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Explosion of the Moselle Save

Description: Caption reads "When Over 100 Lives were Lost" This photograph (ca. 1935-1943) is of an illustration or engraving, most likely from a newspaper, depicting the explosion of the steamboat Moselle, in the Ohio River. On Wednesday April 25, 1838, between 4 and 5 o’clock, the new steamboat Moselle left the wharf in Cincinnati and continued upstream about a mile, for a quick stop in Fulton, to pick up more passengers and freight, even though the boat was already loaded beyond capacity, before continuing to it’s final destination in Louisville and St. Louis. It is estimated that there were approximately 266 passengers on board after the stop in Fulton, a great majority of which were emigrants, of most of them German or Irish. A crowd had gathered to watch the steamboat depart, as it had already gained a celebrity-like reputation of being an extremely fast boat, though she had only made two or three trips thus far. Captain Perrin, anxious to bolster the reputation of the Moselle, collected as much steam as he could, in an attempt to overtake another boat which had just recently departed for the same destination. Onlookers and passengers alike later commented that the steam sounded strange, as the pressure built to unsafe levels. Just as the boat was shoved from the quay, an explosion took place, so great that it was like a “mine of gunpowder” exploding, as all four boilers simultaneously burst. The destruction was horrific, with pieces of boat, freight and bodies thrown into the river and upon the shore. About one hundred and fifty people in were lost that day, whether killed, or ultimately declared missing and one hundred and seventeen people were saved. An investigation later took place, which resulted in stricter regulations regarding freight and passenger capacity, and which declared owners and officers ultimately liable for any and all injuries suffered as a result of safety regulation negligence. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B03F01_024
Subjects: Steamboats--Ohio River--History; Cincinnati (Ohio)--History
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)

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