"Well, we just had a fire. Let's do absolutely nothing except put a bunch of super flammable stuff where the fire was. No reason to worry" I don't think I've ever facepalmed quite so hard at a historical tragedy. Ugh.
Amazes me, that the Lexington was built with the best of intentions, for safety and being technically ahead of its time, to become run in such a derelict manner. Imagine if it was properly maintained, and overhauled periodically. I guess this is why we have regulations, because even the best of intentions can, and do, go south.
@@Patchdee1 Basically run it full tilt, hotter than its designed to run, and avoid maintenance. Invisible hand of the market makes you do stupid stuff, chasing money.
Old steamboats such as the Lexington are so remarkable yet it amazes me that they’re forgotten. I didn’t know about the Lexington until 13 minutes and 6 seconds ago. That’s one reason I love your channel Mr. Lynskey, you bring back those events that ought to be remembered.
I research quilting blocks, and one of the stories I discovered was of a whaling community. A daughter of one of the leading families,fell for a whaling captain, but her father disapproved and locked her in her bedroom for weeks in an attempt to change her mind. She pretended to relent, was restored to family life, and soon allowed to join a clam bake on the nearby beach. While there the party saw a longboat approach, the whaling captain appeared, the daughter ran to meet him and they left to join his ship. The family never saw her again, but a year later they heard she had married, and had a son, living on board the ship. But the ship foundered and all were lost. The only memory the family kept of their daughter was a half completed quilt block with the needle still attached, found inside an old box in the attic. Sorry but I have no clue to the name of the whaling ship, and I expect it wasn’t the only ship to foundered in the 1800s.
Tom, you are both a natural story teller and a gifted historian. You and Emma deserve praise for all you have accomplished in such a short period of time. Thank you.
Oh yeah Tom, I just stumbled on your channel, great stuff. My god the Atlantic is a helluva story, if only Ken Marshall and James Cameron could make a movie . The story has a little for everybody , there were noted romances, a bieth, you got the one guy that was a quartermaster with a big beard and like saved everybody in the with the pastor from the Halifax I mean, it’s a great story Ya got the nitwit that grounds the ship And fails to wake the capatain, you have the dumb dumb captain , did Neil armstrong go to bed right before The Lunar module was ready to go into descent. You got the female transgender sailor , its hilalrious “ bro I can’t believe it. I can’t hold it against Billy he was a good chap . He always shared his tobacco and he was always good for a laugh. I won’t hold it against him, that he was a woman I was cracking up, why make another pirates of the Caribbean like you know that would be a good movie, and it’s off the Arctic and Lantic but I could just hear the guy saying that a cockney accent and it’s really you know there was a baby born on the voyage, the fact all women minus one kid shows the true harsh reality of old time sea voyages, I was unaware of . It was like lord of the flies, Crazy that story of the Arctic that’s another movie. A guy loses his whole family on the crew. Just leaves they’re like later dude .
Lexington sounded like a impressive ship for her time and one that was kept in high regard. Had the conversion from wood to coal been done properly and not been half assed, then who knows. Lexington might of been one of them rear time capsule ships like Queen Mary that'd be tied up somewhere and still alive today. For some reason this ship just feels like one that wouldn't of been scrapped if at all possible.
"The moment we were under way I began to prowl about the great steamer and fill myself with joy. She was as clean and as dainty as a drawing-room; when I looked down her long, gilded saloon, it was like gazing through a splendid tunnel; she had an oil-picture, by some gifted sign-painter, on every stateroom door; she glittered with no end of prism-fringed chandeliers; the clerk's office was elegant, the bar was marvelous, and the bar-keeper had been barbered and upholstered at incredible cost." Mark Twain.
WOW, Tom This is the second time I've watched this video, but I mustn't have paid much attention the first time around. I don't remember hearing of Clive Cussler's expedition and he was one of my favorite authors. Also I can't imagine how the crews could have loaded highly flammable cotton bales in close proxcimity to the boilers and especially after having already having had a fire in the same area. I guess sometimes the people whom are trusted to do the right thing just turn their brain off and the innocent passengers are the one who end up paying with their lives. I have been binge watching so many of your episodes that I should become a patron, except that I'm on a very limited fixed income. Thank you for all of these interesting, even if terrifying episodes. God Bless and stay safe.
Its good to remember the steamship division of the maritime industry was in its infancy at the time of the Lexington and I suspect it took casualties of this magnitude to bring attention to the effectiveness of things like fire fighting equipment and fire resistant construction. Someone wrote changes in the industry are written in blood and there is some truth to the statement. As usual, excellent job.
I think that holds true in everything . Commerical buildings , transportation , railroads , cars , airplanes . As each developed to laws and regulations were created to save lives , but only after people were injured or killed in large enough numbers . Partly by the insistence of insurance companies to limit their losses in case of accidents.
My 4 1/2 year old grandson is *obsessed* with the sinking of the Titanic, building models of the Titanic with his Legos, & the 1958 film, "A Night to Remember." He's going to love learning about other ships that have sunk. Subscribed. 👍
Gina I can relate with your Grandson's obsession. Mine started many years ago because of a friend's passion with the Titanic. He had many books and articles on her, and even had a relative that survived the disaster! Sadly he passed last year though. The executor of the estate knew that we shared his passion, so I ended up with his collection of all Titanic related materials. There are many videos of the ship on RUclips that have great pictures for your Grandson to follow. Sounds like you can tell him some great short stories about the Grand Ship when he's ready for a nap 😀
What a crazy story. This ship reminds me of Lusitania (lifeboats wasted, sailing forward). This ship was cursed with fire. RIP all those who perished during the sinking of Lexington. Thank you for sharing this.
