrecks for a variety of reasons, some of which are not entirely clear. One such example involves the SS Sultana. The explosion of the Sultana is the deadliest shipwreck in U.S. history. About two thirds of the 2,400 passengers on board died when one of the Sultana’s poorly repaired boilers exploded. The explosion occurred on April 27, 1865, and since the Civil War had ended the previous week, many of the passengers on board were Union soldiers fresh out of Confederate prison camps. Below you will find the key information about the Sultana explosion, as well as a brief explanation for why this particular ship disaster failed to gain as much notoriety as other ship disasters of comparable proportions. Read more […] -
The Sinking of MV Le Joola
The sinking of MV Le Joola is one of the worst ship disasters of all time. When Le Joola sank, at least 1,863 people died, making it the second deadliest ship disaster to occur during a time of peace. (The deadliest such disaster is the sinking of MV Doña Paz.) Le Joola sank in 2002, later than many of the ship disasters we have written about as of late. Alas, extremely deadly ship disasters are not a thing of the past. Below you will find some basic information about the sinking of Le Joola. Read more […] -
The Halifax Explosion
While not the deadliest or most widely remembered ship disaster, the Halifax Explosion is definitively one of the most dramatic ship disasters of all time. The Halifax Explosion – named after the city the explosion destroyed, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada – occurred when the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship loaded with explosives, collided with SS Imo, a Norwegian vessel. The Halifax Explosion, which is sometimes called the Halifax Disaster, is one of the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time, and to this day it is the largest accidental explosion of conventional weapons ever. The dimensions of the explosion are almost unthinkable. Below is a brief overview of the Halifax Explosion, which took place in the context of World War One (WWI). Read more […] -
The Sinking of SS Kiangya (a.k.a. Jiangya)
The sinking of SS Kiangya, which is also spelled “Jiangya,” is one of the worst ship disasters to occur during the 20th century. It occurred on December 4, 1948. Although the exact number of casualties is unknown, it is believed that the SS Kiangya shipwreck (or Jiangya shipwreck, as some sources have it) claimed the lives of between 2,750 and 3,920 people, making it the second deadliest peacetime ship disaster, regardless of the precise number of deaths. (The deadliest peacetime ship disaster is the sinking of MV Doña Paz.) Information about the sinking of Kiangya is not nearly as readily available as it for other major ship disasters, like the Titanic wreck, so below we’ve compiled some basic facts about the Kiangya disaster (or Jiangya disaster). Read more […] -
The Sinking of MV Doña Paz
The sinking of MV Doña Paz is the deadliest ship disaster during a peace time in history. (The deadliest ship disaster of all time – the sinking of MV Wilhelm Gustloff – took place during a time of war.) Doña Paz (or “Dona Paz” if the tilde over the “n” throws you off) collided with another ship, the oil tanker MT Vector, on December 20, 1987, a disaster that is believed to have claimed well over 4,000 lives. Since Doña Paz was a Philippine-registered ship that sailed in eastern waters, the sinking of Doña Paz has been called “Asia’s Titanic” (although over twice as many people died in the Doña Paz disaster than in the Titanic disaster). Read more […] -
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 is regarded as one of the worst environmental disasters caused by humans. Up until the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, which occurred in 2010, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was the largest ever (in terms of the volume of oil released) in US waters. While there are no precise figures, it is believed that between one quarter to three quarters of a million barrels (41,000 to 119,000 cubic meters) of crude oil were released in the Exxon Valdez spill. Many organizations, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accept estimates on the lower end of the spectrum, whereas other groups, like Defenders of Wildlife, insist that the volume of oil released was at the opposite end of the spectrum. At the time of the oil spill, Exxon Valdez was carrying approximately 1.3 million barrels (210,000 cubic meters) of oil, according to official reports, so up to a little over half of the ship’s vast supply of oil may have been released into the wild. Below you will find some key facts about the Exxon Valdez oil spill and its consequences. Read more […]