On Saturday 24 July 1915, about 2,500 people boarded the SS Eastland at the Clark Street dock for a Western Electric company picnic across Lake Michigan. At 7:28 a.m. the ship rolled onto its side in about 20 feet of water. It took roughly two minutes. Many passengers had gone below deck to get out of the rain and were trapped.
The warning signs were on the record:
- 1904: it nearly capsized leaving South Haven, Michigan.
- 1912: it listed about 25 degrees while loading in Cleveland.
- 1913: a naval architect warned there “may be a serious accident” (HISTORY.com).
- 1915: after the Titanic, the Seamen’s Act required more lifeboats. The Eastland had been designed for six and carried 11, all on the top deck.
The builder, Sidney Jenks, later testified: “No, I did not worry about the Eastland.” He also said no stability test had ever been done. Company officers, the captain and the engineer were charged, but a federal court found “barely a scintilla of proof” and no one was ever convicted.
One detail that stays with me: a seven-year-old, body No. 396 at the Second Regiment Armory, went unclaimed for days until his grandmother recognized him by his brown knickerbockers.
Sources:
- Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/eastland-disaster-killed-more-passengers-titanic-and-lusitania-why-has-it-been-forgotten-180953146/
- HISTORY.com: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-24/hundreds-drown-in-eastland-disaster
- Michigan Public: https://www.michiganpublic.org/arts-culture/2015-07-23/the-eastlands-historic-sinking-killed-hundreds-why-isnt-it-remembered-more
- Chicago Architecture Center: https://www.architecture.org/articles/eastland-disaster-100th-anniversary/