Worse Than the Titanic. Nobody Knows It.
The SS Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865, killing at least 1,169 people — most historians estimate 1,700–1,800, more than the Titanic. The passengers were Union soldiers fresh from Confederate prison camps. An Army quartermaster arranged a kickback to overload the boat to six times capacity. Nobody was punished. The story was buried because John Wilkes Booth was shot the day before.
THE FILM IS IN PRODUCTION.
The worst maritime disaster in American history. You've never heard of it. Because John Wilkes Booth stole the headline.
April 27, 1865. Two in the morning. Mississippi River. You have just walked out of a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp. You are on a steamboat home.
The SS Sultana. Licensed for 376. Carrying more than two thousand — almost all of them you.
An Army quartermaster named Reuben Hatch arranged a kickback with the boat's captain. Pack the soldiers in. Nobody checked the three steam boilers that had been leaking for days.
At 2am, all three exploded.
So we pulled the records.
At least 1,169 confirmed dead. Most historians put it at 1,700 to 1,800. More than the Titanic. The worst maritime disaster in American history — and not one person was punished.
The Army convicted the officer who approved the overloading. Then cleared him. The quartermaster who arranged the kickback deserted before trial. The boilers that failed had been patched before departure — not replaced.
And here is the part that buried it: the day before, April 26th, John Wilkes Booth was shot. Every newspaper in America led with Booth. The Sultana was page four. And then it was forgotten.
Verdict: PART BS. The Titanic was not America's worst maritime disaster. The real one had a bribery scheme, a patch job, and the worst timing in the history of American tragedy.
Every claim in the film, checked against the record.
The full receipts — every claim, every source, checked against the record — are for BSKiller members. That is the whole point of the show: the receipts.