Day 205: Death on the River

     On April 15, 1912, the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic, taking 1,500 souls down to an icy grave. In the wake of that disaster, many maritime rules were revised, including regulations for lifeboats on board ships.  These new rules would have tragic implications just over three years later on the Chicago River.

     On July 24, 1915, 2,500 people boarded the SS Eastland for an excursion on the Chicago River and the lake. The Eastland had been modified to fit the new regulations passed in the wake of the Titanic tragedy. One of these rules concerned lifeboats, specifically mandating that ships carry an adequate number of them for all passengers. As the Eastland was retrofitted to meet the rule, there was no true place for the extra boats needed, so they were kind of shoehorned onto the ship and placed above-deck. This affected the center of gravity on the ship, making it much more top-heavy. So, back to the morning of the 24th. Many of the passengers had arrived on the boat(which was docked on the river) early, and had proceeded to their cabins below-decks. As the departure time neared, more and more people boarded.

     All of a sudden, something caught the attention of the passengers above deck. As they all rushed to one side of the ship, the high-center of gravity(thanks to the extra lifeboats) made the ship extra tippy. To best illustrate what happened next, lets check out this clip from Pirates of the Caribbean. Of course, when the Eastland tipped over, the ship didn't cross over to another dimensional plane. It just sat there. On its side. With almost all of the portholes on the ship open(as it was quite a hot morning). And most of those hundreds of people who had boarded early drowned. All told, 844 people died that morning on board the Eastland. (In a merciful twist of fate, one of those who did not die was a 20-year-old George Halas, who would go on to start a football team that would take the moniker of an early Big Ten powerhouse, as well as later in life be one of the men responsible for getting Walter Payton a Super Bowl ring.)

     The ship itself was eventually raised, deemed seaworthy, and lived out the rest of its days as the Wilmette, a merchant ship as well as a naval training vessel, until it was finally decommissioned in the years after World War II. There is a memorial to the disaster at the point on the River where the tragedy occurred.

Author's note: Unfortunately, this is yet another area where New York blows Chicago out of the water when it comes to stats. For a little extracurricular reading, Google 'General Slocum' to read about a similar tragedy that happened in New York City 11 years before the Eastland.