SS Roraima

Last crawled date: 3 years, 9 months ago

This is my rendition of a ship similar to the SS Roraima. The Roraima was built by the Aitken & Maud Company in 1883 and was bought by the Quebec Steamship Company in 1899. On May 8, 1902, the ship was anchored 900 yards off the port of the St. Pierre, Martinique when the nearby volcanoe ,Mount Pelée, violently erupted. The eruption sent plumes of volcanic ash and gases, which exceeded over 1,000 degrees, into the surrounding areas, devastating everything in its path. The explosion killed over 30,000 people and left only two survivors on the shore, Louis-Auguste Cyparis and Léon Compère-Léandre. The Roraima, carrying a load of Potassium, caught fire and burned for three days before settling on the sea floor. In all, 28 crewmembers and all but two of the passengers parished from the sulfaric gas cloud. #1883 #1902 #cargo #eruption #freighter #Martinique #Mount_Pelée #Roraima #SS #St_Pierre #Steamship