Editing SS Eastland

{{short description|Passenger ship that rolled over in Chicago in 1915}}
{{Redirect|Eastland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = S.S. Eastland c.1911.jpg
| Ship caption = SS ''Eastland'' in Cleveland, Ohio  (1911)
| image alt = SS ''Eastland'' in Cleveland (1911)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship name = ''Eastland''
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United States|1896}}
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship owner = Michigan Steamship Company
| Ship operator = 
| Ship route = South Haven, Michigan – Chicago, Illinois
| Ship ordered = October 1902
| Ship awarded = 
| Ship builder = Jenks Ship Building Company
| Ship original cost = 
| Ship yard number = 
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = {{Start date and age|1903|05|06}}
| Ship sponsor = 
| Ship christened = May 1903 by Francis Elizabeth Stufflebeam
| Ship completed = 
| Ship maiden voyage = 16 July 1903
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship renamed = 
| Ship homeport = 
| Ship identification = 
| Ship nickname = "Speed queen of the Great Lakes"
| Ship honours = 
| Ship honors = * 1903 First Team All Boat
* 1903 Boat of the Year
| Ship captured = 
| Ship fate = Sold during 1905 to the Michigan Transportation Company
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = title
| Ship name = ''Eastland''
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United States|1896}}
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship owner = Michigan Transportation Company
| Ship operator = Chicago-South Haven Line
| Ship route = South Haven – Chicago route
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| Ship captured = 
| Ship fate = Sold 5 August 1906, to the Lake Shore Navigation Company of Cleveland, Ohio
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = title
| Ship name = ''Eastland''
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United States|1908}}
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship owner = Lake Shore Navigation Company of Cleveland, Ohio
| Ship operator = 
| Ship route = Cleveland-Cedar Point route
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| Ship fate = Sold during 1909 to the Eastland Navigation Company of Cleveland, Ohio
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = title
| Ship name = ''Eastland''
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United States|1912}}
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship owner = Eastland Navigation Company of Cleveland, Ohio
| Ship operator = 
| Ship route = Cleveland-Cedar Point route
| Ship ordered = 
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| Ship fate = Sold on 1 June 1914 to the St. Joseph-Chicago Steamship Company of St. Joseph, Michigan.
| Ship notes = 
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}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = title
| Ship name = ''Eastland''
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United States|1912}}
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship owner = St. Joseph-Chicago Steamship Company of St. Joseph, Michigan
| Ship operator = 
| Ship route = St. Joseph, Michigan, to Chicago route
| Ship ordered = 
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| Ship identification = 
| Ship fate = Raised after accident in October 1915 and sold at auction on 20 December 1915 to Captain Edward A. Evers, sold on 21 November 1917 to the Illinois [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Reserve]].
| Ship notes = 
| Ship badge = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country = United States Navy
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United States Navy|1945}}
| Ship name = USS ''Wilmette''
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| Ship acquired = 21 November 1917
| Ship commissioned = 20 September 1918
| Ship recommissioned = *29 June 1920
*9 April 1945
| Ship decommissioned = *9 July 1919
*15 February 1940
*28 November 1945
| Ship maiden voyage = 
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship renamed = ''Wilmette'' on 20 February 1918
| Ship reclassified = *[[Gunboat]] 1918
*IX-29 on 17 February 1941
| Ship refit = 
| Ship struck = 19 December 1945
| Ship reinstated = 
| Ship homeport = 
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| Ship motto = 
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| Ship honours = 
| Ship honors = *[[File:World War I Victory Medal ribbon.svg|40px]] [[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]]
*(with Atlantic Fleet clasp)
*[[File:American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|40px]] [[American Defense Medal]]
*(with Fleet clasp)
*[[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|40px]] [[American Campaign Medal]]
*[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|40px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]]
| Ship captured = 
| Ship fate = Sold for scrap on 31 October 1946 to Hyman Michaels Company of Chicago and scrapped, scrapping completed in 1947
| Ship notes = 
| Ship badge = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship type = Passenger Ship
| Ship tonnage = 1,961 gross
| Ship displacement = 2,600 (estimated)
| Ship length = {{convert|265|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|38|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = 
| Ship draft = {{convert|19|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship depth = 
| Ship hold depth = 
| Ship decks = 
| Ship deck clearance = 
| Ship ramps = 
| Ship ice class = 
| Ship power = *Two [[triple expansion]] steam engines
*Four [[Scotch marine boiler]]s (coal fired)
*1,750 shp
| Ship propulsion = Two shafts
| Ship sail plan = 
| Ship speed = {{convert|16.5|kn}}
| Ship range = 
| Ship endurance = 
| Ship test depth = 
| Ship boats = 
| Ship capacity = As ''Eastland'': 2,752 passengers
| Ship troops = 
| Ship complement = As USS ''Wilmette'': 209
| Ship crew = 
| Ship time to activate = 
| Ship sensors = 
| Ship EW = 
| Ship armament = *As USS ''Wilmette'':
*Four 4-inch guns
*Two 3-inch guns
*Two 1-pounder guns
| Ship armour = 
| Ship armor = 
| Ship aircraft = 
| Ship aircraft facilities = 
| Ship notes = *Two funnels
*Two masts
}}
|}

