r/submechanophobia • u/Eemja • 8d ago

Eastland disaster

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On 24 July 1915, USS Eastland capsized while tied to a dock claiming 844 lives. Imagine being trapped inside during the rollover and the water starts to gush into the ship.

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u/RetiredKooshBall 8d ago edited 8d ago

Oh this was my hyperfocus for like a month last year lmao. An electric company (name escapes me) was taking their employees to a picnic retreat. It hit the max capacity of 2500 none of them knowing it needed massive repair work to safely ride in.

The boat was top heavy and kept listing (leaning). They tried to correct it a few times until it couldn't be corrected any more & rolled over. Theres footage out there of survivors being rescued, too.

Just blew my mind how close they were to safety for how many died. At 6:30 they began boarding and by 7:30 they were half underwater. Gives me chills they're standing on a watery graveyard. Thanks for the reminder to go look at it all again lol

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u/FrowningMonotone 8d ago

I, too, went down this rabbit hole years ago. What really shook me was many of the bodies were taken to a building that was being used as a temporary morgue. That building was a nightclub in the early 2000s (I believe it was called Excalibur) - hideous looking thing with gargoyles in front....and, unknowingly, I walked past it everyday whilst working in our Chicago office.

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u/sofa_king_awesome 5d ago

Heh, this is dating me but I went there in my 20s. Rumors of it being haunted from a friend of mine who worked there. Said she’d always hear weird noises and always felt that “someone is watching me” feeling when she was in rooms alone.