List of boiler explosions explained

This is a list of steam boiler explosions such as railway locomotive, marine transport (military and civilian), and stationary power:

Events

Event	Date	Type	Nation	City/Locale	Killed	Injured	Missing	References
Savery explosion		Industrial			1			^[1]
		Locomotive			16
SS Washington		Marine (civilian)			12	5		^[2]
SS Constitution	1817	Marine (civilian)	United States	Mississippi River	30			^[3]
The Aetna		Marine (civilian)			10	40
SS Teche	1825	Marine (civilian)	United States	Mississippi River	20
Stockton and Darlington Railway locomotive no. 2 or no. 5		Locomotive			1	1
Stockton and Darlington Railway Locomotion No. 1		Locomotive		, Heighington, England	1
SS Helen McGregor		Marine (civilian)	United States	Memphis, Tennessee
Best Friend of Charleston		Locomotive			1	3
Locomotive under test		Locomotive			1
Liverpool and Manchester Railway No. 33 Patentee		Locomotive		Whiston Bank, Whiston, England
	1837	Marine (civilian)			23	20		^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7]
SS Moselle		Marine (civilian)			81	13	55	^[8]
SS Pulaski		Marine (civilian)			128
New York and Harlem Railroad		Locomotive			2	5
		Locomotive		Bromsgrove railway station, Bromsgrove, England	2
		Marine (civilian)			1	2
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Richmond		Locomotive			4
London and North Western Railway 122 Goliah		Locomotive
		Locomotive		Foot of Hemerdon Bank, Plympton, England	1
London and North Western Railway 401		Locomotive		Longsight, Manchester, England
Firth Woollen Mill		Industrial			12	17		^[9] ^[10]
Hague Street explosion		Industrial			67	50		^[11] ^[12] ^[13]
Midland Railway 363 (ex Bristol and Gloucester Railway 7 Wickwar)		Locomotive		Clay Hill, Bristol, England
Erie Railroad		Locomotive			5
		Marine (civilian)			1
		Marine (civilian)
		Marine (civilian)			24	many
Fieldhouse Mills		Industrial		Rochdale, England	10	13		^[14]
Georgiana		Marine (civilian)			1	2	0	^[15]
		Marine (civilian)			250
		Locomotive			1
Erie Railroad		Locomotive		Docks, Jersey City, New Jersey	5
		Locomotive		Westbourne Park shed, London, England
Hembrigg Mills		Industrial		Morley, England	9			^[16]
		Marine (civilian)			26	23
Tugboat Greenwood		Marine (civilian)			7	3	3
Calcutta explosion
Merrick Sons, Southwark Foundry		Industrial			7	13
USS Chenango		Marine (military)		New York City, New York	28	6
Midland Railway 356		Locomotive		Colne, England	1	2
Great Northern 138		Locomotive		Metropolitan Railway's Bishop's Road station (now), London, England
? 108		Locomotive		Shrewsbury and Hereford Joint Railway, Leominster, England
New York Central Railroad		Locomotive			3
		Marine (military)			49
Eclipse (steamboat)^[17]		Marine (military)	United States	Tennessee River	38
Sultana		Marine (civilian)			1169
		Marine (civilian)	United States	New York City, New York	45–91	78–208		^[18] ^[19] ^[20] ^[21]
Spa Well Mill		Industrial		Elland, England	3	4		^[22]
Town & Son Factory		Industrial		Bingley, England	15			^[23]
		Marine (civilian)
		Marine (military)			45	70
Boston Stamping Company, under Seavey & Co.		Industrial			3	6
Railway explosion		Locomotive						Unverified report^[24]
		Locomotive
		Locomotive
		Marine (civilian)			8
		Locomotive		Zeehan, Tasmania
		Locomotive		Westerfield, England	2	2		^[25]
		Industrial			58	150
		Marine (military)			2
		Marine (military)			66
T.J. Salts Lumber Company		Industrial	United States	Del Rio, Tennessee	5	16		^[26]
		Marine (military)			2
Hemingway Paint & Colour Manufacturers		Industrial		Millwall, London, England		2		^[27]
		Locomotive		Reynolds, Georgia	2	2	0
Boiler house at Laura coal mine		industrial			7	many
Rhymney Railway 97		Locomotive		Rhymney Railway's shed, Cardiff, Wales	3	3
		Industrial			17		20
		Marine (civilian)			3
Southern Pacific Roundhouse		Locomotive			26			^[28]
Rumney Shed		Locomotive		Cardiff, Wales
SS City of Liverpool		Marine (civilian)	United Kingdom	Manchester Ship Canal, Runcorn, England	1			^[29]
SS James T. Staples		Marine (civilian)			26	21		^[30] ^[31]
		Marine (military)
Southern Pacific 4037		Locomotive		Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Division				^[32]
Maine Central Railroad		Locomotive		Ayers Junction, Pembroke, Maine
Medina-Salamanca Railway No.2		Locomotive			15	15	0	^[33]
		Locomotive		Buxton, England	2	1		^[34]
Southern Pacific 4017		Locomotive
		Locomotive			1
Southern Pacific 4402		Locomotive		Near Richvale, California				^[35]
Elkhorn Piney Coal Company		Locomotive			16
		Locomotive
Southern Pacific 4199		Locomotive		Cooper, California	4
		Locomotive		Montreal, Quebec	1	1
		Locomotive		Cresson, Pennsylvania	2	4
		Marine (civilian)		Portland, Oregon
New York Central Railroad J-3a No. 5450 while hauling the 20th Century Limited		Locomotive			3			^[36]
	, 1944	Locomotive
		Locomotive			?	?		^[37]
RL Smith Lumber Company 91		Locomotive			2	2		^[38]
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway locomotive no. 3020		Locomotive		Near Chillicothe, Ohio	3	0		^[39]
		Locomotive			3			^[40]
Deutsche Reichsbahn 95 6679		Locomotive		Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works, Meiningen	11
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 1642		Locomotive			3			^[41]
		Locomotive		Bletchley, England	0	2
		Stationary power		New York City, New York	23	94		^[42]
PNKA CC 5002 (Bendul Explosion)	11 April 1968	Locomotive		Purwakarta, West Java	6	1
		Marine (military)			7
		Locomotive			9	45
		Locomotive				2		^[43]
		Marine (military)			0	7
Ford River Rouge complex	2 February 1999	Industrial	United States	Dearborn, Michigan	6
Medina County Fair Ground		Antique steam tractor			5	c. 40		^[44] ^[45] ^[46]
		Marine (civilian)		Miami, Florida	8	17
British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT)		Stationary		Vancouver, British Columbia
St Mary's General Hospital		Stationary	United States	Passaic, New Jersey
Dana Corporation 400-hp fire-tube boiler		Industrial	United States	Paris, Tennessee
		Industrial		Orewa, Auckland	1	1		^[47]
		Industrial	United States	St. Louis, Missouri	4	3		^[48] ^[49]