'''SS ''Eastland''''' was a passenger ship based in [[Chicago]] and used for tours. On 24 July 1915, the ship rolled over onto its side while tied to a dock in the [[Chicago River]].<ref name="society">{{Cite web |title=The Eastland |url=http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324055341/http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/index.shtml |archive-date=24 March 2016 |access-date=25 April 2009 |publisher=Eastland Memorial Society}}</ref> In total, 844 passengers and crew were killed in what was the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the [[Great Lakes]].<ref name="society" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Baillod |first=Brendon |title=Introduction |url=http://www.ship-wrecks.net/shipwreck/projects/elgin/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727015341/http://www.ship-wrecks.net/shipwreck/projects/elgin/index.html |archive-date=27 July 2015 |access-date=26 April 2009 |website=The Wreck of the Steamer Lady Elgin}}</ref>

After the disaster, ''Eastland'' was salvaged and sold to the United States Navy. After restorations and modifications, ''Eastland'' was designated a [[gunboat]] and renamed '''USS ''Wilmette'''''. She was used primarily as a training vessel on the Great Lakes, and was scrapped after World War II.

==Construction==
The ship was ordered during 1902 by the Michigan Steamship Company and built by the Jenks Ship Building Company of [[Port Huron, Michigan]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jenks Shipbuilding, Port Huron MI |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/719thcentury/jenks.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008024435/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/719thcentury/jenks.htm |archive-date=8 October 2014 |access-date=26 June 2014 |website=Shipbuilding History}}</ref> The ship was named in May 1903, immediately before her inaugural voyage.

==History==

===Early problems===
On 27 July of her 1903 inaugural season, the ship struck the laid-up tugboat ''George W. Gardner'', which sank at its dock at the Lake Street Bridge in Chicago. ''Eastland'' received only minor damage.<ref name="munity" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=1903 |title=Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-general Steamboat-inspection Service, Year ending June 30, 1903 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hb1k9g&view=1up&seq=81 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407142237/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hb1k9g&view=1up&seq=81 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |access-date=18 May 2020 |publisher=Government Printing Office |page=75 |via=Haithi Trust |location=Washington}}</ref>

===Mutiny on the ''Eastland''===
On 14 August 1903, while on a cruise from Chicago to [[South Haven, Michigan]], six of the ship's firemen refused to stoke the fire for the ship's boiler, claiming that they had not received their potatoes for a meal.<ref name="munity">{{Cite web |title=Eastland (1903) |url=http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/eastland/ss_eastland_data.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216225420/http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/eastland/ss_eastland_data.htm |archive-date=16 February 2020 |access-date=10 May 2020 |website=Builder's Data and History |publisher=Maritime Quest}}</ref> When they refused to return to the fire hole, Captain John Pereue arrested the six men at gunpoint. Firemen George Lippen and Benjamin Myers, who were not a part of the group of six, stoked the fires until the ship reached harbor. Upon the ship's arrival in South Haven, the six men were taken to the town jail and charged with [[mutiny]]. Shortly thereafter, Captain Pereue was replaced.<ref name="munity" />

