Sad Day in Chicago History- Eastland Disaster

This date back in 1915 was a sad day in Chicago history. The SS Eastland rolled over in the Chicago River and 844 people met their death on a day they were to go to a big company picnic. Unfortunately, today very few people today know anything about it. It is regarded as the worst maritime disaster on the Great Lakes.

This past Sunday, the Eastland Disaster Society commemorated the event with a ceremony at the site of the sinking between LaSalle and Clark streets. The US Coast Guard put bouquets of flowers in the river. The Eastland was about to embark for a Western Electric annual picnic to take place in Michigan City, Indiana. There were 2,570 passengers aboard when the ship suddenly listed over to its side in just 20 feet of water, trapping many people inside where they had gone to get out of the rain. It happened so fast, there was no chance to use the lifeboats or pass out life jackets.

One woman, Pat Allen, was there to honor her father, Frank Garbe who had been aboard the ship, but had disembarked to buy some cigars. On his return, he found the ship on its side. And they say smoking is dangerous to your health.

There was one other story in the July 23rd Chicago Tribune, where on of the victims was just called "little feller" by the police as they didn't know his name. Five days later, his grandmother and two neighbor boys identified his body as Willie Novotny. His parents and sister also perished that day.

The Eastland was launched in 1903 and had a history of problems and even a mutiny at one point. The Seaman's Act of 1915 was passed after the Titanic sank and required all ships to carry a full complement of lifeboats. However, this extra weight caused many Great Lakes steamers to become top heavy.

SANK A GERMAN U-BOAT IN LAKE MICHIGAN

The Eastland was raised in October 1915 and became the gunboat USS Wilmette, a Naval Reserve ship and served in that capacity until February 1940. After WWI, it was given the task of sinking the captured German U-Boat UC-97 in Lake Michigan.

In February 1941, it was recommissioned because of WWII and served to train gun crews for US supply ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean. After WWII, it was again decommissioned and broken up for scrap in 1947.

Sources- Chicago Tribune "Society honors dead where Eastland fell" by Jeff Long and Wikipedia.

A Sad Day in Chicago History. --RoadDog