The Eastland: The Forgotten Story of Chicago's Deadliest Day (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798188748104)

July 24, 1915. A ship full of picnickers rolls over at the dock - and never leaves Chicago.

The excursion steamer Eastland, chartered for a Western Electric employee outing, capsized in the Chicago River in about twenty feet of water while still tied to the wharf. In minutes, 844 people were dead - more than the Titanic's American toll, most of them young factory workers in their Sunday best. Inside you'll find:

• The tender ship with a reputation for listing, and the debate over the lifeboats added after the Titanic
• The twenty-eight minutes from a laughing crowd to a mass grave
• The volunteers, welders, and divers who fought to reach the trapped
• The armory morgue, the 22 families erased, and the trials that ended with no one to blame
• The ship's strange afterlife as the naval vessel USS Wilmette

Drawn from the historical record and modern scholarship, The Eastland restores Chicago's deadliest day, hour by documented hour.

Author: Nathan W. Cole
ISBN-13: 9798188748104
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 07/23/2026
Pages: 84
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.25lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.22d