1947 — Sep 9, Fuel Tanks Explode, Fire, Steamboat Island Queen, Pittsburgh, PA — 19

— 23 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
— 21 Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “21 Missing Dead in Steamer Blast…” 9-10-1947, p. 1.
— 21 Nat. Fire Protect. Assoc. “Large Loss Fires of 1947.” Quarterly, V. 41, No. 3, Jan 1948.
— 21 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 140.
— 21 National Fire Protect. Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).
— 20 Nash, Jay Robert. Darkest Hours. 1977, p. 703.
–14-20 New Castle News, PA. “Salvage Crews to Raise River Vessel…” 9-22-1947, 15.
— >20 New Castle News, PA. “Two Explosions on Island Queen.” 9-12-1947, p. 11.
–11-20 The Republican, Findlay, OH. “Excursion Boat Explodes…Eleven…” 9-11-1947, 1.
— 19 Bradford Era, PA. “Negligence Blamed for Steamer Blast.” 10-30-1947, p. 1.
— 19 Chester Times, PA. “Find More Bodies.” 9-30-1947, p. 1.
— 19 Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, OH. “Liability Limited in Steamer Blast.” 1-14-1948, p. 4.
— 19 Coney Island Central. “Island Queen History.” Accessed 5-19-2013.
— 19 Indiana Evening Gazette, PA. “Salvage Workers Raise Is. Queen…” 9-30-1947, p. 1.
— 19 New Castle News, PA. “Island Queen’s Sunken Hulk to be Raised Soon.” 9-19-1947, 17
— 19 New Castle News, PA. “Urges Immediate Raising of River Boat…” 9-17-1947, p. 14.
— 19 Przybylek. “Remembering the Island Queen.” Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh, 9-8-2017.
— 19 Schrage and Clare. Along the Ohio River Cincinnati to Louisville. 2006, p. 85.
— 19 The Billboard. “Coney Island Queen’s Death by Fire in Pittsburgh…” 9-20-1947, p. 63.
— 19 Tallstacks.com. “September 1947…Island Queen Burns.” Accessed 5-18-2013.
— 19 Way’s Packet Directory, 1848-1994: Passenger Steamboats…[MS Riv. Sys.]… 1999, 228.
— 14 The Era, Bradford PA. “Girl Places Boat Blast Near Scene of Welding.” 9-13-1947, 3

Narrative Information

Coney Island Central: “….The new Island Queen cost between $300,000 and $400,000. Originally intended to be a powered by coal, it was converted to burn oil. The 1,000 horse power steam engines were supplied by the Charles Barnes Machinery Company, located in Cincinnati. The boiler and smokestacks were manufactured in Gallipolis, Ohio. The new steamer measured 285 feet long, 45 feet six inches wide. The two side wheels were 30 feet in diameter and the capacity aboard the boat was 4,000 people. The boat tipped the scales at 1,000 tons and contained six boilers. The first trial run for the Island Queen was on April 1, 1925. The boat was officially christened on April 19th, 1925 at Cincinnati’s Public Landing. Captain Ben Pattison was the steamboats first captain. The same year the Queen began service, a new river gate and light house debuted at Coney to greet visitors from the boats.

“On Labor Day, September 1st 1947 the Island Queen departed Coney for the last time. After stopping briefly at Cincinnati’s Public Landing the boat went upstream to Pittsburgh, PA. On September 9, 1947 at 1:16 pm, the Island Queen exploded. 19 crew members were dead, a further 18 were injured. The explosion was caused by a spark when Fred Dickow, the boat’s chief engineer, lit a welding torch near the oil storage tanks. Fred’s body was recovered a few days after the explosion.” (Coney Island Central. “Island Queen History.” Accessed 5-19-2013.)

National Fire Protection Association: “Sept. 9, Pittsburgh, Pa. Twenty-one of the crew of the ‘Island Queen’ were trapped, drowned or fatally injured when two explosions ripped apart the bow of the river excursion steamer. Flames immediately flashed through the super structure and had complete control of the vessel when apparatus arrived. Vapors in fuel oil tanks are believed to have been ignited by welding operations being conducted on the main deck. The deck constituted the top of the tanks.” (National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1947.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 41, No. 3, Jan 1948, pp. 153-195.)

Schrage and Clare: “….The second Island Queen made the rounds to Coney Island until 1947, when she was destroyed when her fuel tanks exploded. Nineteen people were killed….” (Schrage, Robert and Donald Clare. Along the Ohio River Cincinnati to Louisville (Postcard History Series). Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2006, p. 85.)

