Tag: ship disaster
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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 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 the MV Wilhelm Gustloff
The sinking of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff, the German warship used in World War Two (WWII), is the largest disaster in recorded maritime history in terms of loss of human life. Around 9,400 people died when the Wilhelm Gustloff sank, several times more than the number of people who died in the somewhat similar attack against RMS Lusitania. In the case of Lusitania, however, the Germans were the aggressors instead of the victims of the attack. Below you will find some basic information about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, as well as some facts about the Wilhelm Gustloff ship itself. Read more […]