PS General Slocum

PS General Slocum
History
NameGeneral Slocum
NamesakeHenry Warner Slocum
OwnerKnickerbocker Steamship Company
Port of registryUnited States
BuilderDivine Burtis, Jr., of Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Laid downDecember 23, 1890
LaunchedApril 18, 1891
Maiden voyageJune 25, 1891
Fate
  • Burned and sank June 15, 1904
  • Salvaged and converted into barge Maryland
  • Foundered December 4, 1911
General characteristics
Class and typeSidewheeler passenger ship
Tonnage1,284 grt
Length264 ft (80 m)
Beam37.5 ft (11.4 m)
Draft7.5 ft (2.3 m) unloaded; 8 ft (2.4 m) - 8.5 ft (2.6 m) loaded
Depth12.3 ft (3.7 m)
Decksthree decks
Installed power1 × 53 in bore, 12 ft stroke single cylinder vertical beam steam engine
PropulsionSidewheel boat; each wheel had 26 paddles and was 31 ft (9.4 m) in diameter.
Speed16 knots (30 km/h)
Crew22

The PS General Slocum[note 1] was an American sidewheel passenger steamboat built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891. During her service history, she was involved in a number of mishaps, including multiple groundings and collisions.

On June 15, 1904, General Slocum caught fire and sank in the East River of New York City.[1] At the time of the disaster, she was on a chartered run carrying members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church (German Americans from Little Germany, Manhattan) to a church picnic. An estimated 1,021 out of the 1,342 people on board died.[2]

The General Slocum disaster was the worst maritime disaster of the 20th century until the sinking of the RMS Titanic surpassed it eight years later in 1912. It remains the worst maritime disaster in New York City history, and the second-worst on U.S. waterways, after the explosion and sinking of the steamboat Sultana, and until the September 11 attacks in 2001 was the deadliest manmade disaster of any sort in the New York area.[3]

The events surrounding the General Slocum fire have been explored in a number of books, plays, and movies.


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  1. ^ "The General Slocum An Unlucky Craft. Has Had Collisions And Accidents by the Score. Has Run Ashore Many Times. She Was a Crack Harbor Boat Thirteen Years Ago. Capt. Van Schaick's Good Record". The New York Times. June 16, 1904. Retrieved February 28, 2010. The General Slocum was one of the best known vessels about New York Harbor. Since the time of her launching, in 1891, she has been employed in so many different capacities, and on so many different runs, that possibly five out of every ten people in New York City have at some time been aboard of her, or have seen her at close range.
  2. ^ Sante, Luc (2003). Low life: lures and snares of old New York (1st Farrar, Straus Giroux pbk. ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus Giroux. p. 16. ISBN 0374528993. OCLC 53464289.
  3. ^ Kleinfield, N. R. (September 2, 2007). "A Debate Rises: How Much 9/11 Tribute Is Enough?". The New York Times. Retrieved July 26, 2022.