Tallstacks.com: “The fate of the Island Queen, which was docked at Pittsburgh’s Wood Street Wharf for repairs, resulted after a welder’s torch had ignited gas from a fuel tank, which set off the first explosion. It ruptured a fuel tank or line, which in turn set off a second explosion, rocking the boat and spreading fire everywhere. Testimony indicates that the steamer had about 27,000 gallons of fuel onboard. The Queen had been on a typical “end of the Coney Island season” tour to other cities, where she would carry pleasure seekers to and from river towns on afternoon and evening cruises. The steamer was destroyed as a result of the explosion, where nineteen of her crew perished and forty others were injured. She was valued at nearly $1 million.” (Tallstacks.com. “September 1947…Island Queen Burns.” Accessed 5-18-2013.)

Way: Island Queen: Sidewheel steel-hull excursion boat, built in Midland, PA and completed in Cincinnati in 1825, measuring 286.1 x 45.6 x 7.3, with six boilers and burning fuel oil. “….Carried passengers to and from Coney Island [Cincinnati] during the season and tramped before and after, Pittsburgh to New Orleans….On Sept. 9, 1947, at Pittsburgh, her fuel tanks exploded resulting in the destruction of the boat, and loss of 19 lives. No passengers were aboard at the time. Capt. Ernest Wagner was mate at the time and jumped from the roof to save himself….”

Newspapers

Sep 9: “Pittsburgh, Today – (AP) – The proud, fire-decker excursion Island Queen exploded and was destroyed by fire at her Monongahela River dock today, causing casualties estimated unofficially at from three to 60 dead. The blast occurred just before passengers were to board the huge boat for an afternoon ride down the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers.

“Jack O’Berry, a crewman said: ‘I was on the gangplank. There were 92 aboard. I counted those I saw in the water, and if the others were on board, I figure they are dead. I saw two women and eight men on the porch. I didn’t see them after the blast.’” (Lebanon Daily News, PA. “Death Toll Mounts in Ship Blast.” 9-9-1947, p. 1.)

Sep 10: “Pittsburgh, Sept. 10. — A U. S. Coast Guard Board of Inquiry opened a formal investigation, of explosion of the steamer Island Queen today as disaster crews recovered additional bodies of the 21 persons who died in the flame-wrecked pleasure boat. Dragging crews pulled two bodies from the Monongahela River near the sunken hull – the seventh and eighth recovered. One was identified as Henry Williams of Cincinnati, a waiter. He apparently was blown from the boat and drowned.

“Pittsburgh, Sept. 10. – Twenty-one crew members, including two women, were listed as missing or dead today in the explosion and fire which destroyed the excursion steamer Island Queen….The 23-year-old sidewheeler blew up at her berth in the Monongahela River it midtown Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon while her crew was preparing her for a moonlight excursion down the Ohio. About 86 of the 90-man crew were believed aboard at the time.

“Five bodies, all burned beyond recognition, were recovered from the charred hulk of the luxury steamer which sank in 20 feet of water. One woman was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital. Fifteen others were missing and presumed dead.

“Firemen, working in the glare of searchlight, probed the gutted interior of the vessel throughout
the night, seeking the bodies of the missing crewmembers.

“Fifteen crewmen suffered burns and shock. Two were treated at Mercy Hospital and released. Thirteen were still in the hospital today, suffering from first, second and third degree burns and shock.

“A spark from a welder’s torch was believed to have ignited a fuel tank, touching off the blast. An inspection of the boilers showed they were still intact.

“Assistant Police Chief Andrew Charles compiled the casualty list after a roll call for surviving crew members. Nearly all the victims were from Cincinnati, O., home port of the Island Queen, and Kentucky. Police Chief William Davis said he believed many bodies of the missing would be found in the steamer’s bunk room. He said he saw parts of bodies scattered among the berths. They presumably were trapped in their bunks when the explosion shattered the ship.

“The gleaming white excursion vessel blew up with a mighty roar that rocked the Golden Triangle section of the business district. Thousands of windows in buildings lining the waterfront were smashed by the force of the blast. Seconds after the first explosion another blast rocked the vessel, followed by a wall of orange flame that flashed through the ship from bow to stern. Thousands of persons jammed the waterfront to watch firemen fight the blaze which was brought under control two hours after the blast. At one time the crowd on the Smithfield St. bridge was so great that police ordered it cleared, feared it might collapse.

