april 27 1865 the worst american disaster of the maritime no one knows the count of lives lost the soldiers civilians and the sisters of charity five dollars a head captains mason and hatch boarded six times the legal load of the sultana leaving vicksburg bound for cairo memphis was the tragic last port of call of sultana six miles out of memphis a boiler gave out from the flooding swift river and extra heavy load of sultana the current was cold the river was wide a mile to either side away from the burning sultana three boilers blew fire and lit up the night sky hell was a better place than on board the sultana the worst american disaster on water the titanic of the cold mississippi was the sultana hell was a better place that night titanic of the cold mississippi was the sultana