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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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PHOENIX, AZ- Best-selling author, Clive Cussler announced
Wednesday, November 29th that his National Underwater
& Marine Agency team led by marine surveyor, Ralph
Wilbanks had discovered the remains of the GENERAL SLOCUM,
which burned in the East River, New York June 15, 1904.
During an excursion past Manhattan it became engulfed
in flames. Before it had grounded on North Brother Island,
1021 passengers, most of them women and children, were
either burned to death or drowned.
The burned out hulk was later turned into a barge called
the MARYLAND. While carrying furnace coke under tow
south of Atlantic City it sank in a squall. The Army
Corp of Engineers dynamited the hull as a menace to
navigation a year later. Though the wreck had often
been reported as found by divers, Wilbanks, found it
buried four feet under the silt. The hulk was identified
by recording exact dimensional measurements and the
discovery of piles of coke.
The horrible tragedy had its beginnings when on the
night before the excursion, deck hand Dan O'Neill stored
hay on board the General Slocum in violation of fire
regulations. The hay was stored in a closet with oil
lanterns. The two were a deadly combination. Henry Lundberg,
assistant inspector of hulls, had certified that the
boat was seaworthy a month earlier. He deemed the life
belts to be "…up to date and of good quality…"
after a cursory inspection. Lundberg opened and shut
valves but was not concerned that no water came through
them. The water hoses and life boats were high above
his head so, rather than inspect them as he was required
to do by law he checked "…in good condition…"
on the form and passed the General Slocum. The burned
and drowned bodies of passengers on the General Slocum
were due in large part to the ineptitude of Henry Lundberg
and Dan O'Neill. Neither of them served a day in jail
for this crime. The bodies of several women and children
were recovered with the useless life belts around them,
which had apparently dragged the victims to their deaths.
Most lifeboats remained in their fixed positions, never
launched.
Clive Cussler, Ralph Wilbanks and the NUMA search crew
were also the team that discovered the Confederate submarine
HUNLEY in Charleston, South Carolina which has been
called one of the great marine archaeological finds
of the last century.
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