===Speed modifications===
Because the ship did not meet a targeted speed of {{convert|22|mph|kph kn}} during her inaugural season and had a [[draft (hull)|draft]] too deep for the [[Black River (Southwest Michigan)|Black River]] in South Haven, Michigan, where she was being loaded, the ship returned in September 1903 to Port Huron for modifications, including the addition of an air-conditioning system, an [[Draft (boiler)|induced-draft]] system for the boilers to increase power, and repositioning of the ship's machinery to reduce the draft of the hull.<ref name="munity" /><ref name="ems1">{{Cite web |title=The Eastland – Early Life |url=http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/eastland1.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119141129/http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/eastland1.shtml |archive-date=19 January 2009 |access-date=10 May 2020 |publisher=Eastland Memorial Society}}</ref><ref name="hiltonpp4143">{{Cite book |last=Hilton |first=George |title=Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-8047-2801-1 |pages=41–43 |quote="Whatever may have been the additional weight from the induced-draft and air-conditioning systems, it was enough to cause the ship to [[Squat effect|squat]] when under way, promising to aggravate her chronic problem of striking bottom. To deal with the problem Wood undertook to relocate some of the ship's machinery. The exact nature of the repositioning was never stated, either at the time or after the disaster. Because the ship's machinery was quite limited, this probably meant some forward or aft movement of the engines and incidentally moving the [[Condenser (heat transfer)|condenser]]s. ... The new induced-draft and air-conditioning systems, combined with Wood's repositioning of machinery to reduce her draft, however, produced a ship that was to prove chronically top-heavy."}}</ref> Even though the modifications increased the ship's speed, the reduced hull draft and extra weight mounted up high reduced the [[metacentric height]] and inherent stability as originally designed.<ref name="ems1" /><ref name="hiltonpp4143" />
[[File:Postcard-chicago-chicago-river-state-street-bridge-open-for-steamer-eastland-ship-rolled-over-in-1915-killing-844-people-1908.jpg|thumb|The SS Eastland under the [[State Street Bridge (Chicago)|State Street Bridge]] in Chicago]]

===Listing incidents   ===
Upon her return to South Haven in May 1904, the ship handily won a race to Chicago against the ''City of South Haven''.<ref name="ems1" /> In the meantime, the ''Eastland'' was experiencing periodic problems with her stability while loading and unloading cargo and passengers, and nearly capsized on 17 July 1904 after leaving South Haven with about 3,000 passengers.<ref name="munity" /><ref name="ems1" /> Subsequently, her capacity was lowered to 2,800 passengers, cabins were removed, lifeboats were added and the hull was repaired. On 5 August 1906, another listing incident occurred, which resulted in complaints filed against the Chicago-South Haven Line that had purchased the ship earlier that year.<ref name="ems1" />

Before the 1907 season, the ship was sold to the Lake Shore Navigation Company and moved to [[Lake Erie]].<ref name="munity" /> In 1909, the ship was sold again to the Eastland Navigation Company and continued running excursions between Cleveland and [[Cedar Point]].<ref name="ems1" /> After the 1909 season, the remaining 39 cabins were removed, and prior to the 1912 season, the top smokestack sections were removed to shorten her stack height.<ref name="ems1" /> On 1 July 1912, another incident occurred when the ''Eastland'' experienced a severe listing of about 25° while loading passengers in Cleveland.<ref name="munity" /><ref name="ems1" />

In June 1914, the ''Eastland'' was sold to the St. Joseph–Chicago Steamship Company and returned to Lake Michigan for St. Joseph, Michigan-to-Chicago service.<ref name="munity" />

===The ''Eastland'' disaster===
On 24 July 1915, ''Eastland'' and four other [[Great Lakes passenger steamers]]—''Theodore Roosevelt'', ''Petoskey'', ''Racine'', and ''Rochester—''were chartered to take employees from [[Western Electric]] Company's [[Hawthorne Works]] in [[Cicero, Illinois]] to a picnic in [[Michigan City, Indiana]].<ref name="WESTERNELECTRIC">{{Cite web |date=August 1915 |title=Eastland Memorial Edition |url=http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/wen0.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110914162253/http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/wen0.shtml |archive-date=14 September 2011 |access-date=14 August 2012 |publisher=Western Electric News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hilton |first=George |title=Eastland: Legacy of the Titanic |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-8047-2801-1 |page=93}}</ref>

