19. The greatest loss of life in the New York area until September 11, 2001, the sinking of PS General Slocum in the East River in 1904 cost over one thousand lives.
A sidewheel passenger steamboat, PS General Slocum, named for Henry Warner Slocum, operated in the New York area as an excursion steamer available for private hire. First launched in 1891, the Slocum retained a spotty safety record, experiencing several prior incidents during an ill-fated period of operation. Beginning just four months after entering service, the Slocum ran aground off Rockaway, doing so again three years later, collided with multiple other ships on a number of occasions during her thirteen-year lifespan, and was almost sunk during a drunken on-ship riot in August 1901.
On June 15, 1904, the Slocum caught fire in the East River of New York City whilst ferrying 1,342 members of St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church to a picnic. Likely caused by a discarded cigarette, oily rags and exposed gasoline fueled the inferno. Although the crew attempted to respond, having never trained for an emergency the efficacy of their efforts proved limited, with 1,021 passengers dying. In a display of public outrage, eight individuals, including Captain Van Schaick, were indicted by a federal grand jury for the incident. All were acquitted, except for Schaick. Convicted on one charge of criminal negligence, Schaick was sentenced to ten years hard labor before being pardoned by President William Howard Taft in 1912.