I saw someone else's video about the Lexington, but you brought out a lot more detail - like the comment below, I just knew trouble was coming at the words 'cotton bales', which sent so many Mississippi boats to their graves. By the sound of it, the safety inspectors (much like ours in GB back then) hadn't got the teeth to impose prohibitions on ships (or mines, factories and railways) found wanting, else this wouldn't have happened. A sad, sad end for a beautiful ship. Incidentally, the oldest surviving steamboat in the world is the 'Rigi' in the Lucerne Transport Museum. Built in London, England, she became the first steamer on either Lake Lucerne or Lake Geneva - would need to look it up. There is at least one other of her contemporaries still with us, but she's a tadge inaccessible - she's on the bottom of Lake Geneva.
When they loaded cotton bales immediately after it caught fire, who couldn't see that coming lol. I mean, those were different times but that's just insane for any time period.
What a superb video! As soon as I heard about those cotton bales I knew there was going to be a complete disaster can’t believe they are in the same holds as the boilers!!! Thanks for the video Tom
And why not put these hales of cotton right in the same room of the boilers, it should be fine, it burned in our last trip, but it's colder now, so it should be fine. Thought the greedy bastards
I've been reading the Dirk Pitt series since I was probably 10, twenty four years ago, and a number of his following series, and it still amazes me when his name comes up in video after video about shipwrecks. I know he has a HUGE list of finds under his belt, but it still never really sank in (har har) until the past few videos because now I'm learning about them, not just reading names off a list. His passing was a blow to all three of the fields you mentioned, but I take solace in the fact that his son Dirk, Jack DuBrul, and Justin Scott are continuing his book series, and that his cars will remain on display in his museum. Now I just have to make it out to Colorado to visit it.
@@ThraceVega I was not aware they were continuing them, I'm glad to hear that. It was my understanding that towards the end he was supplying the ideas and they were doing the bulk of the writing.
@@gunnarthefeisty The latest book in the Pitt series, at least, is stylized as "Clive Cussler's The Devil's Sea by Dirk Cussler", which I took to mean Dirk is the sole author thereof. Also, the latest Isaac Bell book, The Sea Wolves, shows that it was written by Jack DuBrul, and Hellburner, in the Oregon Files, by Mike Maden. I guess I don't have any concrete announcements from any of the writers, but it seems to be the trend that they're adopting particular series of Clive's and continuing them in his styling.
Part-time explorer I'm really enjoying these paddle steamer videos keep up the great work. Many of these paddle wheel steamer disasters have largely been forgotten I thank you for giving them some great information about them so they will never be forgotten again. And wish you all the best with your Lusitania project to really can't wait to see that finished looks great so far.
I have a copy of the "awful conflagration" lithograph hanging in my living room. I never knew how interesting the story of the Lexington was before now.
Thank you for an excellent account of a largely forgotten piece of maritime history! I knew about the Lexington, but only because I'm a history enthusiast. I did not know most of the details you examine in this video however. I'm appreciative of the fact you do not vilify the motives of the industrialists who made the mistakes responsible for this disaster, but celebrated the positive changes that came about because of it. Great video!
First time Id heard of Lexington was through a Cussler book... He was amazing, and included soooo many somewhat obscure historical events in his books.
Plans were not generally used to build wooden vessels in the 19th Century. A half hull was carved from a sandwich of wooden planks called lifts. Once the hull was in its final form the wedges or fasteners holding the sandwich together were taken off and measurements taken off and usually transferred to a table of offsets reflecting each frame station at certain heights. These measurements were then scaled up for use on the mould loft floor where the moulds or patterns were created. These were then used to cut the vessel's frames and other hull components. I'm not sure how the Lexington was designed, but what I described was rather standard. Plans were very rarely used on commercial craft.
They loaded cotton on a ship that had just narrowly escaped a fire disaster? It's like they had a death wish. "Hey Cap'n, these cotton bales oughter make us blow up like a barrel o' gun powder." "Well, fill 'er up, boys! Hee-hee-hee, this'll be on the front pages tomorrow, fer sure!"
I have read of the disastrous fires aboard the SULTANA, GENERAL SLOCOMB, and MORRO CASTLE. But this is the first I have heard of the LEXINGTON. Good video. I enjoy your channel.
Tom, if you'd like some rich steamboat history, give a call to "lake george steamboat co" in lake george, NY. Most of their history is online but you could do a good video on some of their vessels. They give alot to our community and you'd probably like their history as well.
Have just discovered your channel today and have already worked my way through several videos. I know I’m going to have to watch every single one! Thank you for making such interesting, detailed and sensitive work that truly does justice to the subject matter and the lives of the people involved.
"So, this ship has known problems with the engine overheating, to the point where it can start fires. We should load it with something safe and non-flammable, right?" "Nah, let's load it with cotton. What's the worst that could happen?"
I had seen the Currier & Ives engraving, but never knew the story and had completely forgotten it until I saw this. You do such a wonderful job of bringing the stories of lost ships and list towns to life!
1:09 Designing a ship from a model or, much more likely, a half-model of the hull, was standard practice of the day and had been for some time. The customer specified the necessary performance for both speed and cargo, and the builder designed a shape that would do these things based on personal experience. This resulted in a model or more usually a half-model. This 3D object could then be studied by the customer and tweaked as needed. Once the model was set, the lines of the full-size ship could be developed and laid out full-size in the moulding loft. which made the patterns to cut the various timbers. IOW, the model WAS the overall plan of the ship, from which the dimensions of every part could be measured or, when not part of the external hull, guided by experience in construction of similar vessels. Thus, for most ships prior to iron hulls, there were no "plans" drawing out all their parts. The hull lines were lifted off the half-model and then the body plans were drawn after the fact to the model. This was by NO MEANS and unusual practice but how things were done everyday back then.
