PS General Slocum facts for kids
The PS General Slocum was a large passenger steamboat built in Brooklyn, New York in 1891. For 13 years, she took people on fun trips around New York City. Sadly, the General Slocum was involved in several smaller accidents during her time.
On June 15, 1904, a terrible fire broke out on the General Slocum while she was carrying members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church to a picnic. The ship caught fire and sank in the East River in New York City. This disaster caused the deaths of about 1,021 out of 1,342 people on board.
The General Slocum fire was the worst disaster in New York City's history until the September 11 attacks in 2001. It remains the worst shipping disaster in the city's history and the second worst on United States waterways. This sad event has been remembered in many books, plays, and movies.
class="infobox " style="float: right; clear: right; width: 315px; border-spacing: 2px; text-align: left; font-size: 90%;"
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.5em;" | 
|}
Contents
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | General Slocum |
| Namesake | Henry Warner Slocum |
| Owner | Knickerbocker Steamship Company |
| Port of registry | United States |
| Builder | Divine Burtis, Jr., of Brooklyn, New York |
| Laid down | December 23, 1890 |
| Launched | April 18, 1891 |
| Maiden voyage | June 25, 1891 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Sidewheeler passenger ship |
| Tonnage | 1,284 grt |
| Length | 264 ft (80 m) |
| Beam | 37.5 ft (11.4 m) |
| Draft | 7.5 ft (2.3 m) unloaded; 8 ft (2.4 m) - 8.5 ft (2.6 m) loaded |
| Depth | 12.3 ft (3.7 m) |
| Decks | three decks |
| Installed power | 1 × 53 in bore, 12 ft stroke single cylinder vertical beam steam engine |
| Propulsion | Sidewheel boat; each wheel had 26 paddles and was 31 ft (9.4 m) in diameter. |
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Crew | 22 |
- The Fire Starts
- Safety Equipment Fails
- Ship Reaches North Brother Island
- Aftermath of the Disaster
- Last Survivors
Building the General Slocum
The General Slocum's main body, called the hull, was built by Divine Burtis, Jr., in Brooklyn. The upper parts of the ship were built by John E. Hoffmire & Son. The ship was made mostly of strong white oak and yellow pine wood.
The General Slocum had three decks: the main deck, the promenade deck, and the hurricane deck. It also had three special sections that could keep water out if the hull was damaged, and 250 electric lights. The ship was about 250 ft (76 m) long.
How the Ship Moved
The General Slocum was a sidewheel boat. This means it was powered by a large steam engine that turned two huge wheels on its sides. Each wheel was 31 ft (9.4 m) across and had 26 paddles to push the ship through the water. The ship could travel at a top speed of about 16 knots (30 km/h). A crew of 22 people usually worked on the ship, including Captain William H. Van Schaick. The ship was allowed to carry up to 2,500 passengers.
Below the main deck were the cabins, storage rooms, and engine areas. The crew's sleeping quarters were near the front of the ship. There was also a "forward cabin" that was used for storage and for refueling the ship's lamps. Oil barrels were kept there, and oil had often spilled on the floor. Crew members frequently used open flames in this room.
Ship's History and Accidents
The General Slocum was named after Civil War General Henry Warner Slocum. It was owned by the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company and mostly took people on trips around New York City for 13 years.
During its service, the General Slocum had several accidents:
- In 1891, just four months after it was launched, the ship got stuck on the ground near Rockaway Inlet. Tugboats had to pull it free.
- In 1894, it hit a sandbar, causing its electricity to go out. Later that month, it got stuck again near Coney Island during a storm, and passengers had to be moved to another ship. In September 1894, it crashed with a tugboat in the East River, damaging its steering.
- In 1898, another collision happened near Battery Park.
- In 1901, some passengers caused trouble on board, and the crew had to fight to keep control of the ship.
- In 1902, the ship got stuck again with 400 passengers, who had to stay overnight until it could be freed.
The 1904 Disaster
On June 15, 1904, the General Slocum was rented by St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church for their yearly picnic. Almost 1,400 people, mostly women and children, boarded the ship. They planned to sail up the East River to a picnic spot called Locust Grove on Long Island. Out of everyone on board, 957 people died and 180 were injured. The fire and collapse of the deck happened in less than 20 minutes.
The Fire Starts
The ship left the pier at 9:30 AM. Around 10:00 AM, a fire started in the forward cabin, also known as the Lamp Room. This room was filled with straw, oily rags, and lamp oil, which helped the fire spread quickly. It's thought that a discarded cigarette or match might have caused the fire.
Captain Van Schaick was told about the fire about 10 minutes after it started. A 12-year-old boy had tried to warn him earlier, but wasn't believed. Once he knew, the Captain ordered the ship to go full speed ahead and then to be beached (run aground) on North Brother Island.
Safety Equipment Fails
The ship's owners had not kept the safety equipment in good condition. The fire hose was old and rotten, and it burst when the crew tried to use it. The crew had not practiced fire drills, and the lifeboats were tied up and hard to get to.
