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SS Eastland
SS Eastland was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On July 24, 1915, the ship capsized while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. In total, 844 passengers and crew were killed in what is the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
After the disaster, Eastland was salvaged and sold to the United States Navy. After restorations and modifications, Eastland was designated a gunboat and renamed USS Wilmette. She was used primarily as a training vessel on the Great Lakes, and was scrapped after World War II.
The ship was ordered during 1902 by the Michigan Steamship Company and built by the Jenks Ship Building Company of Port Huron, Michigan. The ship was named in May 1903, immediately before her inaugural voyage.
On 27 July of her 1903 inaugural season, the ship struck the laid-up tugboat George W. Gardner, which sank at its dock at the Lake Street Bridge in Chicago. Eastland received only minor damage.
On 14 August 1903, while on a cruise from Chicago to South Haven, Michigan, six of the ship's firemen refused to stoke the fire for the ship's boiler, claiming that they had not received their potatoes for a meal. When they refused to return to the fire hole, Captain John Pereue arrested the six men at gunpoint. Firemen George Lippen and Benjamin Myers, who were not a part of the group of six, stoked the fires until the ship reached harbor. Upon the ship's arrival in South Haven, the six men were taken to the town jail and charged with mutiny. Shortly thereafter, Captain Pereue was replaced.
Because the ship did not meet a targeted speed of 22 miles per hour (35 km/h; 19 kn) during her inaugural season and had a draft too deep for the Black River in South Haven, Michigan, where she was being loaded, the ship returned in September 1903 to Port Huron for modifications, including the addition of an air-conditioning system, an induced-draft system for the boilers to increase power, and repositioning of the ship's machinery to reduce the draft of the hull. Even though the modifications increased the ship's speed, the reduced hull draft and extra weight mounted up high reduced the metacentric height and inherent stability as originally designed.
Upon her return to South Haven in May 1904, the ship handily won a race to Chicago against the City of South Haven. In the meantime, the Eastland was experiencing periodic problems with her stability while loading and unloading cargo and passengers, and nearly capsized on 17 July 1904 after leaving South Haven with about 3,000 passengers. Subsequently, her capacity was lowered to 2,800 passengers, cabins were removed, lifeboats were added and the hull was repaired. On 5 August 1906, another listing incident occurred, which resulted in complaints filed against the Chicago-South Haven Line that had purchased the ship earlier that year.
Before the 1907 season, the ship was sold to the Lake Shore Navigation Company and moved to Lake Erie. In 1909, the ship was sold again to the Eastland Navigation Company and continued running excursions between Cleveland and Cedar Point. After the 1909 season, the remaining 39 cabins were removed, and prior to the 1912 season, the top smokestack sections were removed to shorten her stack height. On 1 July 1912, another incident occurred when the Eastland experienced a severe listing of about 25° while loading passengers in Cleveland.
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SS Eastland
SS Eastland was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On July 24, 1915, the ship capsized while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. In total, 844 passengers and crew were killed in what is the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.
After the disaster, Eastland was salvaged and sold to the United States Navy. After restorations and modifications, Eastland was designated a gunboat and renamed USS Wilmette. She was used primarily as a training vessel on the Great Lakes, and was scrapped after World War II.
The ship was ordered during 1902 by the Michigan Steamship Company and built by the Jenks Ship Building Company of Port Huron, Michigan. The ship was named in May 1903, immediately before her inaugural voyage.
On 27 July of her 1903 inaugural season, the ship struck the laid-up tugboat George W. Gardner, which sank at its dock at the Lake Street Bridge in Chicago. Eastland received only minor damage.
On 14 August 1903, while on a cruise from Chicago to South Haven, Michigan, six of the ship's firemen refused to stoke the fire for the ship's boiler, claiming that they had not received their potatoes for a meal. When they refused to return to the fire hole, Captain John Pereue arrested the six men at gunpoint. Firemen George Lippen and Benjamin Myers, who were not a part of the group of six, stoked the fires until the ship reached harbor. Upon the ship's arrival in South Haven, the six men were taken to the town jail and charged with mutiny. Shortly thereafter, Captain Pereue was replaced.
Because the ship did not meet a targeted speed of 22 miles per hour (35 km/h; 19 kn) during her inaugural season and had a draft too deep for the Black River in South Haven, Michigan, where she was being loaded, the ship returned in September 1903 to Port Huron for modifications, including the addition of an air-conditioning system, an induced-draft system for the boilers to increase power, and repositioning of the ship's machinery to reduce the draft of the hull. Even though the modifications increased the ship's speed, the reduced hull draft and extra weight mounted up high reduced the metacentric height and inherent stability as originally designed.
Upon her return to South Haven in May 1904, the ship handily won a race to Chicago against the City of South Haven. In the meantime, the Eastland was experiencing periodic problems with her stability while loading and unloading cargo and passengers, and nearly capsized on 17 July 1904 after leaving South Haven with about 3,000 passengers. Subsequently, her capacity was lowered to 2,800 passengers, cabins were removed, lifeboats were added and the hull was repaired. On 5 August 1906, another listing incident occurred, which resulted in complaints filed against the Chicago-South Haven Line that had purchased the ship earlier that year.
Before the 1907 season, the ship was sold to the Lake Shore Navigation Company and moved to Lake Erie. In 1909, the ship was sold again to the Eastland Navigation Company and continued running excursions between Cleveland and Cedar Point. After the 1909 season, the remaining 39 cabins were removed, and prior to the 1912 season, the top smokestack sections were removed to shorten her stack height. On 1 July 1912, another incident occurred when the Eastland experienced a severe listing of about 25° while loading passengers in Cleveland.