The federal [[Seamen's Act]] had been passed in 1915 following the [[sinking of the RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'' disaster]] three years earlier. The law required retrofitting of a complete set of [[lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]]s on ''Eastland'', as on many other passenger vessels.<ref name="PROPHECY" /> This additional weight may have made ''Eastland'' more dangerous by making her even more top-heavy. Some argued that other Great Lakes ships would suffer from the same problem,<ref name="PROPHECY">{{Cite web |title=The Prophecy |url=http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/eastland2.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090122125939/http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/eastland2.shtml |archive-date=22 January 2009 |access-date=25 April 2009 |website=The Eastland – Lake Erie |publisher=Eastland Memorial Society}}</ref> but the bill was signed into law by President [[Woodrow Wilson]]. ''Eastland''{{'}}s owners could choose to either maintain a reduced capacity or add lifeboats to increase capacity, and they elected to add lifeboats to qualify for a license to increase the ship's capacity to 2,570 passengers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bonansinga |first=Jay |title=The Sinking of the Eastland: America's Forgotten Tragedy |publisher=Citadel Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-8065-2628-9 |page=52}}</ref> ''Eastland'' was already so top-heavy that she had special restrictions concerning the number of passengers that could be carried. In June 1914, ''Eastland'' had again changed ownership, this time bought by the St. Joseph and Chicago Steamship Company, with captain Harry Pederson appointed the ship's master. In 1914, the company removed the old hardwood flooring of the forward dining room on the cabin level and replaced it with {{convert|2|inches}} of concrete. It also added a layer of concrete near the aft gangway. This added 15–20 tons of weight.<ref>{{harvp|Bonansinga|2004}}{{page needed|date=August 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Eastland 4.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Postcard of the ''Eastland'' and Pederson; postmarked 24 July 1915]]
On the morning of 24 July, passengers began boarding ''Eastland'' on the south bank of the Chicago River between [[Clark Street (Chicago)|Clark]] and [[LaSalle Street]]s at about 6:30&nbsp;a.m., and by 7:10&nbsp;a.m., the ship had reached her capacity of 2,572 passengers. Many passengers were standing on the open upper decks when the ship began to list slightly to the port side (away from the wharf). The crew attempted to stabilize the ship by admitting water into her [[ballast tank]]s, but to little avail. At 7:28&nbsp;a.m., ''Eastland'' lurched sharply to port and then rolled completely onto her port side, coming to rest on the river bottom, only {{convert|20|feet}} below the surface; barely half of the vessel was submerged. Many passengers had already moved below decks on the cool and damp morning to warm themselves before the departure. Consequently, hundreds were trapped inside by the water and the sudden rollover, and some were crushed by heavy furniture, including pianos, bookcases, and tables. The ship was only {{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} from the wharf.  Captain John O'Meara and the crew of the nearby vessel ''Kenosha'' responded quickly by pulling alongside the hull to allow stranded passengers to leap to safety. Other notable heroes of the day included Peter Boyle, a deckhand from the SS Petoskey who drowned while saving passengers, and [[Helen Repa]], a Western Electric nurse who commanded much of the rescue operation. However, 841 passengers and 2 crew members died. Many of the passengers on ''Eastland'' were immigrants, with large numbers from present-day Czech Republic, Poland, Norway, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Hungary, and Austria.<ref name="passengers">{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=The Passengers |url=https://eastlanddisaster.org/people/passengers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925041002/https://eastlanddisaster.org/people/passengers/ |archive-date=25 September 2022 |access-date=24 September 2022 |website=Eastland Disaster Historical Society}}</ref> Many of the [[Czech American|Czech]] immigrants had settled in Cicero; of the Czech passengers aboard, 220 perished in the disaster.<ref name="passengers" />

The bodies were taken to temporary morgues established in the area for identification; by afternoon, the remaining unidentified bodies were consolidated in the armory of the 2nd Regiment.<ref name="WESTERNELECTRIC" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 October 2013 |title=ITB: Eastland ghost stories |url=http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/videos/ITB_Eastland_ghost_stories/2680c443-7c05-4496-9ab9-0ab1ad1e296c |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006151151/http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/videos/ITB_Eastland_ghost_stories/2680c443-7c05-4496-9ab9-0ab1ad1e296c |archive-date=6 October 2014 |access-date=5 November 2013 |website=[[Chicago Bears]] |quote=He decided they needed to set up a consolidated, temporary morgue. They did at the 2nd Regiment Armory building, which later became the studios for ''Oprah Winfrey''.}}</ref>

In the aftermath, the [[Western Electric Company]] provided $100,000 (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|100000|1915}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}){{inflation/fn|US}} to relief and recovery efforts of the family members of the victims.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Financial Relief |url=https://eastlanddisaster.org/history/financial-relief |access-date=2024-08-02 |website=Eastland Disaster Historical Society}}</ref>

