Wawaset
Side-Wheel Steamer · United States · Lost 1873 · Chesapeake Bay
One of the worst steamboat disasters on the Potomac, this river packet burned with heavy loss of life in 1873.
Become Captain of Record
The Vessel and Her Loss
Wawaset carried passengers and mail on a regular route down the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. On August 8, 1873, fire broke out in the engine room while nearing Chatterton's Landing, and flames spread so quickly that the crew could not fight it or reach many passengers. The overloaded lifeboat capsized, and dozens of the roughly 150 people aboard died by fire or drowning. It remains remembered as one of the deadliest steamboat disasters on the Potomac River.
Vessel
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- Wood
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- Steam, side paddle wheels
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Loss
- August 8, 1873
- Fire
- Potomac River near Chatterton's Landing, Prince George's or King George County, Virginia side
- Potomac River
- Washington, D.C. → Currioman, Virginia (Nomini/Cone River route)
- Not established
- 150
- 50
- Captain Wood
The Wreck Today
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Position
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- Position not established
- Chatterton's Landing, Potomac River, Virginia
No documented position found; recorded as unlocated.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Partially documented (68/100)
The exact death toll and the vessel's construction details are not consistently established across contemporary sources.
Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), August 9, 1873
Contemporary account of the fire, casualty estimates, and rescue by the steamer Express.
Boundary Stones (WETA local history)
Narrative reconstruction of the fire and its spread aboard the vessel.