I just purchased ANACS sea salvaged capped bust coins - believed by previous owner to be from this wreck. They are bent and seem possibly burned. Thank you so much for this video! What negligence and tragedy. I didn’t realize there had been an earlier fire. The cotton bales seem to have burned, making things worse.
Absolute clinical Precision on details, nice. A splendid view of the Lexinton Steamboat. Its monumental we keep this history alive for future generations like the past generations did for us, that's why we have these stories or they would of just be washed away like a weatherworn gravestone lost to the sands of time. Its folks like you that make these stories come alive again making it even better for the future. Thank you for another great video.
It's a bit more complicated than that. The Lexington's engine was still going and moving the vessel at full speed. This was what caused the two other lifeboats to swamp. Since the paddlewheel was still turning, Manchester (the pilot, not first mate) had an additional line fastened from the bow of the lifeboat to the steamboat so to prevent it from slipping under the wheel, but the line wasn't properly secured in the panic and it broke. Survivor testimony even says the boat was literally starting to burn as they were lowering it. When they cut the tackle, the boat swung on its stern (full of passengers and now taking on water). Captain Child was standing on the rail and tried to pull in the boat with one leg. Manchester jumped down to the forecastle where he and several others grabbed the cut line and tried to haul it in, but they lost control and had to let it go. The jerk of the boat caused Captain Child to fall into it. The remnants of the crushed boat were later found washed ashore with his jacket inside. Newspapers were pretty quick to condemn the captain and officers for negligence after the accident. This was commonplace given public weariness of steamboats that were deemed both dangerous and essential to commercial life at the time. However, in jumping to conclusions, newspapers frequently got things wrong. The records indicate that the officers and engineers did everything they could to save lives that night. Even Captain Terrell, who was blamed in one early account as described in the video, was later acquitted of public ridicule after witnesses aboard his sloop confirmed that he was too far away to do anything about it in addition to issues with ice and wind.
@@FrootJoose14 maybe the reason the newspapers were so quick to condemn the captain and crew was because the ship had just had a fire in the same spot on the previous voyage? Maybe that's where they got the impression they might be careless and irresponsible?
@@claudermiller LOL, love that hostility for you. I'm not sure how much of an expert you are on mid-19c maritime commerce, but let me be the first to tell you at any rate that the captain/crew of boats didn't have the leading say in business operations, that was up to the company, which was rightly excoriated by newspapers during/following the coroner's inquest which was reported on for several days. Anyway, my point was that newspapers, like any historical source, need to be read critically and against each other. Anyone who tries to make sense of the Lexington from one newspaper account will be thrown into complete confusion when I can pull up 3-4 other newspapers pretty quickly that reported contradictory events.
This is especially poignant to me. My ancestor, Jesse Comstock perished as a crew member and his Brother, well loved Captain JJ Comstock was in charge of the inquest. I can’t even imagine…
So well done again! Maybe follow up with the sinking of the Steamship General Slocum from 1904? Take care and have a happy and successful new year, both of you!
The Hudson River Day Line continued steamboat service with the elegant paddlewheel steamer "Alexander Hamilton" (1926?) To Bear Mt. until the late 1960's ? She was retired and moved to Southport Museum, but was wreaked and destroyed in an excursion to NJ in 1970's. Another steamer from this line, the "Peter Stuyvesant", was retired to Boston as an upscale Italian restaurant, docked near Commonwealth Pier. It was later partially sunk in a Noreaster, remained visible for several years before being scrapped. Commonwealth Pier
OK boys, stack all those cotton bales right next to the boilers. Ya thats right the same ones that started the big fire 3 days ago. Make sure to pack them tight in there, we need all the room. I'm thinking we could put the crates of explosives on top of the cotton to save even more space.
Tom, thanks again for putting out another great video Tom. I’ve really enjoyed learning about these Northern steamships. Thanks for bringing this history to life brother! Looking forward to the next project as always!
I'm binging my way through your videos. I'm from Alabama and we have a truly tragic and freak story. It's the Eliza Battle Riverboat. It caught fire and the people actually froze to death or drowned due to petticoat weight. Supposedly, it still appears as a ghost ship on the Tombigbee River.
Are you going to do a video about: On April 27, 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded and sank while traveling up the Mississippi River, killing an estimated 1,800 people.
Thank you for the great detail with recall. Yeah, don't it make you weep for the losses involved. Am guessing everyone was so caught up in the schedules and maybe competition for turnabout time that deep thinking was a mere luxury and not a necessity ... the pandemonium must have been horrific during the event !!
You’re videos are amazing, been binge watching a bunch of them the last day. The sheer total loss of life on these wrecks is just incomprehensible, the wreck of the Arctic and Atlantic and this one is just crazy. The amount of human error and lack of life boats is just crazy, and it’s clear the Titanic’s disaster was basically 100 years in the making of shit policies.
Thank you putting together the history of the Lexington fire and sinking. My interest is piqued by your knowledge of the Captain the night of the disaster, George Child. At the time of his demise, his wife was pregnant with a son.the son was born sometime presumably sometime between the night of the Lexington sinking and 9 months later approx.October 1, 1840. The son William Child ended up in Helena Montana. Many of the details of his early life are unknown. If you have more information about George, his relatives or wife, I would be interested in learning of them.
I learned of the Lexington by stumbling upon George Child's grave a few years ago. His memorial, if not his body, is located in North Burial ground in Providence. He was from Warren Rhode Island and there is a street named after him there. The image shown in the video of Captain Child is in the Connecticut Historical Society Museum in Hartford.