Among those scheduled to be on ''Eastland'' was 20-year-old [[American football|football]] player [[George Halas]], later the coach and owner of the [[Chicago Bears]] and a founding member of the [[National Football League]], who was delayed leaving for the dock and arrived after the ship had overturned. Halas's name was listed on the list of deceased in newspapers, but he was later revealed to be unharmed. His friend and future Bears executive [[Ralph Brizzolara]] and his brother were on the ''Eastland'' when she capsized but escaped through portholes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=29 October 2013 |title=ITB: Halas escapes Eastland Disaster |url=http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/videos/ITB_Halas_escapes_Eastland_Disaster/99645994-1503-4007-914f-bb0df1733585 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213215503/http://www.chicagobears.com/multimedia/videos/ITB_Halas_escapes_Eastland_Disaster/99645994-1503-4007-914f-bb0df1733585 |archive-date=13 December 2013 |access-date=5 November 2013 |website=[[Chicago Bears]]}}</ref> Despite rumors to the contrary, entertainer [[Jack Benny]] was neither aboard ''Eastland'' nor scheduled for the excursion.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The first known film footage of the recovery efforts was discovered and released in 2015.<ref name="Rodriguez">{{Cite news |last=Rodriguez |first=Meredith |date=8 February 2015 |title=First known film clips emerge of 1915 Eastland disaster |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-eastland-disaster-footage-met-20150208-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150212012149/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-eastland-disaster-footage-met-20150208-story.html? |archive-date=12 February 2015 |access-date=12 February 2015 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref>

Marion Eichholz, the last known survivor, died on 24 November 2014 at the age of 102.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Manchir |first=Michelle |date=14 December 2014 |title=Last Survivor of 1915 Eastland Disaster Dies |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-eastland-last-survivor-met-20141212-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214093652/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-eastland-last-survivor-met-20141212-story.html |archive-date=14 December 2014 |access-date=14 December 2014 |website=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref>

==== Media reports ====
Writer [[Jack Woodford]] witnessed the disaster and offered a first-hand account to the ''[[Chicago American|Herald and Examiner]]''. In his autobiography, Woodford wrote:

{{blockquote|And then movement caught my eye. I looked across the river. As I watched in disoriented stupefaction a steamer large as an ocean liner slowly turned over on its side as though it were a whale going to take a nap. I didn't believe a huge steamer had done this before my eyes, lashed to a dock, in perfectly calm water, in excellent weather, with no explosion, no fire, nothing. I thought I had gone crazy.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}}}

[[Carl Sandburg]], then known better as a journalist than as a poet, wrote an angry account for ''[[International Socialist Review (1900)|The International Socialist Review]]'', accusing regulators of ignoring safety issues and claiming that many of the workers were aboard following company orders for a mandatory staged picnic.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sandburg |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Sandburg |date=September 1915 |title=Looking 'em over |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9VJIAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA132 |journal=The International Socialist Review |volume=XVI |issue=3 |pages=132–137}}</ref> Sandburg also wrote a poem, "The ''Eastland''", which contrasted the disaster with the mistreatment and poor health of the lower classes. Sandburg concluded the poem with a comparison: "I see a dozen ''Eastlands''/Every morning on my way to work/And a dozen more going home at night."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sandburg |first=Carl |title=Eastland |url=http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/sandburg0.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623062544/http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/sandburg0.shtml |archive-date=23 June 2015 |access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref> The poem was considered too harsh for publication when written, but was eventually published in a collection of poems in 1993.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sandburg |first=Carl |url=https://archive.org/details/billysundayother00sand |title=Billy Sunday and Other Poems |publisher=Harcourt Brace & Company |year=1993 |editor-last=Hendrik |editor-first=George |page=xiii |editor-last2=Hendrik |editor-first2=Willene |url-access=registration}}</ref>

==== Inquiry and indictments ====
A [[grand jury]] indicted the president and three other officers of the steamship company for [[manslaughter]], and the ship's captain and engineer for [[criminal negligence|criminal carelessness]], and found that the disaster was caused by "conditions of instability" caused by overloading of passengers, mishandling of water ballast and the ship's faulty construction.<ref>{{Cite news |date=11 August 1915 |title=Six Are Indicted for Eastland Loss – President of the Company, Captain, and Engineer Among Those Held for Disaster |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B03E7DC1138E633A25751C1A96E9C946496D6CF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305052413/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B03E7DC1138E633A25751C1A96E9C946496D6CF |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=12 February 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