Many survivors said that the life preservers were useless. They fell apart, or children sank even with them on. Most of the victims were women and children who couldn't swim, and their heavy wool clothes made it even harder to stay afloat.
It was later found that the company making the life preservers had put iron bars inside them to make them weigh enough, instead of using enough cork. The canvas covers of the life preservers were also old and rotten from being exposed to the weather for 13 years.
-
A drawing showing the terrible disaster of the General Slocum (1904).
Ship Reaches North Brother Island
Captain Van Schaick decided to keep the ship moving against the wind instead of stopping or beaching it sooner. This choice made the fire spread faster from the front to the back of the ship. The fire spread mainly along the left side, forcing passengers to the back right side of the ship. Van Schaick later said he was trying to avoid spreading the fire to buildings and oil tanks along the river.
About 10 minutes after the ship was beached on North Brother Island, the fire had taken over the entire vessel. Many passengers jumped into the river to escape, but their heavy clothes made it hard to swim, and they drowned. Between 100 and 500 people died when the overloaded right side of the hurricane deck collapsed, throwing them into deep water. Others were hit by the still-turning paddle wheels as they tried to get away.
The General Slocum stayed beached for about 90 minutes before floating away. It finally sank in shallow water off the Bronx shore. About 1,021 people died in total. Two tugboats arrived quickly and helped save between 200 and 350 people.
The 1904 Coast Guard Report showed these numbers for the disaster:
| Status | Passengers | Crew |
|---|---|---|
| Total on board | 1,358 | 30 |
| Adults | 613 | – |
| Children | 745 | – |
| Dead | 955 | 2 |
| Identified dead | 893 | 2 |
| Missing & unidentified dead | 62 | 0 |
| Injured | 175 | 5 |
| Uninjured | 228 | 23 |
Captain Van Schaick lost sight in one eye because of the fire. He was later hospitalized. Many people, including staff and patients from the hospital on North Brother Island, showed great bravery helping to rescue victims.
Aftermath of the Disaster
After the disaster, eight people were charged, including the captain, two inspectors, and the owners of the Knickerbocker Steamship Company. Only Captain Van Schaick was found guilty of not having proper fire drills and fire extinguishers. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released after three and a half years. President Theodore Roosevelt did not pardon him, but President William Howard Taft did in 1912.
The Knickerbocker Steamship Company, which owned the ship, paid only a small fine, even though there was evidence they might have faked inspection records. This disaster led to new laws to make passenger ships safer with better emergency equipment.
The neighborhood of Little Germany in Manhattan, where many of the victims lived, almost disappeared after the tragedy. Many German families moved away. The church that chartered the ship was later changed into a synagogue in 1940.
Many victims were buried in cemeteries around New York, including Lutheran Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens, where a memorial ceremony is held every year. In 1906, a marble fountain was put up in Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan to remember the victims.
The sunken remains of the General Slocum were pulled up and turned into a barge named Maryland. This barge later sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1911 while carrying coal. All four people on board survived that sinking.
Last Survivors
On January 26, 2004, the last surviving passenger, Adella Wotherspoon, died at the age of 100. She was only six months old during the disaster and lost her two older sisters. When she was one year old, she helped unveil the Steamboat Fire Mass Memorial.
-
Adella Wotherspoon
(June 16, 1905) -
Catherine Uhlmyer Connelly
The General Slocum in Books and Movies
The General Slocum disaster has been featured in many forms of popular culture:
Books and Literature
- In 1922, the disaster is mentioned in James Joyce's famous novel Ulysses.
- In 1925, it appears in John Dos Passos' novel Manhattan Transfer.
- In 2003, Ship Ablaze by Edward O'Donnell gave a detailed history of the event.
- Also in 2003, the wreckage of the Maryland (the converted Slocum) was found by author Clive Cussler and described in his book The Sea Hunters 2.
- In 2004, Time Ablaze by Michael A. Burstein was a science fiction story about a time traveler witnessing the disaster.
Films, TV, and Music
- In 1904, a silent documentary film called The Slocum Disaster showed footage of the aftermath.
- The American composer Charles Ives wrote a musical piece called "The General Slocum" about the disaster.
- In 1915, the film Regeneration included a scene of a burning ship, clearly inspired by the General Slocum.
- In 1934, the movie Manhattan Melodrama recreated the disaster in its opening scenes.
- In 2004, the History Channel made a documentary called Ship Ablaze, which included reenactments and interviews with the last two survivors.
- The disaster was featured in an episode of the radio program This American Life in 2001.
- In 2017, an episode of the TV series American Housewife mentioned the disaster.
- In 2022, the folk music group The Longest Johns referenced the sinking in their song "Downed and Drowned."
Images for kids
-
St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, built in 1847, was converted to a synagogue in 1940.
See also
In Spanish: PS General Slocum para niños