It was actually quite common at that time and up through the 1920s, that boats would be built directly off of what’s called a builders half model. It would essentially be scaled up and lofted directly to pattern templates. This was obviously for wooden boat construction. Once iron was in use, the engineering aspects changed greatly.
Why on earth would you start a bucket brigade before using the pumps and hoses.... crazy... Similarly why would you launch a lifeboat into a paddlewheel? Crazy... All in all a pretty nightmare situation completely horendous company.
A cargo of cotton - stowed in the boiler room. What could possibly go wrong? 🤔🤪 They might as well have stowed gasoline there. "Titanic Syndrome" was quite rampant before the Titanic.
@@DerpyPossum "Titanic Syndrome" is my own made-up term that I give to people who do something that puts a lot of people in danger where a bit of common sense would prevent it. These are people who need to have their unsinkable ship go down with 1500 people before they put enough life boats on the ship for everyone.
@@Inquisitor6321 Saying that only shows a great misunderstanding of Titanic’s circumstances. Ever since ships started having lifeboats in the first place, they were designed to ferry people from a sinking ship to a source of rescue and repeat, not to serve as the sole means of survival. Faulting them for that is like if people in the future saying that people in 2022 should’ve started making smartphones serve as tiny survival kits, because calling for rescue wouldn’t be enough.
Hey Tom Stockton directions to best thing that ever happening. I bet you got like 50,000 new subscribers because of all the Titan traffic. I’m glad I heard of your channel man it’s a lot of fun so much cool history I never heard of.
Siri only gets like half of what I said I said I would think you got tons of traffic because of the whole Titan thing and I didn’t hear about your channel until the titan rabbit hole, I’ve told quite a few friends. I’ve told a few friends about how cool your documentaries are.
I have a reproduction of the "Awful Conflagration" lithograph from a 1970s or 80s Travellers' Insurance Company calendar. Every month of those calendars had a Currier and Ives lithograph. I teach a college course on studying history through disasters, and every so often my Mom asks if I've ever used "Awful Conflagration". Now maybe I can!
Two things about humans and especially shipping companies. 1) money always comes first over lives and safety. 2) major safety improvements are only made after many lives have been lost due to inadequate safety features.
Those paddle wheels were so dangerous for life boats. In another story the rescue life boat got caught on the wheel and same thing crunch crunch crunch. One survived throwing himself into the cold water.
Your documentaries are tops. I think the fact that captain Vanderbilt was sick and the" commodore " Vanderbilt recently sold the ship kinda makes me wonder .🤔. Great work bro
"Well, we just had a fire. Let's do absolutely nothing except put a bunch of super flammable stuff where the fire was. No reason to worry"
I don't think I've ever facepalmed quite so hard at a historical tragedy. Ugh.
Amazes me, that the Lexington was built with the best of intentions, for safety and being technically ahead of its time, to become run in such a derelict manner. Imagine if it was properly maintained, and overhauled periodically. I guess this is why we have regulations, because even the best of intentions can, and do, go south.
Even I know changing from wood to coal would require engineering and structural changes. How was that allowed to happen?
@@Patchdee1 Basically run it full tilt, hotter than its designed to run, and avoid maintenance.
Invisible hand of the market makes you do stupid stuff, chasing money.
very tragic, and utterly preventable.
@@greenman8 Oh yes because the hundreds of millions killed by socialism is much better than a few companies doing reckless shit.
Old steamboats such as the Lexington are so remarkable yet it amazes me that they’re forgotten. I didn’t know about the Lexington until 13 minutes and 6 seconds ago. That’s one reason I love your channel Mr. Lynskey, you bring back those events that ought to be remembered.
I love the steam boats to I prefer propeller ones but I hold a special place for the paddle wheelers to I have go on one the mark Twain at Disneyland
Amen
He is a true Historian! a steward of history!
Where are the salvaged items found by Cussler's divers housed today?
@@Bigger-Than-Jesus C300
I research quilting blocks, and one of the stories I discovered was of a whaling community. A daughter of one of the leading families,fell for a whaling captain, but her father disapproved and locked her in her bedroom for weeks in an attempt to change her mind. She pretended to relent, was restored to family life, and soon allowed to join a clam bake on the nearby beach. While there the party saw a longboat approach, the whaling captain appeared, the daughter ran to meet him and they left to join his ship. The family never saw her again, but a year later they heard she had married, and had a son, living on board the ship. But the ship foundered and all were lost. The only memory the family kept of their daughter was a half completed quilt block with the needle still attached, found inside an old box in the attic. Sorry but I have no clue to the name of the whaling ship, and I expect it wasn’t the only ship to foundered in the 1800s.
Tom, you are both a natural story teller and a gifted historian. You and Emma deserve praise for all you have accomplished in such a short period of time. Thank you.
Exactly. Excellent content.
Only discovered your channel a few days ago.
I agree. His style lends to wanting to listen. Refreshing.
Can only say Amen to that
Right on point. He does an amazing job. So much information and just the speaking voice. It is so perfect for story telling.