During hearings regarding the extradition of the men to Illinois for trial, principal witness Sidney Jenks, president of the company that built ''Eastland'', testified that her first owners wanted a fast ship to transport fruit, and he designed one capable of reaching {{convert|20|mph|abbr=on}} and carrying 500 passengers. Defense counsel [[Clarence Darrow]] asked whether Jenks had ever concerned himself with the potential conversion of the ship into a passenger steamer with a capacity of 2,500 or more passengers. Jenks replied, "I had no way of knowing the quantity of its business after it left our yards ... No, I did not worry about the ''Eastland''." Jenks testified that a stability test of the ship was never performed, and stated that after tilting to an angle of 45° at launching, "it righted itself as straight as a church, satisfactorily demonstrating its stability."<ref>{{Cite news |date=23 January 1916 |title=Eastland Never Tested – Builder of Ill-Fated Ship Says She Was Designed to Carry 500 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E04E6DF1439E233A25750C2A9679C946796D6CF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305062720/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E04E6DF1439E233A25750C2A9679C946796D6CF |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=12 February 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

The court refused extradition, holding that the evidence was too weak, with "barely a scintilla of proof" to establish probable cause to find the six guilty. The court reasoned that the four company officers were not aboard the ship, and that every act charged against the captain and engineer was performed in the ordinary course of business, "more consistent with innocence than with guilt." The court also reasoned that ''Eastland'' "was operated for years and carried thousands safely", and therefore the accused were justified in believing the ship to be seaworthy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 February 1916 |title=Nation Loses Point in Eastland Case; Court Refuses Application for Removal of Indicted Persons to Jurisdiction of Illinois. |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02EFDD1F38E633A2575AC1A9649C946796D6CF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105055841/https://www.nytimes.com/1916/02/19/archives/nation-loses-point-in-eastland-case-court-refuses-application-for.html |archive-date=5 January 2024 |access-date=12 February 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

==== Photo gallery ====
<gallery widths="200" heights="160">
File:Capsizing of the SS Eastland, as witnessed by Satterfield.jpg|Cartoonist [[Bob Satterfield (cartoonist)|Bob Satterfield]] witnessed the capsizing from the [[Clark Street Bridge]], and sketched it for his syndicate
File:EastlandKenosha.jpg|Passengers being rescued from the hull of the ''Eastland'' by a tugboat.
File:Eastland Postcard - Police recover bodies from between decks.png|Victim recovered from the ''Eastland''
File:Eastland Postcard - View of Eastland taken from Fire Tug in river.png|View of ''Eastland'' from fire tug.
File:Eastland disaster port side.jpg|''Eastland'' being righted after the disaster.
File:Eastland 3.png|View of the Eastland rescue underway. From a post card
File:Eastland 1.png|alt=View of the Eastland on a postcard printed in|Postcard of Eastland. ''<small>"The Ill Fated Eastland, which turned turtle in the Chicago River, July 24, 1915, at 7:30 A.M., causing the death of over 1000 persons, mostly women and children."</small>''
</gallery>

===Second life as USS ''Wilmette''===
[[File:The USS Wilmette.jpg|thumb|USS ''Wilmette'', c. 1918]]
After ''Eastland'' was raised on 14 August 1915, she was sold to the Illinois [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Reserve]] and recommissioned as USS ''Wilmette'', stationed at the [[Naval Station Great Lakes]]. She was converted to a gunboat, renamed ''Wilmette'' on 20 February 1918, and commissioned on 20 September 1918 under captain William B. Wells.<ref name="DANFS" /> Commissioned late in World War I, ''Wilmette'' did not experience combat. It trained sailors and experienced normal upkeep and repairs until placed [[reserve fleet|in ordinary]] at Chicago on 9 July 1919, retaining a 10-man caretaker crew aboard. On 29 June 1920, the gunboat was returned to full commission.<ref name="DANFS">{{Cite web |title=Wilmette |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/wilmette.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807111213/https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/wilmette.html |archive-date=7 August 2020 |access-date=26 April 2009 |website=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=United States Navy}}</ref>