See also

• List of boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions

References

Sources

• • • • Book: Hewison, Christian H. . 1983 . Locomotive Boiler Explosion . Newton Abbot . David and Charles . 0-7153-8305-1 .

Further reading

Contemporary listings and accounts

• Abel . F. A. . March 1875 . On Accidental Explosions . Notices of the Proceedings at the Meetings of the Members of the Royal Institution . 390–396 . 2009-06-13 .
• Book: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons . Parliamentary Papers, "361. Boiler Explosions" (For Years 1875-1876) . 1877 . . London . 2009-06-13.
• Manchester Steam Users' Association for the Prevention of Steam Boiler Explosions (Founded 1855)
  • July 31st Meeting . The Civil Engineer & Architect's Journal . 1866 . 29 . September 1 . 265–267 . 2009-06-13 . Laxton . William.
  • 1866 . September 25th Meeting . The Civil Engineer & Architect's Journal . 29 . November 1 . 333–336 . 2009-06-13 . Laxton . William.
  • 1866 . October 30th Meeting . The Civil Engineer & Architect's Journal . 29 . December 1 . 359– . 2009-06-13 . Laxton . William.
• Marten E.B. Records of Steam Boiler Explosions Various volumes, e.g. 1869 at Open Library; 1872 at Open Library; 1875, 1878, 1890 covering explosions in Britain.
• The National Boiler Insurance Company
  • 1866 . Abstract of Report . The Civil Engineer & Architect's Journal . 29 . February 1st . 39–40 . 2009-06-13 . Laxton . William.
• Book: Redfield, William C. . Letter To The Secretary Of The Treasury, On The History and Causes of Steamboat Explosions And The Means Of Prevention . 1839 . william Osborn . New York . 978-0-608-40457-8 . 2009-06-13.
• Stryker . James . March 1849 . Steam Boiler Explosions . Strykers American Register and Magazine . II . I . 100–101 . 2009-06-13 .
• Book: Thurston, R. H. . Steam-Boiler Explosions in Theory and in Practice, Chapter: The Statistics of Explosions . 1903 . 3rd . John Wiley & Sons . New York . 2009-06-13.

