History
2
On Wednesday, June 15, 1904, members of Saint Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, a mostly German immigrant parish that existed from 1857 to 1940, boarded the excursion steamer General Slocum for the 17th annual Sunday school picnic. The vessel was sailing up the East River with some 1400 passengers aboard when it caught fire in the Hell Gate passage, was beached, and sank on North Brother Island. An estimated 1200 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives within yards of the Bronx shore. Five weeks before the disaster, the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service had certified the General Slocum to safely carry 2500 passengers. An investigation after the fire and sinking found that the lifeboats were wired and glued with paint to the deck, life jackets fell apart with age, fire hose burst under water pressure, and the crew had never had a fire drill. Until the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the Slocum disaster was the largest fire fatality in New York City’s history.
Hear stories like this as you drive
ExploreHere reads historical markers out loud as you pass them: over 325,000 stories across the US. No account needed.
4.7 · 800+ ratings · Free
FIND IT
New York, New York · United States
