On April 27, 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded and burned on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee. The vessel was dangerously overloaded with recently released Union prisoners of war returning home. A boiler failure triggered the disaster in the middle of the night. An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people died, making it one of the deadliest maritime disasters in U.S. history. The tragedy received limited attention at the time because it occurred soon after Lincoln’s assassination and the end of the Civil War. It remains a somber example of the risks of overcrowding and poor maintenance on 19th century steamships.
