The SS Sultana is the deadliest shipwreck in US history, claiming more lives than the Titanic. Yet, it remains largely lost to history. This obscurity is primarily due to the timing of the disaster; it occurred on 27 April 1865, while the nation was still reeling from the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
The newspapers of the day were concentrated on the pursuit of his assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Consequently, the death of over a thousand former prisoners of war sank into obscurity. No one was ever held responsible for the incompetence that caused these horrific deaths.