Oh yeah Tom, I just stumbled on your channel, great stuff. My god the Atlantic is a helluva story, if only Ken Marshall and James Cameron could make
a movie . The story has a little for everybody , there were noted romances, a bieth, you got the one guy that was a quartermaster with a big beard and like saved everybody in the with the pastor from the Halifax I mean, it’s a great story
Ya got the nitwit that grounds the ship
And fails to wake the capatain, you have the dumb dumb captain , did Neil armstrong go to bed right before The Lunar module was ready to go into descent. You got the female transgender sailor , its hilalrious “ bro I can’t believe it. I can’t hold it against Billy he was a good chap . He always shared his tobacco and he was always good for a laugh. I won’t hold it against him, that he was a woman I was cracking up, why make another pirates of the Caribbean like you know that would be a good movie, and it’s off the Arctic and Lantic but I could just hear the guy saying that a cockney accent and it’s really you know there was a baby born on the voyage, the fact all women minus one kid shows the true harsh reality of old time sea voyages, I was unaware of . It was like lord of the flies,
Crazy that story of the Arctic that’s another movie. A guy loses his whole family on the crew. Just leaves they’re like later dude .
Lexington sounded like a impressive ship for her time and one that was kept in high regard.
Had the conversion from wood to coal been done properly and not been half assed, then who knows. Lexington might of been one of them rear time capsule ships like Queen Mary that'd be tied up somewhere and still alive today.
For some reason this ship just feels like one that wouldn't of been scrapped if at all possible.
I believe that would have make her the oldest surviving steamboat in the world
Justin Lynch : The old adage applies here:
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
@@ebayerr Yeah it sounds like that fits here. Nice quote.
@@justinlynch3 : Indeed.
Might have not might of.
"The moment we were under way I began to prowl about the great steamer and fill myself with joy. She was as clean and as dainty as a drawing-room; when I looked down her long, gilded saloon, it was like gazing through a splendid tunnel; she had an oil-picture, by some gifted sign-painter, on every stateroom door; she glittered with no end of prism-fringed chandeliers; the clerk's office was elegant, the bar was marvelous, and the bar-keeper had been barbered and upholstered at incredible cost." Mark Twain.
WOW, Tom This is the second time I've watched this video, but I mustn't have paid much attention the first time around. I don't remember hearing of Clive Cussler's expedition and he was one of my favorite authors. Also I can't imagine how the crews could have loaded highly flammable cotton bales in close proxcimity to the boilers and especially after having already having had a fire in the same area. I guess sometimes the people whom are trusted to do the right thing just turn their brain off and the innocent passengers are the one who end up paying with their lives. I have been binge watching so many of your episodes that I should become a patron, except that I'm on a very limited fixed income. Thank you for all of these interesting, even if terrifying episodes. God Bless and stay safe.
It's a shame how events like these get forgotten about in the popular media. Great episode 👍
I had forgotten about Cussler and his part in this ship's history.
Great video!
Its good to remember the steamship division of the maritime industry was in its infancy at the time of the Lexington and I suspect it took casualties of this magnitude to bring attention to the effectiveness of things like fire fighting equipment and fire resistant construction. Someone wrote changes in the industry are written in blood and there is some truth to the statement.
As usual, excellent job.
I think that holds true in everything . Commerical buildings , transportation , railroads , cars , airplanes . As each developed to laws and regulations were created to save lives , but only after people were injured or killed in large enough numbers . Partly by the insistence of insurance companies to limit their losses in case of accidents.
@@heartland96a Yup, even houses, appliances, and even strange as it might seem, war. To make anything safer, we have to learn what is unsafe and safe
My 4 1/2 year old grandson is *obsessed* with the sinking of the Titanic, building models of the Titanic with his Legos, & the 1958 film, "A Night to Remember." He's going to love learning about other ships that have sunk. Subscribed. 👍
Gina
I can relate with your Grandson's obsession. Mine started many years ago because of a friend's passion with the Titanic. He had many books and articles on her, and even had a relative that survived the disaster!
Sadly he passed last year though.
The executor of the estate knew that we shared his passion, so I ended up with his collection of all Titanic related materials.
There are many videos of the ship on RUclips that have great pictures for your Grandson to follow.
Sounds like you can tell him some great short stories about the Grand Ship when he's ready for a nap 😀
I was the same as him at his age, and I would have loved a channel like this - thank you for encouraging his interest!
I'm still in awe that men take tons of steel and concrete and make them float...and pilot them in the deep seas. Incredible.
What a crazy story. This ship reminds me of Lusitania (lifeboats wasted, sailing forward). This ship was cursed with fire. RIP all those who perished during the sinking of Lexington. Thank you for sharing this.
I saw someone else's video about the Lexington, but you brought out a lot more detail - like the comment below, I just knew trouble was coming at the words 'cotton bales', which sent so many Mississippi boats to their graves. By the sound of it, the safety inspectors (much like ours in GB back then) hadn't got the teeth to impose prohibitions on ships (or mines, factories and railways) found wanting, else this wouldn't have happened. A sad, sad end for a beautiful ship. Incidentally, the oldest surviving steamboat in the world is the 'Rigi' in the Lucerne Transport Museum. Built in London, England, she became the first steamer on either Lake Lucerne or Lake Geneva - would need to look it up. There is at least one other of her contemporaries still with us, but she's a tadge inaccessible - she's on the bottom of Lake Geneva.
When they loaded cotton bales immediately after it caught fire, who couldn't see that coming lol. I mean, those were different times but that's just insane for any time period.
1 ft hi
Tom, you’re basically one of my only sources of interesting but obscure maritime incidents in history. Thank you so much for telling us your stories!
"Hey, we've got fire hoses and pumps to work with!"
"Nah, let's just try getting close and throwing buckets at it. It'll be fine. We got this."
What a superb video!
As soon as I heard about those cotton bales I knew there was going to be a complete disaster can’t believe they are in the same holds as the boilers!!!
Thanks for the video Tom
Switching from wood to coal without completely replacing the boilers was such a mistake.