“Most of the survivors didn’t know what happened. James Butler, 56, Cincinnati, pilot, said he heard the explosion then saw ‘smoke and flames coming up the steps.’ ‘I knew then it was time to jump,’ he said. Butler was picked out of the river and taken to Mercy Hospital.

“Firemen poured tons of water into the hold of the vessel, until she settled to the bottom of the river. Three of her five decks were under water and firemen believed the majority of the missing crewmen would be found there.

“Damage from the fire was not confined to the vessel alone. Cars parked along the waterfront were smashed by the blast and window glass was broken. Fire Chief Davis estimated total damage at $1,000,000. The ship cost $500,000 when she was launched in 1924. It was remodeled in 1940. The original Island Queen burned to the waterline while in drydock in 1922. There were no casualties.” (Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “21 Missing Dead in Steamer Blast: Six Bodies Found.” 9-10-1947, pp. 1 and 6.)

Sep 10: “Pittsburgh, Sept. 10 – (AP) Firemen laboriously cut through the tangled wreckage of the river steamer ‘Island Queen,’ dragged the Monongahela river bottom, and sent divers into the murky stream today seeking nine crew members missing after a terrific explosion and fire destroyed the boat yesterday. Eleven bodies have been recovered, three of them unidentified. Thirteen of the 18 injured remain hospitalized.

“County officials and the coast guard began a double-barreled investigation of the tragedy which destroyed the $600,000 excursion craft, damaged an estimated 40 autos parked nearby and broke office windows on the fringe of Pittsburgh’s ‘Golden Triangle’ business section….

“Cause of the blast was not known but Police Superintendent Harvey Scott said officials learned an acetylene torch was in use at the time of the explosion. The blast ignited paint and 27,000 gallons of fuel oil and the resulting fire covered the five-decked craft from bow to stern within seconds. She was docked at the time.

“Several of the crew of about 90 leaped into the water or were blown into the river by the explosion. Many others were trapped in their bunks or at work and never had a chance to escape.

“Eight of the eleven bodies recovered were identified by Morgue Superintendent Jules Filo. He said they were Mrs. Virginia Yeager, cook, Covington, Ky.; and the following Cincinnati resident Henry Williams, 25, waiter; Mary Jones, maid; David O. Heath, watchman; Melvin Voiles, bartender, Robert Jordan, waiter; Hoyt Moore, 44, chief steward, and Percy Debruce. The remaining corpses were charred beyond recognition….

“No passenger were aboard the ship at the time of the tragedy. An excursion for about 4,000 passengers was to have been held last evening….

“A few hours after the fire broke out, the boat settled to the bottom in about 12 feet of water, leaving blackened girders piled 20 feet high.” (The Republican, Findlay, OH. “Excursion Boat Explodes, Burns. Eleven Bodies are Recovered.” 9-11-1947, p. 1.)

Sep 11: “….The steamer had a carrying capacity of 4,000 persons. Had the blast come during a voyage for which the ship was preparing, the Nation could easily have experienced its worst tragedy.” (Daily Courier, Connellsville, PA. “Tragedy on River.” 9-11-1947, p. 12.)

Sep 12: “Pittsburgh, Sept. 12. – (INS) – Two separate explosions shook the Island Queen, huge excursion boat blasted and burned at her Pittsburgh wharf Tuesday with a loss of at least 20 lives.

“Coast Guard inspectors and county officials seeking to determine cause of the holocaust made that report today after moving their investigation to a Pittsburgh hospital where 13 survivors are recovering from injuries.

“Clifford Yeager, of Cincinnati, the boat’s cook, gave the most dramatic account of the moments preceding the explosion that rocked Pittsburgh’s business and financial district and blasted the huge boat apart. He said he heard a small explosion, and then saw fire at the forward end of the vessel. He got his wife and another employee, obtained life preservers and was ready to leave the boat when the second explosion knocked him overboard. It was then that flames enveloped the entire vessel.” (New Castle News, PA. “Two Explosions on Island Queen.” 9-12-1947, p. 11.)

Sep 13, The Billboard: “Cincinnati, Sept. 13. – The Steamer Island Queen, one of the most popular excursion boats on the inland waterways, which was destroyed by fire in an explosion at Pittsburgh shortly before noon Tuesday (9), bringing death to 19 of its crew members and injury to a score more of the ship’s complement, was a highly integral part of the operation of Coney Island Amusement Park here, generally regarded as one of the finest fun spots in the nation.

