Steam Packet Union- Hull 1837

The practical applications of Steam Power in the 19th Century heralded a halcyon age for industry and as a means of transport. It influenced almost every aspect of everyday life for the Victorians.

However, the harnessing of this technology also had its perils and tragedies. 

One of the most shocking events of the era took place in my home city, the Port of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire in 1837. 

It was a lovely summer morning on Wednesday 14th June and there was already a bustle of activity on the quayside of The Humber Dock (now Hull Marina Basin) as a number of ships took on passengers and cargo in readiness for sailing. 

The Steam Packet "Union" was a newly built vessel for inland waterways and had, before entering into commercial service, been used to carry cattle from Hull down the River Trent. 

On this day it was preparing for a scheduled sailing to Gainsborough. As it also coincided with the Retford Fair, some 12 miles from the place of destination there was a swelling of the usual passenger numbers . Around 100 were thought to have been on the deck or in the on board salons which included what was described as the "Best" cabin which had a stewardess in attendance. 

At around 6.15am close to the time of the high tide one of the steam boilers exploded with devastating force. 

Within a few seconds Union foundered and sank low into the dock. 

The scene will have been most distressing. Passengers had been thrown into the water. Mangled, bleeding and badly scalded bodies lay around on the quayside. The rescue effort started immediately from boats already in the Humber Dock and with the arrival of the Police from a nearby Station House. 

The sheer force of the explosion was illustrated in a number of gruesome incidents. 

A Crane Worker who had been working close to the berth of Union was found on the top of a house some 60 yards away. The impact of his body had caused the roof slates and timbers to be badly damaged. The badly mutilated body of a respectable Hull Brewer, Mr Chatterton was found on the deck of the Steamer Albatross which was moored on the opposite side of the Pier. 

Three hours after the explosion, at low tide, further horrific scenes were revealed. 

The wrecked hull was now exposed and all around on the mud was strewn furniture from the cabins, pieces of deck timber and the clothes and personal effects of those who had had the misfortune to be on board. 

There was thought to have been 30 to 40 persons in the best cabin but in its mangled remains only 3 bodies were found. The lifeless body of Richard Tomlinson of High Street was found near Long Jetty. The corpse of a well dressed but unidentified gentleman lay on the mud near the slipway. Five women, well to do and with their servants were missing either vaporised in the steam cloud or washed out to the Estuary. Two bodies were found on board a small boat in another part of the Dock by its skipper.

Rescuers and those who had come to see off the passengers sought frantically for any survivors. A large crowd drawn by the sound of the explosion also gathered but was reported to be of an appropriately respectful rather than morbidly curious demeanour. 

A few had very lucky escapes after having jumped off the deck, out of the cabin windows or after having been propelled into the waters. 

It must have been an apocalyptic scene. As well as the human carnage a 200 pound weight bale of freight had been thrown over the roof and into the Timber Yard of Messrs Westdales. The intact top of the exploded boiler was found outside Minerva Terrace  and the safety valve damaged the building on Wellington Street from which the York Steam Packet Office operated. The stone steps of a house on Humber Street were cracked by the counter weight of the safety valve. Sacks and casks from the freight manifest of Union littered the surrounding streets.

Other vessels in proximity also sustained damage and those who happened to be out on deck were amongst the injured. On the Leeds Steamer a passenger was struck by a splinter which split open his cheek but he was able to be treated with the other walking wounded who by now had been taken in by the Quayside Inns and Pubs. 

Personal tragedies were poignant. Mr Hutchinson, a builder from George Street, Hull upon hearing of the explosion had hastened to the Humber Dock to enquire about his two sons who had intended to sail that day. He hoped that they had taken another ship on that June morning but he later discovered that they had both died, one in the Infirmary from fatal wounds and the other found later. 

The list of fatalities illustrated the nature of Victorian business, occupations and lifestyles. These included a Gainsborough Tradesman, a property dealer from the West Riding, visitors from Manchester, Brewers and Publicans from Hull, an elderly lady who derived an income from selling fruit on the quayside, a shop keeper from Whitton, a grocery assistant from Hull and not forgetting members of the crew who, in the engine room will have been at the epicentre of the explosion. Amongst the dead was a small child from Scale Lane although its mother was reported to have survived. 

At the later Enquiry one of the crew recounted that he had heard, some five minutes before the explosion, a crackling noise like someone breaking sticks. He also stated that the fire doors were open and when he had turned a valve this had emitted not the expected water but pure steam. This must have been a concern but before any preventative action could be taken the ship and quayside were enveloped in a dense mist and the hellish events ensued. 

In all some 20 souls were lost and many more injured, maimed or traumatised. The events of that June day in 1837 remain as one of the worst steam boiler explosions on record.