Great story telling
And why not put these hales of cotton right in the same room of the boilers, it should be fine, it burned in our last trip, but it's colder now, so it should be fine. Thought the greedy bastards
Clive Cussler is practically a legend in not one but THREE fields- Author, Classic car collector, and wreck diver.
I've been reading the Dirk Pitt series since I was probably 10, twenty four years ago, and a number of his following series, and it still amazes me when his name comes up in video after video about shipwrecks. I know he has a HUGE list of finds under his belt, but it still never really sank in (har har) until the past few videos because now I'm learning about them, not just reading names off a list.
His passing was a blow to all three of the fields you mentioned, but I take solace in the fact that his son Dirk, Jack DuBrul, and Justin Scott are continuing his book series, and that his cars will remain on display in his museum. Now I just have to make it out to Colorado to visit it.
@@ThraceVega I was not aware they were continuing them, I'm glad to hear that. It was my understanding that towards the end he was supplying the ideas and they were doing the bulk of the writing.
@@gunnarthefeisty The latest book in the Pitt series, at least, is stylized as "Clive Cussler's The Devil's Sea
by Dirk Cussler", which I took to mean Dirk is the sole author thereof. Also, the latest Isaac Bell book, The Sea Wolves, shows that it was written by Jack DuBrul, and Hellburner, in the Oregon Files, by Mike Maden.
I guess I don't have any concrete announcements from any of the writers, but it seems to be the trend that they're adopting particular series of Clive's and continuing them in his styling.
@@ThraceVega Sounds like what happened with Tom Clancy.
Im just happy that he actually founded NUMA along with everything else.
Part-time explorer I'm really enjoying these paddle steamer videos keep up the great work.
Many of these paddle wheel steamer disasters have largely been forgotten I thank you for giving them some great information about them so they will never be forgotten again.
And wish you all the best with your Lusitania project to really can't wait to see that finished looks great so far.
Hearing that the captain “fell into” the first lifeboat seems suspicious
I can’t stop watching these wonderfully constructed videos…
I have a copy of the "awful conflagration" lithograph hanging in my living room. I never knew how interesting the story of the Lexington was before now.
So much rare material indeed! The Currier and Ives connection is a priceless tidbit of history. Excellent content! Well done !:-)
Thank you for an excellent account of a largely forgotten piece of maritime history! I knew about the Lexington, but only because I'm a history enthusiast. I did not know most of the details you examine in this video however. I'm appreciative of the fact you do not vilify the motives of the industrialists who made the mistakes responsible for this disaster, but celebrated the positive changes that came about because of it. Great video!
Ayyy - that’s my great, great, great grandfather on the bottom right at 0:51. Old Mephistopheles of Wall St. himself. :)
First time Id heard of Lexington was through a Cussler book...
He was amazing, and included soooo many somewhat obscure historical events in his books.
Plans were not generally used to build wooden vessels in the 19th Century. A half hull was carved from a sandwich of wooden planks called lifts. Once the hull was in its final form the wedges or fasteners holding the sandwich together were taken off and measurements taken off and usually transferred to a table of offsets reflecting each frame station at certain heights. These measurements were then scaled up for use on the mould loft floor where the moulds or patterns were created. These were then used to cut the vessel's frames and other hull components. I'm not sure how the Lexington was designed, but what I described was rather standard. Plans were very rarely used on commercial craft.
Geez, steamboats just can't get a break, huh? Always exploding or engulfed in flames or being Kracken'd to death. RIP Steamboats.
They loaded cotton on a ship that had just narrowly escaped a fire disaster? It's like they had a death wish. "Hey Cap'n, these cotton bales oughter make us blow up like a barrel o' gun powder." "Well, fill 'er up, boys! Hee-hee-hee, this'll be on the front pages tomorrow, fer sure!"
Great video as always sir.👍
Beautifully told, illustrated and scored.
An early version of the General Slocum. Never heard of this disaster. Another great job.
Most people: the ship caught fire
Tom: the ship 𝒞𝑜𝓃𝒻𝓁𝒶𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹
Kudos to the mc guiver guy who made a cotton bail cayak, I can only hope to be that cool
I have read of the disastrous fires aboard the SULTANA, GENERAL SLOCOMB, and MORRO CASTLE. But this is the first I have heard of the LEXINGTON. Good video. I enjoy your channel.
Tom, if you'd like some rich steamboat history, give a call to "lake george steamboat co" in lake george, NY. Most of their history is online but you could do a good video on some of their vessels. They give alot to our community and you'd probably like their history as well.
Have just discovered your channel today and have already worked my way through several videos. I know I’m going to have to watch every single one! Thank you for making such interesting, detailed and sensitive work that truly does justice to the subject matter and the lives of the people involved.
"So, this ship has known problems with the engine overheating, to the point where it can start fires. We should load it with something safe and non-flammable, right?"
"Nah, let's load it with cotton. What's the worst that could happen?"
I live on Long Island but have never even heard of this shipwreck before. Great work as always Tom!
These kind of mini-documentaries are where you really shine.
Me again…this time it’s another Comstock ancestor, Jesse Comstock who died as a crew member! Your Videos are Awesome!
You do a really great job of presentation. Pace, tone, information, everything. First rate. Thanks.
I had seen the Currier & Ives engraving, but never knew the story and had completely forgotten it until I saw this. You do such a wonderful job of bringing the stories of lost ships and list towns to life!
