SS Sultana
The Sultana was a side-wheel steamboat. On April 27th , 1865, the boat exploded in Memphis, TN.
At 9 p.m., on April 24, the SS Sultana left Vicksburg to head upriver. The captain, James Cass Mason, told an Army officer his ship had carried so many men before, so there was no need to worry about any overcrowding. He said the Sultana was a good vessel and the men were in capable hands. The Sultana was badly overcrowded, Mason knew, but not overloaded. On April 26, the ship docked in Memphis, TN to pick up coal. At midnight she headed upriver. At 2 a.m., April 27, two of the three boilers exploded. Fire spread through the ship. The two smokestacks fell on the boat, crushing the deck and killing many men. Those who survived panicked and rather than fighting the fire, they jumped into the river. The flames started sweeping toward the stern, causing more panic and jumping. Lt. Annis opened his stateroom door to see what was happening. As he was enveloped in a cloud of steam, he slammed the door shut, put life belts on himself and his wife, took their daughter in his arms, opened the door again, and rushed to the stern. There, he shimmied down a rope to the lower deck, with his seven year old, and waited for his wife Anna to follow. With his daughter in his arms, Annis jumped and Anna followed. When she hit the water she discovered her life preserver had been fastened incorrectly. She managed to grab hold of the Sultana rudder.
Anna was almost hysterical in her worry about her husband and child. Then, in horror, she saw her husband and her daughter disappear into the current. As they drowned, and the fire began to engulf the rudder, she grabbed a small board and floated away.
The river was high, flowing fast, crowded with dead, drowning and barely floating men. The Sultana was in flames. When the sun began to come up, more than 1,700 were dead. The survivors began singing marching tunes. Mrs. Annis was picked up by a Navy gunboat coming from Memphis. Heartbroken by the fate of her husband and daughter, she managed to say thanks to Corporal Albert King, who had helped keep her afloat. She took off her wedding ring and gave it to King, saying that everything she had was gone "except my ring," which was her only "token of reward." Almost 800 of the 2,500 passenger survived. The Steamship, or what was left of it, drifted down the river, where it sank. She still lies there today, covered in mud, at the bottom of the Mississippi River.
Anna was almost hysterical in her worry about her husband and child. Then, in horror, she saw her husband and her daughter disappear into the current. As they drowned, and the fire began to engulf the rudder, she grabbed a small board and floated away.
The river was high, flowing fast, crowded with dead, drowning and barely floating men. The Sultana was in flames. When the sun began to come up, more than 1,700 were dead. The survivors began singing marching tunes. Mrs. Annis was picked up by a Navy gunboat coming from Memphis. Heartbroken by the fate of her husband and daughter, she managed to say thanks to Corporal Albert King, who had helped keep her afloat. She took off her wedding ring and gave it to King, saying that everything she had was gone "except my ring," which was her only "token of reward." Almost 800 of the 2,500 passenger survived. The Steamship, or what was left of it, drifted down the river, where it sank. She still lies there today, covered in mud, at the bottom of the Mississippi River.