#74 Titanic of the Mississippi

At 2:00 a.m. on April 27, 1865, three boilers suddenly exploded on the paddleboat Sultana, which was carrying 2,400 passengers consising mostly of newly freed Union prisoners who had managed to survive the horrors of Andersonville. Approximately 1,800 people died in the accident, which is considered the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history.

It was believed that the cause was low water in the boilers combined with the fact that the ship was top heavy, causing hot spots to form as the boiler water swished back and forth causing steam pressure to build. However, in 1888, a man named William Streetor claimed that his business partner, Robert Louden, confessed on his deathbed that he had sabotaged the Sultana using a coal torpedo. Nevertheless, what actually occurred remains a mystery.

The Sultana