1:09 Designing a ship from a model or, much more likely, a half-model of the hull, was standard practice of the day and had been for some time. The customer specified the necessary performance for both speed and cargo, and the builder designed a shape that would do these things based on personal experience. This resulted in a model or more usually a half-model. This 3D object could then be studied by the customer and tweaked as needed. Once the model was set, the lines of the full-size ship could be developed and laid out full-size in the moulding loft. which made the patterns to cut the various timbers. IOW, the model WAS the overall plan of the ship, from which the dimensions of every part could be measured or, when not part of the external hull, guided by experience in construction of similar vessels. Thus, for most ships prior to iron hulls, there were no "plans" drawing out all their parts. The hull lines were lifted off the half-model and then the body plans were drawn after the fact to the model. This was by NO MEANS and unusual practice but how things were done everyday back then.
Very well presented. Holds one's interest and attention.
Even the stories that I wouldn't think to be overly interesting at first, you manage to turn them into edge-of-your-seat tragedies. You are talented.
I just purchased ANACS sea salvaged capped bust coins - believed by previous owner to be from this wreck. They are bent and seem possibly burned. Thank you so much for this video! What negligence and tragedy. I didn’t realize there had been an earlier fire. The cotton bales seem to have burned, making things worse.
Absolute clinical Precision on details, nice. A splendid view of the Lexinton Steamboat. Its monumental we keep this history alive for future generations like the past generations did for us, that's why we have these stories or they would of just be washed away like a weatherworn gravestone lost to the sands of time. Its folks like you that make these stories come alive again making it even better for the future. Thank you for another great video.
The captain "fell" into a lifeboat. Sounds vaguely familiar.
My friend works on a fishing boat and actually fished up a piece of the Lexington by accident.
Whenever I find "forgotten history" of anything especially if it's brutal, I'm just astonished if not speechless altogether.
The captain "fell" into the first lifeboat......lol.
My thoughts as well
It's a bit more complicated than that. The Lexington's engine was still going and moving the vessel at full speed. This was what caused the two other lifeboats to swamp. Since the paddlewheel was still turning, Manchester (the pilot, not first mate) had an additional line fastened from the bow of the lifeboat to the steamboat so to prevent it from slipping under the wheel, but the line wasn't properly secured in the panic and it broke. Survivor testimony even says the boat was literally starting to burn as they were lowering it. When they cut the tackle, the boat swung on its stern (full of passengers and now taking on water). Captain Child was standing on the rail and tried to pull in the boat with one leg. Manchester jumped down to the forecastle where he and several others grabbed the cut line and tried to haul it in, but they lost control and had to let it go. The jerk of the boat caused Captain Child to fall into it. The remnants of the crushed boat were later found washed ashore with his jacket inside.
Newspapers were pretty quick to condemn the captain and officers for negligence after the accident. This was commonplace given public weariness of steamboats that were deemed both dangerous and essential to commercial life at the time. However, in jumping to conclusions, newspapers frequently got things wrong. The records indicate that the officers and engineers did everything they could to save lives that night. Even Captain Terrell, who was blamed in one early account as described in the video, was later acquitted of public ridicule after witnesses aboard his sloop confirmed that he was too far away to do anything about it in addition to issues with ice and wind.
@@FrootJoose14 maybe the reason the newspapers were so quick to condemn the captain and crew was because the ship had just had a fire in the same spot on the previous voyage? Maybe that's where they got the impression they might be careless and irresponsible?
@@claudermiller LOL, love that hostility for you. I'm not sure how much of an expert you are on mid-19c maritime commerce, but let me be the first to tell you at any rate that the captain/crew of boats didn't have the leading say in business operations, that was up to the company, which was rightly excoriated by newspapers during/following the coroner's inquest which was reported on for several days.
Anyway, my point was that newspapers, like any historical source, need to be read critically and against each other. Anyone who tries to make sense of the Lexington from one newspaper account will be thrown into complete confusion when I can pull up 3-4 other newspapers pretty quickly that reported contradictory events.
@@FrootJoose14 actually you're wrong. A ship's captain is the ultimate authority under maritime law.
Once again, Tom, great video, interesting topic!
This is especially poignant to me. My ancestor, Jesse Comstock perished as a crew member and his Brother, well loved Captain JJ Comstock was in charge of the inquest. I can’t even imagine…
I took a tour of the WWII Aircraft carrier Lexington docked in Pensacola, FL. in 1984.
Excellent story. Very informative. I knew nothing about the Lexington prior to your story. thank you from me and all your history buffs!❤️
Great video man. Your the best at telling these big ship stories. Absolutely awesome keep them coming... Thank you
Excellent production and narration. Very interesting story. Well done.
So well done again! Maybe follow up with the sinking of the Steamship General Slocum from 1904? Take care and have a happy and successful new year, both of you!
The Hudson River Day Line continued steamboat service with the elegant paddlewheel steamer "Alexander Hamilton" (1926?) To Bear Mt. until the late 1960's ? She was retired and moved
to Southport Museum, but was wreaked and destroyed in an excursion to NJ in 1970's.
Another steamer from this line, the "Peter
Stuyvesant",
was retired to Boston as an upscale Italian restaurant, docked near Commonwealth Pier. It was later partially sunk in a Noreaster, remained visible for several years before being scrapped.
Commonwealth Pier
OK boys, stack all those cotton bales right next to the boilers. Ya thats right the same ones that started the big fire 3 days ago.
Make sure to pack them tight in there, we need all the room. I'm thinking we could put the crates of explosives on top of the cotton to save even more space.
How that channel don't have millions of subscribers already is baffling. This is national geographic quality.
Tom, thanks again for putting out another great video Tom. I’ve really enjoyed learning about these Northern steamships. Thanks for bringing this history to life brother! Looking forward to the next project as always!
Wonderful as always, Thank you for making these exceptional videos! Much love from Sweden!
