The Sinking of the Steamboat Lexington on Long Island Sound (Disaster)

Originally commissioned by Cornelius Vanderbilt as he built his maritime empire in New York, the Steamboat Lexington eventually became the most prestigious steamship on the heavily trafficked Long Island Sound...

But in 1840 a fire broke out on the ship, igniting poorly placed bales of cotton which destroyed the ship in minutes. Emergency rafts sank and rescue boats were unable to reach the ship in time. Only four among the over one hundred and forty on board survived by clinging to bales of cotton. The incident would be the worst maritime disaster in Long Island history.

Author Bill Bleyer presents the harrowing story of a ship’s journey from glory to tragedy.

Bill Bleyer was a prize-winning staff reporter for Newsday, the Long Island daily newspaper, for thirty-three years before retiring in 2014 to write books and freelance for the newspaper and magazines. He is coauthor, with Harrison Hunt, of Long Island and the Civil War (The History Press, 2015). He is the author of Sagamore Hill: Theodore Roosevelt’s Summer White House (The History Press, 2016); Fire Island Lighthouse: Long Island’s Welcoming Beacon (The History Press, 2017); Long Island and the Sea: A Maritime History (The History Press, 2019) and George Washington’s Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide (The History Press, 2021). His work has been published on Smithsonian.com and in Civil War News, America’s Civil War, Naval History, Sea History, Lighthouse Digest and numerous other magazines and newspapers.