In 1865, the steamer Sultana, carrying freed Union prisoners of war, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn.; as many as 1,800 were killed in the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history.

1865, the steamer Sultana, carrying freed Union prisoners of war, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee; as many as 1,800 were killed in the worst maritime disaster in U.S ...

ST. LOUIS, May 6.--The terrible explosion ou the steamer Sultana, near Memphis, 23 years ago, by which nearly 1,200 Union soldiers lost their lives, has always been surrounded with mystery.

Advertisement In 1865, the steamer Sultana, carrying freed Union prisoners of war, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee; death toll estimates vary from 1,500 to 2,000.

On the way back to Vicksburg, a problem was discovered in one of the Sultana’s boilers. One of the riveted seams had buckled and steam was escaping. When the Sultana arrived in Vicksburg late in ...

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Death tolls vary by source. April 27, 1865 – The Mississippi River steamer Sultana explodes and sinks near Memphis, Tennessee, killing between 1,450 and 1,700 people. June 15, 1904 – The ...

The SS Sultana was a 260-foot wooden-sided steam transport built in 1862 at the John Litherbury Shipyard on Front Street in Cincinnati. The factory is long gone, but a plaque about a mile from ...