Eastland disaster
Eastland disaster, capsizing of the passenger liner SS Eastland on the Chicago River in Chicago on July 24, 1915. The event, which claimed at least 844 lives, ranks as one of the worst maritime disasters in American history. It also is among the city’s deadliest catastrophes: hundreds more lives were lost in the Eastland disaster than in the Chicago fire of 1871.
Early on the morning of July 24, thousands of people gathered in the rain for the fifth annual picnic for the employees of the Western Electric Company. The retreat was scheduled to begin with a boat ride from Chicago across Lake Michigan to Michigan City, Indiana. About 6:30 am passengers began boarding the Eastland—one of five boats chartered for the excursion—at a dock in downtown Chicago. The liner, which had been built in 1902, was known as the “Speed Queen of the Great Lakes.” It also had a history of being unstable, nearly capsizing on several previous occasions.
At 6:41 am the vessel began listing to the starboard side, and the ship’s crew let water into the ship’s ballast tanks to even out the imbalance. Although righted, the Eastland soon began listing again, this time to port. At 7:10 am boarding ended as the ship reached its limit of 2,500 passengers. By about 7:25 am the Eastland had been righted several times, but it then began its fatal list. Within some two minutes it was listing to port at least 25 degrees, and water was entering the ship. As it moved away from the dock, at approximately 7:30 am, the Eastland rolled onto its side. Onlookers as well as nearby boats rushed to aid the passengers, and the police and fire departments arrived soon after. Despite such efforts, however, hundreds were crushed or drowned just a few yards from shore.
Several investigations were launched in the wake of the disaster. The crew was ultimately found not guilty of any wrongdoing, and a federal court held that the owner of the Eastland was not liable, since the liner had passed inspections and been deemed seaworthy. The cause of the Eastland’s capsizing, however, continued to be a source of speculation. It was possible that the ship’s ballast system was inadequate, and its narrow design may have contributed to its demise. Additional lifeboats and rafts that the ship was carrying—the result of a new law passed after the Titanic catastrophe three years earlier—may have made the craft top-heavy.
The Eastland, which was resting in some 20 feet (6 meters) of water, was raised on August 14, 1915. Two years later it was sold to the U.S. Navy. It was converted into a gunboat, and in 1918 it entered service as the USS Wilmette. However, World War I ended before it saw any combat. The Wilmette was then used as a training vessel until 1945, when it was struck from the navy’s registry. It was sold for scrap the following year. The documentary Eastland: Chicago’s Deadliest Day was released in 2019.