I'm binging my way through your videos. I'm from Alabama and we have a truly tragic and freak story. It's the Eliza Battle Riverboat. It caught fire and the people actually froze to death or drowned due to petticoat weight. Supposedly, it still appears as a ghost ship on the Tombigbee River.
Are you going to do a video about: On April 27, 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded and sank while traveling up the Mississippi River, killing an estimated 1,800 people.
Thank you for the great detail with recall. Yeah, don't it make you weep for the losses involved. Am guessing everyone was so caught up in the schedules and maybe competition for turnabout time that deep thinking was a mere luxury and not a necessity ... the pandemonium must have been horrific during the event !!
You’re videos are amazing, been binge watching a bunch of them the last day. The sheer total loss of life on these wrecks is just incomprehensible, the wreck of the Arctic and Atlantic and this one is just crazy. The amount of human error and lack of life boats is just crazy, and it’s clear the Titanic’s disaster was basically 100 years in the making of shit policies.
Yet once again, so much respect for the videos you create!
Should follow this one up with the tale of the General Slocum's Fire.
I am loving your channel. Really well presented and fantastic story telling! 👌😁
I knew that this wasn't going to end well when you said cotton and that they barely did a patch job on the damage from the first fire 😳
My thoughts exactly at that point 😬
Thank you putting together the history of the Lexington fire and sinking. My interest is piqued by your knowledge of the Captain the night of the disaster, George Child. At the time of his demise, his wife was pregnant with a son.the son was born sometime presumably sometime between the night of the Lexington sinking and 9 months later approx.October 1, 1840.
The son William Child ended up in Helena Montana. Many of the details of his early life are unknown. If you have more information about George, his relatives or wife, I would be interested in learning of them.
I learned of the Lexington by stumbling upon George Child's grave a few years ago. His memorial, if not his body, is located in North Burial ground in Providence. He was from Warren Rhode Island and there is a street named after him there. The image shown in the video of Captain Child is in the Connecticut Historical Society Museum in Hartford.
Superbly presented - thank you !
R.I.P. Clive Cussler. Great documentary.
It was actually quite common at that time and up through the 1920s, that boats would be built directly off of what’s called a builders half model. It would essentially be scaled up and lofted directly to pattern templates. This was obviously for wooden boat construction. Once iron was in use, the engineering aspects changed greatly.
Before Airplane! Leslie Neilson was a dramatic actor. No one knew he was funny before 1980, and he'd been making movies since the 50's
Why on earth would you start a bucket brigade before using the pumps and hoses.... crazy... Similarly why would you launch a lifeboat into a paddlewheel? Crazy... All in all a pretty nightmare situation completely horendous company.
I'm binging your videos, your stories are awesome!
Omg "it'll a picture print like currier and Ives" has a whole new mean to me now. Imagine going to a Christmas party only to see a shipwreck
Thank you for this piece of history Tom! I have never heard about this history!
A cargo of cotton - stowed in the boiler room.
What could possibly go wrong? 🤔🤪
They might as well have stowed gasoline there.
"Titanic Syndrome" was quite rampant before the Titanic.
Nothing to do with Titanic other than the fact that it sank.
@@DerpyPossum "Titanic Syndrome" is my own made-up term that I give to people who do something that puts a lot of people in danger where a bit of common sense would prevent it.
These are people who need to have their unsinkable ship go down with 1500 people before they put enough life boats on the ship for everyone.
@@Inquisitor6321 Saying that only shows a great misunderstanding of Titanic’s circumstances.
Ever since ships started having lifeboats in the first place, they were designed to ferry people from a sinking ship to a source of rescue and repeat, not to serve as the sole means of survival. Faulting them for that is like if people in the future saying that people in 2022 should’ve started making smartphones serve as tiny survival kits, because calling for rescue wouldn’t be enough.
Absolutely fantastic video - thank you!
Hey Tom Stockton directions to best thing that ever happening. I bet you got like 50,000 new subscribers because of all the Titan traffic. I’m glad I heard of your channel man it’s a lot of fun so much cool history I never heard of.
Siri only gets like half of what I said I said I would think you got tons of traffic because of the whole Titan thing and I didn’t hear about your channel until the titan rabbit hole, I’ve told quite a few friends. I’ve told a few friends about how cool your documentaries are.
I have a reproduction of the "Awful Conflagration" lithograph from a 1970s or 80s Travellers' Insurance Company calendar. Every month of those calendars had a Currier and Ives lithograph. I teach a college course on studying history through disasters, and every so often my Mom asks if I've ever used "Awful Conflagration". Now maybe I can!
Great video, and damn good work. I wish I'd known about this channel sooner.
It’s so weird to see Virginia as one big blob on that map.
lifeboats falling then getting tangled in the paddle wheels sounds like recurring horrific fate with these steam boats.
Two things about humans and especially shipping companies.
1) money always comes first over lives and safety.
2) major safety improvements are only made after many lives have been lost due to inadequate safety features.
I’m amazed they were able to raise the ship back then…
Those paddle wheels were so dangerous for life boats. In another story the rescue life boat got caught on the wheel and same thing crunch crunch crunch. One survived throwing himself into the cold water.
Absolutely outstanding documentary 👏 Well done! Your video have been a great help with homeschooling. Thank you!
Great work Sir thank you
Great job! I enjoy all your videos.
11:43
Damn, haven't heard that name in a while. Rest in Peace, Mr. Cussler.
Your documentaries are tops. I think the fact that captain Vanderbilt was sick and the" commodore " Vanderbilt recently sold the ship kinda makes me wonder .🤔. Great work bro
Really enjoy your work!
Another comprehesive video, great stuff
Shocked I hadn't heard about this since I grew up right where this happened. Eatons Neck was about 5 minutes away from my house