May 31, 2009

This 1862 engraving depicts the explosion on board the 510-ton Union ironclad USS Mound City, shown here on the back right. The explosion has been called the “most deadly shot” of the war. While participating in the Engagement at St. Charles on the White River on June 17, 1862, the vessel took a single shot to the steam drum. Escaping steam scalded many of the crew, ultimately resulting in 105 deaths and forty-four injuries. Disabled and towed to safety, the ship was repaired and served until war’s end, when it was sold at auction and salvaged.