On June 15, 1904, the General Slocum, a wooden paddle boat excursion vessel carrying 1,358 passengers from St. Marks German Lutheran Church on the Lower East Side on an annual Sunday School outing, caught fire on the East River and became the worst maritime disaster in New York City history. Commanded by 68-year-old Captain William H. Van Schaick, the ship left the East 3rd Street Pier at 9:40 am and headed north past Blackwell's Island, with most passengers, mainly women and children, gathered on the upper decks. A spark or carelessly tossed match ignited straw in a lower-deck storage room that also held oil lamps, barrels of oil, and paint boxes, and the fire spread rapidly. The inexperienced crew was untrained in fire safety and emergency response, the rotted fire hoses burst when water was turned on, and the ten lifeboats were tied fast and could not be launched. As the vessel entered Hell Gate near Astoria, Van Schaick chose to continue at full speed toward North Brother Island rather than beach the ship on the nearer shore or stop for rescue, and the motion fanned the flames. In the panic, passengers trampled one another, and many who jumped overboard were struck by the paddle wheels or drowned because the rotten life vests, filled with disintegrated cork, dragged them down. By the time the ship reached North Brother Island, it was burning from bow to stern; railings failed, the superstructure collapsed, and less than 15 minutes after the smoke was first seen, at least 1,021 people were dead. Doctors, nurses, and patients from the hospital on North Brother Island repeatedly entered the water to rescue survivors and recover bodies. The disaster devastated Kleindeutschland, the Lower East Side German immigrant community where nearly all the passengers lived, and many families soon moved to Yorkville. Blinded by the blaze, Van Schaick was convicted of negligence and sentenced to ten years at Sing Sing Prison before President William Taft pardoned him after three and a half years. Investigation found that the Knickerbocker Steamboat company had never replaced the original life belts and hoses and that the first mate had not trained the crew in emergency procedures, and maritime safety standards were considerably strengthened afterward.
