Of the 552 people on board for a weekend round trip between Miami and Nassau, on November 13, 1965, a total of 94 would perish when the cruise liner SS Yarmouth Castle caught fire and sank near Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. Although the survival of over 450 people from the inferno was nothing short of a miracle, this tragedy marks the deadliest passenger ship disaster off the coast of the United States since the burning of the liner SS Morro Castle off the coast of New Jersey in 1934. SSHSA Board Vice President, Captain Eric Takakjian presented about his book Yarmouth Castle Burning, the Deadliest Passenger Ship Disaster off the Coast of the United States since 1934.
The Eighteenth Amendment, or Prohibition, was passed in 1919, and with it rum- running sprang up in Rhode Island waters. The Coast Guard received resources to combat the illegal smuggling and those rum-runners responded in kind with unique tactics and adaptation of recreational watercraft to protect and expand their business. In this presentation, Archivist Astrid Drew from the Steamship Historical Society of America speaks on the rum-running trade in Rhode Island and how it impacted the shipping industry on Narragansett Bay for the Hale House.
Watch SSHSA’s Assistant Archivist Heather Pouliot Kisliywicz present on Researching Immigration via Steamship for the Allen County Public Library. Click here to access the Research Guide.
Watch Education Director Aimee Bachari and Chris Koutros present with the New England Association of Chemistry Teachers that details how to use our historical sources and lessons for science and chemistry subjects.
This all encompassing presentation by Richard Rabbett on the life and service of the SS Leviathan was originally presented on February 1, 2020 for the Steamship Historical Society of America.
A discussion of shipwrecks in Rhode Island with Historian Charlotte Taylor of the Rhode Island Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission. Filmed at the Steamship Historical Society of America’s Ship History Center on February 24, 2018.
