The Worst Maritime Disaster Pre-Titanic: The General Slocum | Fascinating Horror

Comments · 986

• WO

  @WontSeeReplies · 3 years ago

  How was the life preserver manufacturer QuarkWorks not held responsible for literally making steel bar filled sink jackets? Insane.

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• AL

  @allisonstewart316 · 2 years ago

  My great grandmother, Louise Gailing, was babysitting for a family on the General Slocum.  Some of the kids she was babysitting died, but she was able to jump off the ship and swim a baby to shore.  She was given an "Act of Heroism" award from the city of Nutley, New Jersey.

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• L-

  @L-po8rx · 3 years ago

  The vision of seeing your child descending into the deep due to faulty life preservers is heart rending

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• CL

  @classicmicroscopy9398 · 3 years ago

  If only that boy had been believed. Even an extra 10 minutes could have made a huge difference.

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• BL

  @BlooferLady86 · 3 years ago (edited)

  The individual captain got punished (justly) and yet the corporations got away with it. Times haven't changed that much, have they?

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• ST

  @Studentforlife473 · 3 years ago (edited)

  I think my favorite part of these videos is learning what obscure title each disaster holds. Like narrator could legit say “the second deadliest accident involving a piece of cake in Norway for the next 50 years” and I’d just be like… “Yes. That is quite interesting. Proceed.”

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• MI

  @michaelimbesi2314 · 3 years ago

  The reason that this shipwreck and many others were overshadowed by the loss of the Titanic is relatively simple. Robert Ballard put it best: we remember the Titanic more than other seriously deadly shipwrecks because of the human drama that played out on her decks. She took a long time to sink, and so there was lots of time for people to make decisions and act, and it is those decisions that fascinate us. We imagine how we would have acted if we were in their position. It’s not the rich people, since Lusitania also had very rich people (the Vanderbilts instead of the Astors) and isn’t as well remembered. And it isn’t the death toll, since there have been many shipwrecks with higher death tolls, such as the Sultana, the Doña Paz, and Wilhelm Gustloff.

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• CA

  @canadiankazz · 3 years ago

  It's bad enough the life vests were decaying and useless, but to hear that some of them were filled with IRON instead of cork to save money sent a chill through me. jfc. That is terrifying.

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• AN

  @annalieff-saxby568 · 3 years ago

  "A mutiny broke out while transporting 900 drunk anarchists from New Jersey" is a phrase I really wish I'd penned.

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• EI

  @eileennoonan7779 · 3 years ago

  Just thinking about watching your child sink and drown, when you think they're going to flot is horrible. I have the shivers when he sayed that.

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• RH

  @rhiannonrising · 3 years ago

  "....900 drunk anarchists from New Jersey." As a NJ native, I laughed out loud.  Absolutely fantastic.

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• AB

  @abigailsmiley8397 · 3 years ago

  My great great grandmother and her sister were on board and survived. I remember my dad telling me about this event, thank you for shedding more light on it.

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