Other

• For a short status of European steam users' associations and boiler insurance companies c. 1897, see Hale . R. S. . April 1897 . European Boiler Practice . Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies . XVIII . 4 . 242–243 . 2009-06-13 .

Notes and References

1. Book: Le Van, William Barnet . Safety-Valves: Their History, Antecedents, Invention and Calculation . Norman W. Henley & Co. . 1892 . New York . 134–135 . 2009-06-14.
2. Web site: Grohman . Adam M. . April 2011 . Sentinels and Saviors of the Sea . https://web.archive.org/web/20110627062414/http://liboatingworld.com/archive/2011/04/LIBW/LIBW_22.pdf . 2011-06-27 . 2011-09-02 . Boating World U.S. Coast Guard Series . River & Sound Publishing of NY.
3. Book: Scharf, John Thomas . History of Saint Louis City and County: From the Earliest Periods to the Present Day: Including Biographical Sketches of Representative Men . 1883 . L. H. Everts . 1108 . en.
4. Book: Schroder, Henry . The annals of Yorkshire from the earliest period to the present time . 1 . 303–04 . 1851 . Explosion of a Steam Packet Boiler at Hull . https://books.google.com/books?id=UtcuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA303 . Crosby & Co. . Leeds.
5. Book: The Mechanics' magazine, museum, register, journal, and gazette . 27 . 189–192 . 1837 . Abstract of the evidence at the inquest relating to the explosion of the boiler of the 'Union' steam packet at Hull . https://books.google.com/books?id=CwsAAAAAMAAJ&q=Union%20Hull&pg=PA189 . W. A. Robertson . London.
6. Timperley . J. . Cubitt . W. . MacNeill . J. . Buddle . J. . Field . J. . 1838 . On the Explosion of One of the Boilers of the Union Steam Packet, at Hull. (Includes Discussion) . Minutes of the Proceedings . 1 . 1838 . 41 . 10.1680/imotp.1838.24811.
7. News: . October 2021 . Trinity burial ground, Hull . British Archaeology . . 11 . 181.
8. [iarchive:lloydssteamboatd00lloy|<!-- quote=MOselle. --> Lloyds Steamboat Disasters]
9. 21 December 1850 . Boiler Explosion at Halifax . The Mechanics' Magazine . LIII . 1428 . 488–489 . 2009-06-13.
10. Leeds Intelligencer 22 March 1851
11. Book: Common Council . Report of the Special Committee: Catastrophe In Hague Street . McSpedon & Baker . 1850 . New York . 2009-06-13.
12. Book: Little, George P. . The Fireman's Own Book, Chapter: Explosion and Fire in Hague Street . 1860 . 259–277 . 2009-06-13.
13. February 16, 1850 . The Dreadful Explosion in New York . The Friend: A Religious and Literary Journal . 176 . 2009-06-13.
14. Book: Dodsley, James . The Annual Register, Entry for July 15, 1854: Terrific Boiler Explosion At Rochdale . F. & J. Rivington . 1855 . London . 112 . 2009-06-13.
15. Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 10, Number 1456, 24 November 1855 p.2, col.5
16. Book: William, Smith . Rambles about Morley . John Russell Smith . 1866 . London . 2009-06-13.
17. Ullrich . Dieter . 2020 . The Explosion of the Steamer Eclipse . West Tennessee Historical Society Papers . Faculty Research at Morehead State University . 74 . 54–72.
18. Book: Cudahy, Brian J. . Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor . 1990 . . 978-0-8232-1245-3 . 158 . en.
19. Book: Roess . Roger P. . The Wheels That Drove New York: A History of the New York City Transit System . Sansome . Gene . 2013 . Springer . 978-3-642-30484-2 . 226 . 10.1007/978-3-642-30484-2.
20. News: July 31, 1871 . APPALLING DISASTER. - Explosion of a Staten Island Ferry-Boat Boiler. Wreck of the Steamer Westfield at South Ferry. Dreadful Loss of Life and Limb the Result. . May 7, 2016 . The New York Times.
