The Eastland disaster - July 24, 1915 Chicago, 844 lives lost

[intakexhaust]

Curious if others know of this haunting tragedy, one hundred years ago ~

The S.S. Eastland, known as the "Speed Queen of the Great Lakes," was part of a fleet of five excursion boats assigned to take Western Electric employees, families and friends across Lake Michigan to Michigan City, Indiana, for a day of fun and fellowship. But the festivities were short-lived and quickly turned tragic.

The Eastland, docked at the Clark Street Bridge, never left the Chicago River. Tragedy struck as the ship rolled over into the river at the wharf's edge. More than 2,500 passengers and crew members were on board that day – and 844 people lost their lives, including 22 entire families.

Here's a good link but there's other sick stories not often mentioned. One was the onlookers robbing the dead of their personal goods, jewelry, money, etc.. There wasn't any official passenger list so family / survivors had to just walk the row's of the dead and identify.

Eastland Disaster - What happened

[porsche4life]

Wow... What caused a big boat to tip like that?

[intakexhaust]

From wiki-

In 1915, the new federal Seamen's Act had been passed because of the RMS Titanic disaster three years earlier. The law required retrofitting of a complete set of lifeboats on the Eastland, as on many other passenger vessels.[7] This additional weight, ironically, probably made the Eastland more dangerous as it worsened the already severe problem of being top-heavy. Some argued that other Great Lakes ships would suffer from the same problem.[7] Nonetheless, it was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson. The Eastland was already so top-heavy that it had special restrictions concerning the number of passengers that could be carried. Prior to that, in June 1914, the Eastland had again changed hands, this time bought by the St. Joseph and Chicago Steamship Company, with Captain Harry Pedersen appointed the ship's master.

On the fateful morning, passengers began boarding the Eastland on the south bank of the Chicago River between Clark and LaSalle Streets around 6:30, and by 7:10 a.m., the ship had reached its capacity of 2,572 passengers. The ship was packed, with many passengers standing on the open upper decks, and began to list slightly to the port side (away from the wharf). The crew attempted to stabilize the ship by admitting water to its ballast tanks, but to little avail. Sometime in the next 15 minutes, a number of passengers rushed to the port side, and at 7:28, the Eastland lurched sharply to port, and then rolled completely onto its side, coming to rest on the river bottom, which was only 20 feet below the surface. Many other passengers had already moved below decks on this relatively cool and damp morning to warm up before the departure. Consequently, hundreds were trapped inside by the water and the sudden rollover; others were crushed by heavy furniture, including pianos, bookcases, and tables. Although the ship was only 20 feet from the wharf, and in spite of the quick response by the crew of a nearby vessel, the Kenosha, which came alongside the hull to allow those stranded on the capsized vessel to leap to safety, a total of 844 passengers and four crew members died in the disaster.

[intakexhaust]

Also from wiki-

Following the disaster, the Eastland was salvaged and sold to the United States Navy. After restorations and modifications the Eastland was designated as a gunboat and renamed the USS Wilmette. She was used primarily as a training vessel on the Great Lakes, and was scrapped following World War II.

Recent discovered film footage:
Commemorating the Eastland Disaster: 100 Year Anniversary | Chicago Tonight | WTTW

[LEAKYSEALS951]

Thanks for posting this- this is an event I had no clue ever happened, but am glad to have learned about it.

I am totally fascinated by early 20th century history. Get me a delorian and a flux capacitor- this is where I'd go. The people were different, but more familiar than different.

The three pics that moved me most were this:

because they were so young, and you can relate to their mood of the previous care free year

This:



Because I have a daughter almost that age

And finally this:



Why? because these two guys are in the middle of a completely awful situation, with probably the most gruesome job imaginable ahead of them, and here they are genuinely SMILING for the camera. Why? Why would anyone smile in that situation? It's almost like the photographer screwed up something (or cracked a joke) and they were laughing at him in the midst of this carnage. We'll never know, but that is amazing.

[glewis80SC]

Wow I've never even heard of this..how tragic.

[daepp]

The shots of the floating Eastland make it appear to be VERY top heavy - a high CG. Then the shots of it on its side make it appear to be quite narrow.

I know nothing of ship building and sailing, but WTH were they thinking???

[ckissick]

Here's a link to a similar maritime disaster, a long time ago in Sweden.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_%28ship%29

[nota]

Originally Posted by daepp

The shots of the floating Eastland make it appear to be VERY top heavy - a high CG. Then the shots of it on its side make it appear to be quite narrow.

I know nothing of ship building and sailing, but WTH were they thinking???

long and thin is fast for a displacement hull

but Length: 265 ft
Beam: 38 ft 2 in
Draft: 19 ft 6 in she was deep
at 10% that is 26ft by 3.8 wide by 2 ft deep

but top heavy esp after more lifeboats were added
and a huge herd of people on the top
maybe coal shifted

[intakexhaust]

Eastland Disaster - Eastland Passengers