“The catastrophe on the Monongahela River removed from Cincinnati one of its most familiar and beloved landmarks. It was considered that even tho it was a river steamer – by countless thousands of Cincinnatians and patrons from far away points to whom it has meant pleasure, recreation and excitement. The Queen, the second largest river excursion steamer in the country, had a length of 286 feet, a beam of 59, and could accommodate 4,000 persons on its spacious five decks. A two-stacker, she was built in 1924 and the Coney Island Company acquired her in 1925, using it annually during the regular park season and on numerous excursion tours for the past decade, some of them taking her as far south as New Orleans for the Mardi Gras.

“The Island Queen, which left Cincinnati Labor Day at the conclusion of Coney Island’s regular season, was to have staged a series of excursions which would have taken it farther north than at any time in its history on the Ohio River. It had successfully completed its moonlight dance sessions out of Portsmouth, Gallipolis, Marietta and Steubenville, O., and arrived in Pittsburgh Saturday (6). She was to have remained in Pittsburgh for 10 days, making nightly trips before returning to her dock at the public landing here.

“During the war years, when transportation was at a minimum, fun-seekers flocked to the Queen to take advantage of its huge, glass-enclosed dance floor and varied entertainment devices to win at least brief respite from war nerves. For a quarter of a century, for equal thousands, it has meant the only source of transportation to Coney’s fun-spot, as it did during the war.

“Coney Island officials revealed this week that the craft hit an average total of 540,000 passengers each year for the last five years. This figure, they said, represented the totals for the Queen’s regular park season activities plus its dance excursions which were carried on annually for several weeks prior o park’s formal opening and for several weeks after the fun-spot’s closing.

“The Queen’s spacious ballroom, which proved a mecca for dancers for over 20 years, accommodated 3,500 persons, and its outer decks sported some 45 coin machines, all of which were lost in the holocaust….

“The Queen was the third large steamboat of the Coney Island Company to fall victim to fire. The initial Island Queen, which made her first trip to the park May 30, 1896, was destroyed by flames in a holocaust that swept thru the Cincinnati harbor November 4, 1922. She was destroyed along with three other steamboats, the Chris Green, Morning Star and Tacoma. A smaller vessel, the Coney Island Maid, was purchased by the company and put into service here a year later. The Maid caught fire while being repaired in dry dock at Madison, Ind., and was destroyed with a loss estimated at $200,000.” (The Billboard. “Coney Island Queen’s Death by Fire in Pittsburgh Robs Cincinnatians of ‘Landmark’.” 9-20-1947, p. 63.)

Sep 13: “Pittsburgh – (AP) – A young girl witness Friday told final sessions of a Coast Guard board of inquiry that the explosion and fire which wrecked the excursion craft Island Queen Tuesday occurred near the spot where welding was being done. The witness was Miss Louise A.
Bonomo, 19, of Pittsburgh, who said she was watching a man welding a rail near the gangplank when the explosion happened. She declared: ‘It seemed to come from where he was.’

“Fourteen bodies have been recovered from the blackened hulk of the Cincinnati boat or from the bottom of the Monongahela, River.” (The Era, Bradford, PA. “Girl Places Boat Blast Near Scene of Welding.” 9-13-1947, p. 3.)

Sep 17: “Pittsburgh, Sept. 17. – (INS) Pittsburgh’s safety director, George E. A. Fairley, today asked the U. S. Coast Guard to urge the owners to raise the sunken hulk of the Island Queen from the Monongahela river at the Pittsburgh wharf as quickly as possible. Fairley told Lieut. Cmdr. Merton Hatfield of the Coast Guard ‘it was a tragic thing to let it lie abandoned with bodies still in it.’ The official toll was 19 persons, either known dead or missing. Only 14 bodies have been recovered.

“Owners of the vessel, Coney Island, Inc., of Cincinnati, have made no announcement on salvage plans. Fairley deplored the possibility that insurance adjustment was delaying the work, adding: “They should remove this tomb first and talk about adjustment later.”

“Meanwhile, Coast Guard headquarters in Washington said official results of the disaster inquiry will not be completed for several days.” (New Castle News, PA. “Urges Immediate Raising of River Boat from Bottom.” 9-17-1947, p. 14.)

