Wreckage of the General Slocum

The General Slocum was a steamship launched in 1891. It caught fire and burned to the water line in New York's East River on June 15, 1904. More than 1,000 people died in the accident, making it New York City's worst loss-of-life disaster until the September 11, 2001 attacks. General Slocum wreakage File links The following pages link to this file: General Slocum Categories: NowCommons ... General Slocum wreakage File links The following pages link to this file: General Slocum Categories: NowCommons ... Paddle steamers - Lucerne-Switzerland Left: original paddlewheel from a paddle steamer on the lake of Lucerne. ... NY redirects here. ... New York City waterways: 1. ... June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... Year 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... A sequential look at United Flight 175 crashing into the south tower of the World Trade Center The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced nine eleven or nine one one) consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[1] suicide attacks upon the United States, predominantly...

The ship

The ship was named for Civil War officer and New York Congressman Henry Warner Slocum. It was built by Divine Burtis, Jr., a Brooklyn boatbuilder. Her keel was 235 feet long and the hull was 37.5 feet wide. The ship was built mostly of white oak and yellow pine. She displaced about 1,200 tons. She had three engines, built by W. & A. Fletcher Company of Hoboken, New Jersey. She was a sidewheel boat. Each wheel had 26 paddles and was 31 feet in diameter. Her maximum speed was about 18 miles per hour. The ship had three decks. She usually had a crew of 22, including Captain William H. Van Schaick and two pilots. Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ... Portrait of General Henry W. Slocum by Mathew Brady, ca. ... Brooklyn (named for the Dutch city Breukelen) is one of the five boroughs of New York City. ... // In boats and ships, keel can mean either of two parts; a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element; these parts overlap. ... A hull is the body or frame of a ship or boat. ... Binomial name Quercus alba L. The White oak (Quercus alba) is one of the most magnificent of oaks. ... Yellow pine is an American foresters term for several closely related species of pine with yellow tinted wood, including Loblolly Pine, Slash Pine, Shortleaf Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Jeffrey Pine and several others. ... Steam Engine built by W. & A. Fletcher Company W. & A. Fletcher Co. ... Map of New Jersey highlighting Hoboken Image of Hoboken taken by NASA (red line shows where Hoboken is). ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ... A paddle steamer, paddleboat, or paddlewheeler is a ship driven by one or more paddle wheels driven by a steam engine. ...

Carrying away a body from North Brother Island

Download high resolution version (431x650, 205 KB)Carrying the dead bodies from the General Slocum disaster This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Download high resolution version (431x650, 205 KB)Carrying the dead bodies from the General Slocum disaster This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

Past problems

The General Slocum had seen a series of mishaps since her launch in 1891.

• Four months after launch, she ran aground off Rockaway. Tugs had to pull her free.
• On July 29, 1894, when returning from Rockaway one night with some 4,700 passengers, she struck a sand bar so forcefully her electrical generator went out. The passengers panicked; hundreds were injured.
• In August 1894, she ran aground off Coney Island during a storm. The passengers had to be transferred to another ship.
• In September, she collided with the tug R. T. Sayre in the East River. She sustained substantial damage and lost her ability to be steered.
• In July 1898 she collided with the Amelia near The Battery.
• On August 17, 1901 she 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. The captain docked at the police pier and 17 men were taken by the police.
• In June 1902, she ran aground with 400 passengers aboard. The passengers had to camp out, as she remained stuck throughout the night.

Rockaway Inlet is a strait connecting Jamaica Bay, wholly within New York City with the Atlantic Ocean. ... July 29 is the 210th day (211th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 155 days remaining. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... An electrical generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy, generally using electromagnetic induction. ... Image of Coney Island, located in the middle left of the picture, taken by NASA. The peninsula to the right is Rockaway, Queens. ... TUG is a three-letter acronym which can stand for: Graz University of Technology in Graz, Austria the TeX Users Group The Ultimate Group, an entertainment production company, founded by Chris Stokes Tie Up Games (a form of bondage) For the word tug, see Tug (disambiguation). ... New York City waterways: 1. ... ... August 17 is the 229th day of the year (230th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Anarchists can refer to several things, among which: The movie Anarchists Supporters of the principles of anarchism The Anarchists (Les Anarchistes), a famous song from Léo Ferré A List of anarchists This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ...

