PS General Slocum was an American sidewheel passenger steamboat built in Brooklyn, New York, in 1891. During her service history, she was involved in a number of mishaps, including multiple groundings and collisions.
On June 15, 1904, General Slocum caught fire and sank in the East River of New York City. At the time of the disaster, she was on a chartered run carrying members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church (German Americans from Little Germany, Manhattan) to a church picnic. An estimated 1,021 out of the 1,342 people on board died.
The General Slocum disaster was the worst maritime disaster of the 20th century until the sinking of the RMS Titanic surpassed it eight years later in 1912. It remains the worst maritime disaster in New York City history, and the second-worst on U.S. waterways, after the explosion and sinking of the steamboat Sultana, and until the September 11 attacks in 2001 was the deadliest manmade disaster of any sort in the New York area.
The events surrounding the General Slocum fire have been explored in a number of books, plays, and movies.
Construction and design
thumb|left|upright=1.3|Drawing by Samuel Ward Stanton
The hull of General Slocum was built by Divine Burtis Jr., a Brooklyn boatbuilder who was awarded the contract on February 15, 1891; the superstructure was built by John E. Hoffmire & Son. and had a hull depth of . General Slocum was a sidewheel boat. Each wheel had 26 paddles and was in diameter. Her maximum speed was about . The ship was usually crewed by a contingent of 22, including Captain William H. Van Schaick and two pilots. She had a legal capacity of 2,500 passengers. and New York Congressman Henry Warner Slocum. She was owned by the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company. the third compartment aft from the bow under the main deck; The commission estimated that 400 to 600 people drowned after the ship was beached, as they jumped off the aft portion of the boat into deep water; those jumping off the bow landed in shallower water. an estimated 1,021 people, including 2 of the 30 crew members, had either burned to death or drowned. There were 431 survivors. The actions of two tugboats which arrived a few minutes after the Slocum was beached were credited with saving between 200 and 350 people.
{| class= "wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
! Status !! Passengers !! Crew
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Total on board || 1,358 || 30
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Adults || 613 || –
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Children || 745 || –
|-
| style="font-size:20%;background:#ddd;" colspan=3 |
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Dead || 955 || 2
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Identified dead || 893 || 2
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Missing & unidentified dead || 62 || 0
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Injured || 175 || 5
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | Uninjured || 228 || 23
|}
The captain lost sight in one eye owing to the fire. Reports indicate that Captain Van Schaick deserted General Slocum as soon as it settled, jumping into a nearby tug, along with several crew. He was hospitalized at Lebanon Hospital.
Many acts of heroism were performed by the passengers, witnesses, and emergency personnel. Staff and patients from the hospital on North Brother Island participated in the rescue efforts, forming human chains and pulling victims from the water, and also used ladders that belonged to construction crews working on repairing the hospital building.
Aftermath
thumb|upright|The General Slocum Memorial in the Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery in Middle Village, Queens, is home to the graves of many victims of the disaster.