List of boiler explosions
This article contains a list of steam boiler explosions such as railway locomotive, marine transport, and stationary power.
Events
| Event | Date | Type | Nation | City/Locale | Killed | Injured | Missing |
| Savery Explosion | Industrial | 1 | |||||
| Brunton's Mechanical Traveller | Locomotive | Philadelphia, Tyne and Wear | 16 | ||||
| The Washington | Marine | Marietta, Ohio | 12 | 5 | |||
| The Aetna | Marine | New York City, New York | 10 | 40 | |||
| Stockton and Darlington Railway No. 2 or No.5 | Locomotive | Simpasture, near Shildon | 1 | 1 | |||
| Stockton and Darlington Railway No. 1 Locomotion | Locomotive | 1 | |||||
| Best Friend of Charleston | Locomotive | Charleston, South Carolina | 1 | 3 | |||
| Locomotive under test | Locomotive | Baltimore, on Baltimore and Ohio Railroad | 1 | ||||
| Liverpool and Manchester Railway No. 33 Patentee | Locomotive | Whiston Bank | |||||
| PS Union | 1837 | Marine | Hull | 20 | 20 | ||
| SS Moselle | Marine | Cincinnati, Ohio | 81 | 13 | 55 | ||
| SS Pulaski | Marine | Cape Hatteras, North Carolina | 128 | ||||
| Harlem Railroad | Locomotive | 14th Street, New York City | 2 | 5 | |||
| Surprise | Locomotive | 2 | ? | ||||
| SS Henry Eckford | Marine | New York City, New York | 1 | 2 | |||
| Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Richmond | Locomotive | Reading, Pennsylvania | 4 | ||||
| London and North Western Railway 122 Goliah | Locomotive | ||||||
| Great Western Railway Goliah | Locomotive | Plympton, foot of Hemerdon Bank | 1 | ||||
| London and North Western Railway 401 | Locomotive | Longsight | |||||
| Firth Woollen Mill | Industrial | Halifax, West Yorkshire | 12 | 17 | |||
| The Hague Street Explosion | Industrial | New York City, New York | 67 | 50 | |||
| Midland Railway 363 | Locomotive | Clay Hill, Bristol | |||||
| Erie Railroad | Locomotive | Susquehanna, Pennsylvania | 5 | ||||
| SS Canemah | Marine | Champoeg, Oregon | 1 | ||||
| SS Shoalwater | Marine | Rock Island, Oregon | |||||
| SS Gazelle | Marine | Oregon City, Oregon | 24 | many | |||
| Fieldhouse Mills | Industrial | Rochdale, Greater Manchester | 10 | 13 | |||
| Georgiana | Marine | Petaluma, California | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| SS Pennsylvania | Marine | Memphis, Tennessee | 250 | ||||
| London and North Western Railway 249 | Locomotive | Rugby, Warwickshire | 1 | ||||
| Erie Railroad | Locomotive | Jersey City docks | 5 | ||||
| Great Western Railway Perseus | Locomotive | Westbourne Park shed | |||||
| Hembrigg Mills | Industrial | Morley, West Yorkshire | 9 | ||||
| SS Ada Hancock | Marine | San Pedro Bay, California | 26 | 23 | |||
| Tugboat Greenwood | Marine | Barrytown, New York | 7 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Calcutta Explosion | Kolkata, West Bengal | ||||||
| Merrick Sons, Southwark Foundry | Industrial | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 7 | 13 | |||
| USS Chenango | Marine | New York City New York | 28 | 6 | |||
| Midland Railway 356 | Locomotive | Colne, Lancashire | 1 | 2 | |||
| Great Northern 138 | Locomotive | Metropolitan Railway's Bishop's Road station | |||||
| ? 108 | Locomotive | , Shrewsbury and Hereford Joint Railway | |||||
| New York Central Railroad | Locomotive | Syracuse, New York | 3 | ||||
| USS Tulip | Marine | Potomac River, Maryland | 49 | ||||
| Sultana | Marine | Memphis, Tennessee | 1800 | ||||
| Spa Well Mill, Elland | Industrial | Elland, nr Huddersfield, | 3 | 4 | |||
| Town & Son Factory | Industrial | Bingley, West Yorkshire | 15 | ||||
| SS Senator | Marine | Portland, Oregon | |||||
| HMS Thunderer | Marine | Portsmouth Harbour | 45 | 70 | |||
| Boston Stamping Company, under Seavey & Co. | Industrial | East Cambridge, Massachusetts | 3 | 6 | |||
| Railway Explosion | Locomotive | New South Wales | |||||
| Queensland Railways | Locomotive | Queensland | |||||
| North East Dundas Tramway | Locomotive | Tasmania | |||||
| Annie Faxon | Marine | Columbia River | 8 | ||||
| Zeehan | Locomotive | Tasmania | |||||
| Great Eastern Railway No. 522 | Locomotive | Westerfield, Suffolk | 2 | 2 | |||
| Grover Shoe Factory disaster | Industrial | Brockton, Massachusetts | 58 | 150 | |||
| HMS Implacable | Marine | 2 | |||||
| USS Bennington | Marine | San Diego, California | 66 | ||||
| HMS Implacable | Marine | 2 | |||||
| Hemingway Paint & Colour Manufacturers boiler explosion | Industrial | Millwall, London | 2 | ||||
| Central of Georgia Railway | Locomotive | Reynolds, Georgia | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Rhymney Railway 97 | Locomotive | Rhymney Railway's Cardiff shed | 3 | 3 | |||
| SS Sarah Dixon | Marine | Kalama, Washington | 3 | ||||
| Southern Pacific Roundhouse | Locomotive | San Antonio, Texas | 26 | ||||