21. News: August 2, 1871 . Who Was to Blame? . September 27, 2017 . . 4 . en . Fultonhistory.com.
22. Huddersfield Chronicle, 17 December 1873, p. 4, printed in Huddersfield, England
23. Book: Burke, Edmund . The Annual Register . June 9, 1869 . 1869 . 55 . 2009-06-13.
24. News: 1881-12-26 . Boiler Explosion . 2024-01-27 . Evening News.
25. Web site: P. G. . von Donop . P. G. von Donop . November 13, 1900 . BoT_Westerfield1900.pdf . 15 July 2017.
26. Web site: 1 - Home Page . 2023-02-23 . T. J. Salts Lumber Mill Boiler Explosion. en-US.
27. Lincolnshire Echo, 24 August 1907, p. 4, col. 3, printed in Lincoln, England
28. Web site: The Great Locomotive Explosion . 2019-05-12 . colfa.utsa.edu.
29. Directors' minutes of North Lonsdale Ironworls Co, BDB47 box 16 at CRO, Barrow
30. Book: Ward, Rufus . The Tombigbee River Steamboats: Rollodores, Dead heads, and Side-wheelers . History Press . 2010 . 978-1-59629-285-7 . Charleston, South Carolina . 129, 169.
31. News: James V. Swift . May 14, 2001 . This Southern Steamboat Had A Tragic Ending . November 6, 2012 . Waterways Journal.
32. Book: Reed, Brian . Loco Profile 28: S.P. Cab-in-Fronts . Profile . 1972 . Windsor, Berkshire . 95.
33. http://prensahistorica.mcu.es/es/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?interno=S&posicion=2&path=7506413&presentacion=pagina "La Horrorosa Catástrofe de Medina"
34. Web site: Accident at Buxton on 11th November 1921 . 7 May 2017 . Railways Archive.
35. Book: Reed, Brian . Loco Profile 20: The American 4-8-4 . Profile . Windor, Berkshire.
36. Morgan . David P. . April 1988 . The Greatest Century of all: New York Central's 1938 20th Century Limited . . Milwaukee, Wisconsin . . 81.
37. Keyes . Norman C. Jr . Middleton . Kenneth R. . Autumn 1980 . The Great Northern Railway Company: All-Time Locomotive Roster, 1861–1970 . Railroad History . Boston . Railway & Locomotive Historical Society. 143.
38. Web site: Foothill Rails Rosters P-Q-R .
39. Book: United States Government Publications Monthly Catalog . August 1948 . United States Government Printing Office . Washington . 969 . 636.
40. Book: Kratville . William W. . The Union Pacific Type . II . Bush . John E. . 1995 . Omaha, Nebraska . AutoLiner . 282–289 . 90082171.
41. News: Long . Roy . October 29, 2002 . Railroad Recollections: More About Engine 1642 Explosion . 2017-08-14 . The Hinton News.
42. News: July 15, 1964 . BOILER-BLAST SUIT ASKS $8.2 MILLION; 10 Sue in '62 Phone Building Explosion Fatal to 23 . The New York Times.
43. Web site: . November 15, 1996 . Steam Locomotive Firebox Explosion on the Gettysburg Railroad Near Gardners, Pennsylvania June 16, 1995 . 2017-08-13 . ntsb.gov . National Transportation Safety Board.
44. http://www.nlsme.co.uk/Articles/Boiler_Explosion.pdf Boiler Explosion in Ohio, USA First Hand Observations from Andrew Semple
45. News: 30 July 2001 . Steam Engine Blast At Ohio Fairgrounds Leaves 4 Men Dead . 26 December 2017 . The New York Times.
46. News: The Final Report on the Tragedy at the Medina County Fairgrounds – Steam Engines – Steam Traction . 2018-06-07 . Farm Collector . en.
47. News: Ruscoe . Kim . 25 June 2009 . Death after school boiler explosion . 29 May 2013 . Stuff.co.nz.
48. Web site: Byers . Christine . April 6, 2017 . 4th victim who died from boiler blast near Soulard remembered as hard worker; funds set up for families . St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
49. Web site: Bell . Kim . Byers . Christine . Kohler . Jeremy . April 4, 2017 . 2 new employees filling out paperwork among dead in St. Louis boiler explosion . St. Louis Post-Dispatch.