On 7 June 1921, ''Wilmette'' was tasked with sinking [[SM UC-97|''UC-97'']], a German U-boat surrendered to the United States after World War I.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The UC-97 |url=http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/uc97.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810224346/http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/uc97.htm |archive-date=10 August 2007 |access-date=26 April 2009 |publisher=Eastland Disaster Historical Society}}</ref> The guns of ''Wilmette'' were manned by [[gunner's mate]] J. O. Sabin, who had fired the first American cannon of World War I, and gunner's mate A. F. Anderson, the man who fired the first American [[torpedo]] of the war.<ref name="ship">{{Cite web |title=USS Wilmette |url=http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/wilmette.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119131704/http://www.eastlandmemorial.org/wilmette.shtml |archive-date=19 January 2009 |access-date=26 April 2009 |publisher=Eastland Memorial Society}}</ref>

For the remainder of her 25-year career, the gunboat served as a training ship for naval reservists of the 9th, 10th and 11th Naval Districts. It made voyages along the shores of the Great Lakes carrying trainees assigned to her from the Naval Station Great Lakes. ''Wilmette'' was placed "out of commission, in service" on 15 February 1940.<ref name="DANFS" />

Given hull designation IX-29 on 17 February 1941, she resumed training duty at Chicago on 30 March 1942, preparing armed guard crews for duty manning the guns on armed merchantmen. That assignment continued until the end of World War II in Europe obviated measures to protect transatlantic merchant shipping from German U-boats.<ref name="DANFS" />

During August 1943, ''Wilmette'' transported [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|President Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[William D. Leahy|Admiral William D. Leahy]], [[James F. Byrnes]] and [[Harry Hopkins]]<ref name="munity" /> on a 10-day fishing vacation in McGregor and [[Whitefish Bay]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mount |first=Graeme S. |date=July 2001 |title=Myths and Realities: FDR's Vacation on Lake Huron, 1–7 August 1943 |url=https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol11/nm_11_3_23to32.pdf |journal=The Northern Mariner |volume=XI |issue=3 |pages=23–32 |doi=10.25071/2561-5467.600 |s2cid=247554079 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018032040/https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol11/nm_11_3_23to32.pdf |archive-date=2023-10-18}}</ref>

On 9 April 1945, she was returned to full commission for a brief interval. ''Wilmette'' was decommissioned on 28 November 1945, and her name was deleted from the Navy list on 19 December 1945. During 1946, ''Wilmette'' was offered for sale, but on 31 October 1946, she was sold to the Hyman Michaels Company for scrapping, which was completed in 1947.<ref name="DANFS" />

==Memorials==
[[File:Eastland Disaster Plaque.jpg|thumb|upright|Historical marker along the [[Chicago River]]]]
A marker commemorating the accident was dedicated on 4 June 1989. This marker was reported stolen on 26 April 2000, and a replacement marker was installed and dedicated on 24 July 2003.

{{as of|2016}}, plans exist for a permanent outdoor exhibit with a proposed name of "At The River's Edge". This exhibit would be located along the portion of the Chicago Riverwalk adjacent to the site of the disaster and is planned to consist of panels with text and images.<ref>{{Cite web |title=At The River's Edge A permanent outdoor Eastland Disaster exhibit |url=http://eastlanddisaster.production.1wr.com/attheriversedge.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009182324/http://eastlanddisaster.production.1wr.com/attheriversedge.htm |archive-date=9 October 2016 |access-date=29 January 2016 |publisher=Eastland Disaster Historical Society}}</ref>
 
On 12 July 2015, 100 years after the disaster, a memorial to the dead was dedicated at [[Bohemian National Cemetery (Chicago, Illinois)|Bohemian National Cemetery]] in Chicago.

== In popular culture ==
The disaster was incorporated into the 1999 series premiere of the [[Disney Channel]] original series ''[[So Weird]]'', in which teenage paranormal enthusiast Fiona Phillips encounters the ghost of a boy who drowned.<ref>{{Cite web |last=AwesomeTVShows |title=So Weird 1x01 – Family Reunion |url=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28etg8_so-weird-1x01-family-reunion_tv |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108121520/http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28etg8_so-weird-1x01-family-reunion_tv |archive-date=8 January 2015 |access-date=7 March 2015 |website=Dailymotion}}</ref>