The disaster

Firefighters working to extinguish the General Slocum

The General Slocum worked as a passenger ship, taking people on excursions around New York City. On June 15, 1904, the ship had been chartered for $350 by the St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in the German district 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. General Slocum burning in East River, fireboat on scene This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... General Slocum burning in East River, fireboat on scene This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1613  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City 1,214. ... June 15 is the 166th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (167th in leap years), with 199 days remaining. ... Year 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... A German band in New York, around 1876 Little Germany, also called in German Kleindeutschland was a densely populated German neighborhood around Tompkins Square, in an area bounded by Avenues A and B and 7th and 10th Sts, in the Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York. ... The Borough of Manhattan, highlighted in yellow, lies between the East River and the Hudson River. ... New York City waterways: 1. ... New York City waterways: 1. ... Eatons Neck is a census-designated place located in Suffolk County, New York. ... Map showing Long Island; to the north is Connecticut and to the west are New York City and New Jersey. ...

Just after the ship set sail, a fire started in a storage compartment in the forward section. Although the ship had lifeboats and life preservers, they were useless. Survivors reported that the life preservers were rotten 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 floating, 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. For the 1944 movie, see Lifeboat (movie). ... A life preserver is a personal flotation device that can be deployed from a vessel or from land to provide an individual with a means of maintaining boyancy in water, thereby preventing drowning. ... A personal flotation device (also named PFD, lifejacket, life preserver, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, life belt) is a device designed to keep a wearer afloat and their head above water, often in swimming pools, rivers, lakes, and oceans. ...

Captain Van Schaick badly mishandled the situation. 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.) Some passengers attempted to jump into the river, but the clothing of the day made swimming almost impossible.

By the time the General Slocum was beached at North Brother Island, just off the Bronx shore, an estimated 1,021 passengers had been killed by fire or drowning. Two of the 30 crewmembers died. The Captain lost sight in one eye due to the fire. He was hospitalized at Lebanon Hospital. North Brother Island is an island in the East River situated between the Bronx and Rikers Island. ... The Bronx is one of the five boroughs of United States. ... A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ...

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.

Aftermath

Victims of the General Slocum washed ashore at North Brother Island

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 drills and fire extinguishers. 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 prison before he was paroled. He was pardoned by President Taft on December 19, 1912. He died in 1927 ^[1]. Victims of the General Slocum washed ashore at North Brother Island This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Victims of the General Slocum washed ashore at North Brother Island This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... A grand jury is a type of jury, in the common law legal system, which determines if there is enough evidence for a trial. ... Criminal negligence, in the realm of criminal common law, is a legal term of art for a state of mind which is careless, inattentive, neglectful, willfully blind, or reckless; it is the mens rea part of a crime which, if occurring simultaneously with the actus reus, gives rise to criminal... College students evacuate Potomac Hall, a dormitory at James Madison University, during a fire drill. ... Fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a device used to put out a fire, often in an emergency situation. ... In law, a verdict indicates the judgment of a case before a court of law. ... Alternative meaning: Sing Sing (band) Sing Sing Correctional Facility is a prison in Ossining, New York. ... A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ... William Howard Taft I (September 15, 1857–March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States (1909-1913), and the 10th Chief Justice of the United States (1921 - 1930). ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The Knickerbocker Steamship Company, which owned the ship, paid a relatively light 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 in 1911. The disaster motivated federal and state regulation to improve the emergency equipment on passenger ships. Self propelled barge carrying bulk crushed stone A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. ...

Significant Events

• 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.
• On board the Slocum, where the Captain has ultimate safety authority, he did not demand that hoses and faulty lifejackets be replaced. The fire hoses fell apart when the crew attempted to put out the fire.
• Van Schaick actually fanned the fire by going into headwinds and failing to immediately ground the vessel.
• 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.
• All were dead within 2 hours of the blaze. 1021 dead, 421 survivors.
• Many died instantly when the 3-level floors of the overloaded boat collapsed, others were mauled by the still turning paddles or simply drowned because most could not swim and were clad in restrictive clothing.^[1]
• 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.^[2]
• As to why the unfortunate victims seemed to "sink" after landing in the water, the Nash book suggests that the manager of the life preserver manufacturer actually placed iron bars inside the Cork preservers to meet minimum weight requirements at the time. Managers of the company (Nonpareil Cork Works) were indicted, but not convicted. 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, rotten with age, split and scattered the powdered cork.