Sep 19: “Pittsburgh, Sept. 19. – (INS) – The sunken hulk of the once-proud excursion steamer. Island Queen, which exploded and burned at the Pittsburgh wharf ten days ago, will be raised as soon as salvage equipment can be brought to Pittsburgh, it was announced today. Coney Island, Inc., of Cincinnati, owners of the ill-fated craft, have contracted with Capt. John Beatty of Cincinnati to raise the hull. Whether the $700,000 boat will be rebuilt depends upon condition of
the hull, officials have said. Fourteen persons were known dead and five others were missing…”
(New Castle News, PA. “Island Queen’s Sunken Hulk to be Raised Soon.” 9-19-1947, 17.)

Sep 20: “Pittsburgh, Sept 20. – Coney Island, Inc., owner of the pleasure boat Island Queen which exploded and burned Sept. 9, yesterday filed a petition in federal court asking to be relieved of responsibility for deaths, injuries and damages caused, by the disaster. The petition further stated that if responsibility for the catastrophe is placed on the company, that liability be limited to the value of the company’s interests.” (Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Seeks to be Relieved of Responsibility.” 9-20-1947, p. 1.)

Sep 22: “Pittsburgh, Sept. 22. – (INS) – Salvage work on the burned, sunken hull of the Island Queen…which exploded at its dock in Pittsburgh, September 9, is expected to get underway Tuesday. Fourteen persons died in the blast and six are still missing and presumed dead.” (New Castle News, PA. “Salvage Crews to Raise River Vessel Tuesday.” 9-22-1947, p. 15.)

Sep 27: “Pittsburgh, Sept. 27. – Federal Judge R. M. Gibson yesterday appointed John V. Snee commissioner to appraise the value of the charred and twisted hulk of the steamer Island Queen which exploded and burned in the Monongahela River September 9. The order directed Snee to ‘report to this court with all convenient speed’ and set November 19 as deadline for the appraisal to be made. The directive was made in answer to a petition by Coney Island, Inc., owner of the pleasure boat, to limit the company’s liability to the value of the wreckage. Affidavits were presented by two experts, Hobart S. Blake, of Pittsburgh, who estimated the value of the hulk at not more than $25,000, and John L. Beatty, of Cincinnati, who set the value at not more than $20,000. Judge Gibson directed the company to file a temporary $25,000 bond to insure damage claims.” (Daily News, Huntingdon, PA. “Named to Appraise Value of Wreckage.” 9-27-1947, 1)

Sep 30: “Pittsburgh (INS) – The river excursion steamer, Island Queen, which exploded at its dock in Pittsburgh Sept. 9, today gave up four more bodies, bringing the total known dead in the disaster to 18 and one still missing.” (Chester Times, PA. “Find More Bodies.” 9-30-1947, p. 1.)

Oct 30: “St. Louis – (AP) — The explosion and destruction by fire of the excursion steamer Island Queen at Pittsburgh on Sept. 9, when 19 persons died, was attributed to negligence on the part of the chief engineer, the St. Louis Coast Guard office disclosed Wednesday in releasing the report of Capt. Ross Willoh, St. Louis marine inspector and head of the investigating board. The Coast Guard said Capt. Willoh’s investigation, held in Pittsburgh the day after the disaster, disclosed that Chief Engineer Fred Dickow of Cincinnati, who was one of the victims, was welding a loose deck-stanchion, a metal brace running from deck to ceiling, in the vicinity of fuel oil bunkers containing approximately 27,000 gallons of fuel oil.” (Bradford Era, PA. “Negligence Blamed for Steamer Blast.” 10-30-1947, p. 1.)

Jan 14, 1948: “Pittsburgh – Federal Judge R. M. Gibson granted the petition of the owners of the excursion steamer Island Queen, which exploded and burned last Sept. 9, limiting liability to $5,000 for claims growing out of the disaster in which 19 crew members lost their lives. The amount was the value of the ruined boat after the fire. The figure was set following hearings before a court commissioner… In a statement to the court, the owners of the ship, Coney Island, Inc., of Cincinnati, said that all claims for personal injury or death have been settled on agreement reached on amounts. It was understood such claims were covered by insurance.” (Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, OH. “Liability Limited in Steamer Blast.” 1-14-1948, p. 4.)

April 10, 1948: “The excursion steamer Island Queen, which exploded and sank at Pittsburgh last September with quite a loss of life, is being scrapped. It was found that the hull of the beautiful steamer was too badly damaged by the explosion to warrant repairs. Thus passes out the last excursion boat plying the Upper Ohio.” (Winona Republican-Herald, MN. “Island Queen to be Scrapped.” 4-10-1948, p. 2.)

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