In 2012, Chicago's [[Lookingglass Theatre Company|Lookingglass Theatre]] produced a musical entitled ''Eastland: A New Musical'', written by Andy White and scored by [[Ben Collins-Sussman]] and [[Andre Pluess]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ingram |first=Bruce |date=2012-06-28 |title=Musical Memorial for a Chicago Tragedy |work=Deerfield Review |publisher=Pioneer Press |location=Glenview, IL |pages=98=B}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Zoglin |first=Richard |date=27 June 2012 |title=Scandal in the Second City: Two Remarkable Shows From Chicago |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2012/06/27/great-windy-way-two-remarkable-shows-from-chicago/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306171601/https://entertainment.time.com/2012/06/27/great-windy-way-two-remarkable-shows-from-chicago/ |archive-date=6 March 2021 |access-date=7 September 2020 |magazine=Time}}</ref>

The ''Eastland'' disaster is also pivotal to the story of one family told in the play/musical ''Failure: A Love Story'', written by Philip Dawkins, which premiered in Chicago in 2012 at [[Victory Gardens Theater]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 July 2019 |title=Failure: A Love Story* |url=https://victorygardens.org/event/failure-a-love-story/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220828003136/https://victorygardens.org/event/failure-a-love-story/ |archive-date=28 August 2022 |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=Victory Gardens |language=en-US}}</ref> The play premiered in Los Angeles on 24 July 2015, the 100th anniversary of the tragedy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rohrer |first=Jason |date=24 July 2015 |title=Theater Review: FAILURE: A LOVE STORY (Coeurage Theatre Company at GTC in Burbank – Los Angeles) |url=http://www.stageandcinema.com/2015/07/24/failure-a-love-story-coeurage/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150728014027/http://www.stageandcinema.com/2015/07/24/failure-a-love-story-coeurage |archive-date=2015-07-28 |access-date=22 March 2018 |website=stageandcinema.com}}</ref> The play was again staged in Chicago at the Oil Lamp Theater and was nominated for multiple awards.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Failure: A Love Story |url=https://oillamptheater.org/calendar/failure-a-love-story/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809151001/https://oillamptheater.org/calendar/failure-a-love-story/ |archive-date=9 August 2022 |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=Oil Lamp Theater}}</ref>

In 2024, Chicago's [[Neo-Futurists]] produced a puppetry show based on the disaster entitled ''Switchboard''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-11-21 |title=SWITCHBOARD |url=https://neofuturists.org/events/switchboard/ |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=The Neo-Futurist Theater |language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of maritime disasters]]
*[[PS General Slocum|PS ''General Slocum'']]
*[[Sea Wing disaster|''Sea Wing'' disaster]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/wilmette.html}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite thesis |last=Dial |first=Caitlyn Perry |title=Only the River Remains: History and Memory of the Eastland Disaster in the Great Lakes Region, 1915 – 2015 |date=2016 |degree=PhD |publisher=Western Michigan University |url=https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/1960/}}
*{{Cite book |last=Green |first=Jocelyn |title=Drawn By The Current |publisher=Bethany House Publishers |year=2022 |isbn=9780764233326}}
*{{Cite news |last=Kemp |first=Bill |date=20 July 2014 |title=Bloomington witness to Eastland disaster |url=https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/bloomington-witness-to-eastland-disaster/article_c0497cb4-0f46-5d5e-ba23-e7acf759a3da.html |work=[[The Pantagraph]] |location=Bloomington, IL}}
*{{Cite book |last=McCarthy |first=Michael |title=Ashes Under Water: The SS Eastland and the Shipwreck that Shook America |publisher=Lyons Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0762793280}}
*{{Cite news |last=Myers |first=Quinn |date=25 July 2019 |title=New Documentary Revisits Chicago's 'Deadliest Day' |url=https://news.wttw.com/2019/07/25/new-documentary-revisits-chicago-s-deadliest-day |publisher=WTTW}}
*{{Cite book |last=Wachholz |first=Ted |title=The Eastland Disaster |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=0-7385-3441-2}}
*{{Cite book |last=Zett |first=Natalie |title=Flower in the River |publisher=Zidova Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=978-1737579618}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Eastland (ship, 1903)}}
* [http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/ Eastland Disaster Historical Society]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/liners/eastland/eastland.htm MaritimeQuest Eastland Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/photo/ct-eastland-disaster-100th-anniversary-rare-photos-20150711-photogallery.html Chicago Tribune Photographs]

{{Western Electric}}
{{July 1915 shipwrecks}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Eastland}}
[[Category:SS Eastland]]
[[Category:1903 ships]]
[[Category:Deaths due to shipwreck|!Eastland]]
[[Category:Disasters in Chicago]]
[[Category:Gunboats of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:1910s in Chicago]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1915]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United States]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Port Huron, Michigan]]