Conflagration redirects here. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Gasoline, also called petrol, is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... Italian ship-rigged vessel Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976 A ship is a large, sea-going watercraft. ... TUG is a three-letter acronym which can stand for: Graz University of Technology in Graz, Austria the TeX Users Group The Ultimate Group, an entertainment production company, founded by Chris Stokes Tie Up Games (a form of bondage) For the word tug, see Tug (disambiguation). ... Men and women wearing suits, an example of one of the many modern forms of clothing (from the 1937 Chicago Woolen Mills catalog) Clothing is defined, in its broadest sense, as coverings for the torso and limbs as well as coverings for the hands (gloves), feet (socks, shoes, sandals, boots... Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. ... William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was an American politician, the 27th President of the United States, the 10th Chief Justice of the United States, a leader of the progressive conservative wing of the Republican Party in the early 20th century, a chaired professor at Yale Law... Impact of a drop of water. ... A life preserver is a personal flotation device that can be deployed from a vessel or from land to provide an individual with a means of maintaining boyancy in water, thereby preventing drowning. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Atomic mass 55. ... A cork stopper for a wine bottle Champagne corks Varnished cork tiles can be used for flooring, as a substitute for linoleum or tiles. ...

Survivors

On January 26, 2004, Adella Wotherspoon died at the age of 100. Mrs. Wotherspoon had been the last surviving passenger from the General Slocum's disastrous voyage. Mrs. Wotherspoon, then a six-month old named Adele Liebenow, lost two older sisters in the fire. The previous oldest surviving member was Catherine Uhlmyer (1893-2002). January 26 is the 26th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Adella Wotherspoon at 18 months old at the dedication of the memorial to the vitims of the General Slocum fire July 16, 1905 Adella Wotherspoon (1903-2004) in 1996 Adella Wotherspoon (November 28, 1903 - January 26, 2004) was the youngest survivor and the last living survivor of the General Slocum... Catherine Uhlmyer (1893-2002) in 1998 Catherine Uhlmyer Gallagher Connelly (April 4, 1893 - October 18, 2002) was the second-to-last longest living survivor of the General Slocum fire of June 15, 1904. ...

Popular culture

• There is a reference to the disaster in James Joyce's Ulysses, the events of which take place on the following day (June 16, 1904).
• The first scenes of the film Manhattan Melodrama recreate the disaster.
• The general in charge of providing funding to Norman Osborne (Willem Dafoe) in Spider-Man (film) is named General Slocum played by veteran character actor Stanley Anderson.
• The 2005 Hugo award nominated novella "Time Ablaze" by Michael A. Burstein (Analog, June 2004) concerns a time traveller who comes to record the disaster. The story was published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the disaster.
• The General Slocum disaster was featured in the documentary My Father's Gun.
• The General Slocum disaster is at the center of the novel The Unresolved, by T.K. Welsh.

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (Irish Seamus Seoighe; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish writer and poet, widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. ... Ulysses is a 1922 novel by James Joyce, first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from 1918 to 1920, and published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on February 2, 1922, in Paris. ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... Year 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... Manhattan Melodrama (1934) is a crime melodrama film, produced by MGM Pictures. ... The Green Goblin The Green Goblin is a Marvel Comics supervillain who is the arch-enemy of Spider-Man. ... William Dafoe, Jr. ... Spider-Man is a 2002 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. ... The 2005 Hugo Award with base designed by Deb Kosiba. ... Michael A. Burstein is an American writer of science fiction. ... Astounding Stories was a seminal science fiction magazine founded in 1930. ... J. G. Sandom, often referred to as the Father of Interactive (Internet) Advertising, founded the world’s first interactive advertising agency, Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), in 1984. ...

Notes

References

• Jay Nash, Darkest Hours. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1976. ISBN 0882291408
• Werner Braatz and Joseph Starr, Fire on the River: The Story of the Burning of the General Slocum. Krokodiloplis Press, 2000. ISBN 0974936308
• Ed O'Donnell, Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum. Broadway, 2003. ISBN 0767909054

See also

• List of General Slocum victims on Wikisource.
• List of historic fires
• Sultana disaster

This is a list of historic fires. ... The steamboat Sultana was a Mississippi River paddlewheeler which was destroyed in an explosion on 27 April 1865, the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. ...

External links

• US Coast Guard Accident Report
• Ship Ablaze - website devoted to the General Slocum disaster
• Maritime Industry Museum: General Slocum
• New York Historical Society: General Slocum
• Brothers: NYC's worst maritime tragedy - Photos of the islands in 2004 and images of the General Slocum from Forgotten New York.
• "Remembering a Tragedy" - Failure Magazine, August, 2003
• German Television produced and showed an hour long documentary The Slocum is on Fire! by Christian Baudissin (1998) about the disaster and its impact on the German community of New York.
• General Slocum Steamboat Mass memorial monument at Find-A-Grave