Many know of the SS Eastland, which capsized on July 24, 1915 drowning 844 people in the Chicago River.
But few know that the vessel took on a new life after the disaster helping to train Illinois Naval Reserve Sailors for some 30 years and even serving with the U.S. Navy during World War I. The Illinois Naval Reserve was once part of what is now known as the Illinois National Guard.
Immediately after the disaster, the Illinois National Guard's Second Regiment Armory on Washington Blvd. served as the central morgue. The bodies were laid out into rows of 85, and it took several days to completely identify the victims. The armory is no longer in the Illinois National Guard inventory, and is incorporated into Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Studios. The building is said to be haunted by the victims of the tragedy.
Film of the Eastland disaster surfaced last week after Jeff Nichols, a doctoral student at the University of Chicago and 20 year resident of Chicago, found the footage on a European Union-funded website with digitized WWI Dutch news reels. The footage reminded Chicagoans of what is considered the largest maritime disaster on the Great Lakes. After the disaster, the vessel was bought at auction on Dec. 20, 1915, for $46,000 by Capt. Edward A. Evers of the Illinois Naval Reserve. He oversaw the modification of the vessel into a training ship.
Renamed the USS Wilmette after Wilmette, Illinois, the ship was repurposed as a gunboat with the U.S. Navy during WWI. By the time modifications were made, the war was over and for the second time the vessel became the property of the Illinois Naval Reserve. She served as a training ship for naval reservists in the 9th, 10th, and 11th Naval Districts, making voyages along the shores of the Great Lakes carrying trainees to and from the Great Lakes Naval Station. Wilmette remained in commission, carrying out her reserve training mission until she was placed "out of commission, in service," on Feb. 15, 1940.
The USS Wilmette remained a training vessel until she was decommissioned on Nov. 28, 1945. Her name was struck from the Navy's list on Dec. 19, 1945, and eventually sold for scrap.
"Capt. Evers recycled a bad memory by repurposing the Eastland and filling a need for his Sailors, solving two issues at once," said Adriana Schroeder, Illinois National Guard Command Historian. "This film footage will remain permanent evidence of the historical disaster, an event that ended with Evers' military ingenuity."
Photo 1: The Illinois National Guard Second Regiment Armory on Washington Blvd. served as the central morgue for victims of the SS Eastland disaster, July 24, 1915. The vessel capsized along the banks of the Chicago River, killing 844 of the 2,500 aboard. The bodies were laid out into rows of 85, and it took several days to completely identify the victims.
Tuesday 3 March 2015
http://readme.readmedia.com/SS-Eastland-disaster-Illinois-National-Guard-share-history/10651817
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