The following refers only to destruction of steamers by explosions, and make up a very melancholy list, and yet it tells but a part of the great loss of life on the Western waters by steamboat accidents. The list is incomplete.
Date | Lives Lost | |
1816 | June 9, Washington, boiler exploded at Marietta, Ohio River | 9 |
1817 | Constitution, May 4, boiler exploded at Pt. C'pee, Mississippi | 30 |
1825 | Teche, May 5, Mississippi | 20 |
1830 | Helen McGregor, Feb. 24, boilers exploded at Memphis, Tenn. | 60 |
1836 | Ben. Franklin, March 12, Mobile, boilers exploded | 20 |
1836 | Rob Roy, June 9, Mississippi, boilers exploded | 17 |
1837 | Chariton, July 28, Upper Mississippi, boilers exploded | 9 |
1837 | Dubuque, Aug. 15, Upper Mississippi, flue collapsed | 21 |
1837 | Black Hawk, Dec. 31, Red River, boilers exploded | 50 |
1838 | Oronoko, April 21, Mississippi, flue collapsed | 109 |
1838 | Moselle, Cincinnati, boilers exploded | 85 |
1838 | Gen. Brown, Nov. 25, Mississippi, boilers exploded | 55 |
1838 | Augusta, Dec. 3, Mississippi, boilers exploded | 7 |
1839 | George Collier, May 5, Mississippi, piston rod broke and ran through, carrying away boiler stand. | 36 |
1839 | Wilmington, Nov. 18, Mississippi, boilers exploded | 25 |
1840 | Walker, Nov. 3, Lake Pontchartrain, boilers exploded | 9 |
1840 | Persian, Nov. 2, Mississippi, flues collapsed | 26 |
1844 | Lucy Walker, October 25, Ohio River, boilers exploded | 25 |
1845 | Elizabeth, April 3, Mississippi, flue collapsed | 6 |
1845 | Marquette, July 14, New Orleans, boilers exploded | 30 |
1847 | A. N. Johnson, Dec. 30, Ohio River, boilers exploded | 74 |
1848 | Edward Bates, Aug. 9, Mississippi, flues collapsed | 53 |
1848 | Concordia, Sept. 16, Mississippi, boilers exploded | 28 |
1849 | Virginia, March 31, Ohio River, boilers exploded | 14 |
1849 | Louisiana, Nov. 15, New Orleans, boilers exploded | 150 |
1850 | Anglo-Norman, New Orleans, boilers exploded | 100 |
1850 | Kate Fleming, Oct. 6, Ohio River, boilers exploded | 9 |
1850 | Knoxville, Dec. 11, New Orleans, flues collapsed | 19 |
1851 | Oregon, March 2, Mississippi, boilers exploded | 19 |
1852 | Pocahontas, March 14, Arkansas River, flues collapsed | 8 |
1852 | Red Stone, April 2, Ohio River, boilers exploded | 40 |
1852 | Glencoe, April 9, St. Louis, boilers exploded | 60 |
1852 | Saluda, April 9, Missouri River, boilers exploded | 27 |
1852 | Franklin No. 8, Aug. 22, Upper Mississippi, flues collapsed | 20 |
1853 | Steamer Bee, near Evansville | 9 |
1854 | Kate Kearney, Feb. 16, Mississippi | 15 |
1854 | Timoon No. 2, Aug. 26, Mississippi | 19 |
1854 | Raindeer, collapsed flues, March 13, Mississippi | 40 |
1855 | Lexington, Ohio River, June 30 | 5 |
1855 | Lancaster, July 31, burst steam pipe, Ohio River | 5 |
1855 | Heroine, March 13, Tombigbee | 8 |
1856 | Metropolis, March 29, Ohio River | 11 |
1857 | Forest Rose, May, Mississippi | 11 |
1857 | Fanny Fern, January 29, Ohio River | 20 |
1857 | Cataract, November 18, burst a mud-ram, Mississippi River | 12 |
1857 | Buckeye Belle, November 26, boilers exploded, Mississippi, Loss not known | |
1858 | Titania, October 12, flues collapsed, Mississippi River | 1 |
1859 | Princess, February 27, boilers exploded, Mississippi River | 70 |
1859 | St. Nicholas, April 24, boilers exploded, Mississippi River | 45 |
1859 | Hiawatha, October 1, burst steam pipe, Missouri River | 2 |
1860 | John C. Calhoun, April 29, exploded boilers, Chattahoochee River | 6 |
1860 | Sam Getty, April, boilers exploded, Ohio River | 2 |
1860 | Ben. Lewis, June 25, exploded boilers at the mouth of the Ohio River | 23 |
1860 | W. V. Gilman, November 25, exploded, Kentucky River | 8 |
1861 | Medora, June 12, exploded boilers, Ohio River | 4 |
1862 | Monongahela, Feb. 20, boilers exploded, Ohio River | 4 |
1862 | Commodore Perry, August 2, exploded boilers, Louisville Wharf | 1 |
1862 | Steamer I Go, boiler exploded, Ohio River | 3 |
1862 | Advance exploded, Ohio River | 3 |
1863 | Ollie Sullivan, February 24, flues collapsed, Ohio River | 3 |
1864 | Maira, Mississippi River, boilers exploded, loss not known | |
1865 | Sultana, April 27, boilers exploded, Mississippi | 1,547 |
1865 | Ben Levi, March 19, boilers exploded, Mississippi | 5 |
1865 | Nimrod, Sept 23, boilers exploded, port of Pittsburgh | 5 |
Debow, J.D.B., “Steamboat Explosions in the West,” Debow’s Review, Volume 2, Issue 3, Sept 1866, pp.308-309
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