Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum - Hardcover

O'Donnell, Ed

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0767909054 ISBN 13: 9780767909051

Publisher: Broadway, 2003

Synopsis

There were few experienced swimmers among over 1,300 Lower East Side residents who boarded the General Slocum on June 15, 1904. It shouldn’t have mattered since the steamship was only chartered for a languid excursion from Manhattan to Long Island Sound. But a fire erupted minutes into the trip, forcing hundreds of terrified passengers into the water. By the time the captain found a safe shore for landing, 1,021 had perished. It was New York’s deadliest tragedy prior to September 11, 2001.

The only book available on this compelling chapter in the city’s history, Ship Ablaze draws on firsthand accounts to examine why the death toll was so high, how the city responded, and why this event failed to achieve the infamy of the Titanic’s 1912 demise or the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Masterfully capturing both the horror of the event and heroism of men, women, and children who faced crumbling life jackets and inaccessible lifeboats as the inferno quickly spread, historian Edward T. O’Donnell spotlights an important incident with which most Americans are unfamiliar. Enhanced by moving photographs, Ship Ablaze brings to life a bygone community while honoring the victims of that forgotten day.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

“The Slocum always held a fascination for me, and it was a thrill to find her scattered remains off New Jersey in 2000. Edward O'Donnell provides a dramatic and compelling narrative of New York's saddest tragedy before 9/11. It's a fascinating probe into the holocaust that killed hundreds of women and children, and O'Donnell does a spellbinding job of making the calamity come alive.”
—Dr. Clive Cussler, maritime explorer and author of The Sea Hunters

“Ship Ablaze is a century-old disaster story brought to life with awful intensity and heartbreaking clarity. O’Donnell’s incisive narrative races with the doomed steamer Slocum up New York’s East River, illuminates the thousand obscure lives lost, and picks through the negligence for which no one was held sufficiently accountable.”
—Gerard Koeppel, author of Water for Gotham

About the Author:

Edward T. O’Donnell is an associate professor of American history at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He is the author of 1001 Things Everyone Should Know About Irish American History (Broadway Books, 2002). He lives in Holden, Massachusetts with his wife Stephanie, and four daughters, Erin, Kelly, Michelle, and Katherine (and their dog Sammy). To learn more, please visit his website, www.EdwardTODonnell.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Broadway
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0767909054
• ISBN 13: 9780767909051
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352