Search for the steamship General Slocum off Corson's
Inlet, New Jersey. September 12, 1994.
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In her full
glory...
Reprinted with permission of
the Mariner's Museum.
(click to enlarge) |
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With a passenger
load.
Reprinted with permission of
the Mariner's Museum.
(click to enlarge) |
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"After"
Reprinted with permission
of the Mariner's Museum.
(click to enlarge) |
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I contracted with Ralph Wilbanks and Wes Hall to search
for the General Slocum, the paddlewheel steamer that burned
and sank in the Hudson River off New York on June 15,
1904, while carrying 1500 passengers on an weekend excursion.
As high as 1200 hundred were reported dead, mostly women
and children.
After studying the reports on the sinking of the General
Slocum, after she was raised and refitted into a barge
called the Maryland, I decided highest probability area
stemmed from the report of the Army Corp of Engineers
who placed it a mile off shore abreast of Corson's Inlet.
Without going into a lengthy description of the research
material and the results of the search, I have included
all my data for the readers interest.
The search, using sidescan sonar and proton magnetometer,
turned up nothing that indicated the remains of the
General Slocum/Maryland. Perhaps we might make another
attempt someday, working further south toward Ludlam's
Beach.
Built |
1891 |
Sunk |
December 4, 1911 |
Previous names |
Sank as Maryland |
Depth |
24 feet |
Gross Tonnage |
1,284 |
Dimensions |
236' x 38' x 7' |
Type of vessel |
Paddle wheel steamship
converted into barge |
Builder |
Devine & Burtis, Brooklyn, NY |
Owner |
Knickerbocker Steamboat Co. |
Port of Registry |
New York, NY |
Cause of sinking |
Foundered |
Location |
Ludlam Beach, NJ |
Contrary to the procedure of this book, although this
barge sank under the name Maryland, I have listed it
under the name for which it is notorious. So much has
been written about the disaster at Hell Gate that I
will give it only a short recounting.
The General Slocum was an excursion steamer, reminiscent
of lazy days on the Mississippi when side paddle wheelers
were the most modern mode of river travel. The Hudson
River was her route, and the morning of June 15, 1904,
dawned like many others for the Slocum. Nearly 1500
people crowded her three tiered decks; all but a hundred
were women and children.
The vessel was only a few hundred feet from shore when
fire broke out and, fanned by the wind, quickly spread
through the wooden superstructure. Captain William van
Schaick found his craft dangerously close to the oil
tanks on shore, and was forced to run full speed ahead
toward North Brother Island.
As the heat and flames became intolerable the crowd
jammed up against the rails and broke through, depositing
scores of women and children into the water. The Slocum
ran aground on a rocky shore with a steep slope. A river
tug came to the rescue and tied itself to the Slocum's
paddle box. The captain, some of the crew, and as many
passengers as the cramped deck space could fit, got
aboard before the tug itself caught fire and was forced
to cast off.
The Slocum's upper deck collapsed, dropping people
and burning timbers into the water. Fire boats steamed
into the melee, and poured water on the raging conflagration.
Then the hurricane deck disintegrated into fiery splinters.
Hundreds oaf people were either burned to death, or
were knocked into the water to drown. The ship eventually
burned right to the waterline.
Contemporary accounts hawked the death hall. at anywhere
between 833 and 1,200, with something like 250 survivors.
President Theodore Roosevelt ordered an investigation,
which eventually returned a verdict of improper storage
of flammable materials, rotted fire hose, old and substandard
life preservers, insufficient crew training.
Captain van Schaick was charged with manslaughter and
criminal negligence, and sentenced to 10 years at hard
labor in Sing Sing. The sentence was commuted after
2 years. The real culprit was determined to be the Slocum's
operators. According try the law, their liability was
limited to the value of the vessel. The burned out hulk
was raised and sold for $1,800.
The General Slocum was sold to Peter Hagen, converted
into a barge, and renamed Maryland. Laden with coke,
and bound from Camden, NJ, to Newark, NJ, the old hull
sprung a leak off Atlantic City. Captain Robert Moon,
master of the tug Hudson, cast off the tow line after
the Maryland slipped beneath the waves, and turned back
to rescue the three men tending the barge. Despite high
seas he got them all off. The wreck lay in shallow water,
just off Ludlam Beach. By now it is probably sanded
in, or torn apart by the surf.
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