Mobile, Alabama
Explosion of the Ocean Wave
August 27, 1871
1871—EXPLOSION OF THE “OCEAN WAVE”
WHILE hundreds of excursionists clambered
aboard the 27-ton ferry boat Ocean Wave,
as she prepared to sail from the Point Clear
pier on the afternoon of August 27, 1871, a
terrific explosion wrecked the boat, killed more
than a score of her passengers and injured many
others.
The following is part of an eye-witness account
of the tragedy as given The Mobile Register
by Ben Lane,
who happened to be sitting on the porch
of the Point Clear Hotel at the time of the
explosion.
“It was my ill fortune yesterday to witness the
saddest scenes I ever beheld. I have seen many
battle fields strewn with hecatombs of gory dead
and wounded, but there the victims were strong
men, and such scenes were normal, usual and
anticipated. But yesterday I witnessed a
catastrophe in which helpless women and children
were the chief victims. I saw bodies frightfully
mutilated, torn, scalded; some struggling in a
last vain effort to escape from the overwhelming
waters; some rescued only to prolong their
sufferings for a few hours. The boat gave out a
queer hissing sound before the explosion. Then
came the report, followed by a rumbling, hissing
sound. Fragments of timber and metals flew in
all directions. The fore part of the boat and
cabin was completely carried away.... The guests
of the hotel and the residents turned out in a
body and rendered every possible assistance.
Large numbers of boats were hurried to the
scene, but they arrived too late to save the
drowning. All was over with them in less than
five minutes. But many of these were so badly
wounded that they would have died, if rescued.
The number of passengers on the Wave
is only conjectural, and so is the number of the
lost. But the boat was certainly crowded, and it
is safe to estimate the number aboard at over
two hundred. Very many of these were children,
and many little hats and bonnets came ashore to
tell the tale of the little victims beneath the
waves. How many were lost, it is impossible to
know. The number will probably never be
accurately known... . The boiler was torn open,
with a long seam. It was so rotten as literally
to tear open. If it had been stronger, so as to
explode with greater violence, the destruction
would probably have been greater.”
“The Ocean Wave has for some time been
considered an unsafe boat. A criminal
responsibility rests somewhere, and it ought to
be visited upon those to whom the recklessness
and incapacity are attributable.
The system of inspections everywhere is
loose, careless and reckless, and officers who
give an official safety certificate to such old
shells of boilers ought to lose their official
heads, if not their necks”.
Highlights of 75 years in Mobile, Mobile,
Ala.: First National Bank of Mobile, 1940, pages
19-20
THE OCEAN WAVE DISASTER
The List of Killed Reaches Thirty-Five
Others Yet Supposed To Be Under the Wreck -
Partial List of the Dead
Mobile, Ala., August 29, 1871.
The steamer Fountain brought over eleven
dead bodies this morning from the wreck. This
makes a total of thirty-five bodies recovered so
far. It is feared that many more are still under
the wreck. The excursionists were mainly
composed of the working class, with their
families. No well known citizens are among the
killed except Willis G.
Merriwether, the cotton weigher. The
following are among the killed:--
Captain William Eaton
Mary and Ellen Quinlan
George Crosswell
J. Peterson, pilot
W. J. Prevost
Mrs. Mary Marmon
Mrs. Annie Ellward
Cornelia Dubroco
Jacob Gussett
M. Powers
Eliza and Agnes Nicholas
Alexander Nicholas
Oscar Larwendine
Octavia Bernard
Robert Anderson
M. E. Homer
Mrs. Picket and son
William F. Courson
Joseph L. Orient
Sarah McDonald
The submarine diver has thoroughly explored the
sunken wreck of the steamer Ocean Wave,
but failed to discover any bodies. He reports
the boat terribly shattered by the explosion.
The community is still terribly excited, and an
investigation will be made to ascertain, if
possible, the cause of the explosion. So far the
casualties are fifty-five -- killed, 29; wounded
26. Many persons, believed to have been on board
the Ocean Wave at the time of the
explosion are still missing. Three more of those
wounded died this afternoon. The report of the
death of Willis
Merriwether is incorrect.
New York Herald, New York, NY 30 Aug 1871
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