The Loss Of The Steamer Pulaski

The Loss Of The Steamer Pulaski

The steam packet "Pulaski", Captain Dubois, sailed from Savannah on Wednesday, June 13, 1838. She arrived at Charleston the afternoon of the same day, and left Charleston the next morning. In the afternoon the wind was fresh from the east, and produced a heavy sea which retarded her progress and required a full pressure of steam.  

At 11 o'clock the starboard boiler exploded with a tremendous violence.. .  About the time the water reached that point the boat parted in two with a tremendous crash, and the bow and stern rose somewhat out of the water, but the latter again continued to sink until the water reached the promenade deck, when it separated into two parts, upset and precipitated all on it into the water.  Many then regained the detached portions. The cause of the disaster was obviously the neglect of the second engineer in permitting the water to boil off in the starboard boiler and then letting in a full supply of water on the heated copper. 

The "Pulaski" was born of a wreck. In the autumn of 1837 the "Home", a packet steamer plying between Charleston and New York, returning South, was lost on the coast of North Carolina. She had many passengers, the majority of whom were lost — among them some prominent persons.