In Search of History

Sultana: The Mississippi's Titanic

The Sultana explosion on April 27, 1865, is the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history, often called "The Mississippi's Titanic". Over 1,100 to 1,700 people died, mostly returning Union soldiers, when overloaded boilers exploded near Memphis, surpassing the Titanic's death toll. It was overshadowed at the time by the news of President Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, being killed.