| Rumney Shed | Locomotive | Cardiff, Wales | |||||
| SS City of Liverpool | Marine | Manchester Ship Canal, Nr Runcorn | 1 | ||||
| SS James T. Staples | Marine | Bladon Springs, Alabama | 26 | 21 | |||
| Destroyer Ikazuchi | Marine | Ominato | |||||
| Southern Pacific 4037 | Locomotive | SP's San Joaquin Division | |||||
| Maine Central Railroad | Locomotive | Ayers Junction | |||||
| Medina-Salamanca Railway No.2 | Locomotive | Medina del Campo, VA | 15 | 15 | 0 | ||
| London and North Western Railway 132 | Locomotive | Buxton, Derbyshire | 2 | 1 | |||
| Southern Pacific 4017 | Locomotive | ||||||
| LMS 6399 Fury | Locomotive | 1 | |||||
| Southern Pacific 4402 | Locomotive | near Richvale, California | |||||
| Elkhorn Piney Coal Company | Locomotive | Powellton, West Virginia | 16 | ||||
| Deutsche Reichsbahn 02 101 | Locomotive | ||||||
| Southern Pacific 4199 | Locomotive | Cooper, California | 4 | ||||
| Canadian National 242 | Locomotive | Montreal, Quebec | 1 | 1 | |||
| Pennsylvania Railroad 520 | Locomotive | Cresson, Pennsylvania | 2 | 4 | |||
| SS Cascades | Marine | Portland, Oregon | |||||
| New York Central Railroad J-3a No. 5450 while hauling the Twentieth Century Limited | Locomotive | Canastota, New York | 3 | ||||
| USATC S160 Class | , 1944 | Locomotive | |||||
| Great Northern 2581 | Locomotive | Crary, North Dakota | ? | ? | |||
| RL Smith Lumber Company 91 | locomotive | Canby, California | 2 | 2 | |||
| Union Pacific 9018 | Locomotive | 1.97 miles east of Upland, Kansas | 3 | ||||
| Deutsche Reichsbahn 95 6679 | Locomotive | Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works | 11 | ||||
| Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 1642 | Locomotive | Hinton, West Virginia | 3 | ||||
| British Railways | Locomotive | Bletchley, Buckinghamshire | 0 | 2 | |||
| New York Telephone Company building explosion | Stationary power | New York City, New York | 23 | 94 | |||
| USS Basilone | Marine | 7 | |||||
| Deutsche Reichsbahn 01 1516 | Locomotive | Bitterfeld railway station | 9 | 45 | |||
| Gettysburg Railroad 1278 | Locomotive | Gardners, Pennsylvania | 2 | ||||
| USS Willamette | Marine | 0 | 7 | ||||
| Medina County Fair Ground | Antique Steam Tractor | Medina County | 5 | ~40 | |||
| SS Norway | Marine | Miami, Florida | 8 | 17 | |||
| Orewa College | Industrial | Orewa, Auckland | 1 | 1 | |||
| Loy-Lange Box Company | Industrial | St. Louis, Missouri | 4 | 3 |
-SS Helen McGregor, Boiler Explosion, Memphis, TN, February 1830.
-Staten Island Ferry, Westfield II, FT boiler explosion: July 30, 1871.
-Givaudan Corporation, Delawanna Avenue, Clifton, New Jersey: Portable Fire Tube Boiler Explosion
-Ford's River Rouge Plant, Dearborn, Michigan, Gas Boiler explosion, 6 killed 2/1/1999.
-St Mary's Hospital, Pennington Avenue, Passaic, New Jersey: Cleaver Brooks boiler Explosion 7/15/2006.
-Dana Corporation, Paris Tennessee, 400 Hp fire-tube boiler explosion 6/19/2007
Key safety developments
| Year | Event/Activity | Type | Nation | Description |
| 1847 | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | Technical Society | IMechE formed, emphasizing the importance of specialized mechanical knowledge, particularly with respect to steam power | |
| 1855 | Steam Users' Association | Technical Society | In Manchester, the "Association for the Prevention of Steam Boiler Explosions, and for effecting Economy in the Raising and Use of Steam" is formed and, eschewing direct regulation, advocates creation of trained inspectors. Later adds the prefix "Manchester Steam Users'..." to the name. | |
| 1855 | Ramsbottom Safety Valve | Safety valve | John Ramsbottom invented a tamperproof safety valve. | |
| 1864 | Bengal Act VI of 1864 | Legislation | Provided for the inspection of steam boilers in and around Kolkatta | |
| 1866 | The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company | Commercial | The first boiler insurance company in the U.S. is established in Hartford, CT | |
| 1866 | Gesellschaft zur Überwachung und Versicherung von Dampfkesseln | Technical Society | In response to a brewery explosion, a private society is founded to offer boiler inspections to its members. It is highly successful and later becomes the modern TÜV. | |
| 1880 | American Society of Mechanical Engineers | Technical Society | ASME formed, largely in response to calls for improvements in boiler safety | |
| 1882 | Boiler Explosions Act, 1882 | Legislation | Required notice of a boiler explosion to be sent to the Board of Trade within 24 hours of occurrence and established inquiry authorizations | |
| 1884 | ASME Boiler Testing Code | Safety Standard | The "Code for the Conduct of Trials of Steam Boilers", the first U.S. code for conducting boiler tests, is issued | |
| 1890 | Boiler Explosions Act, 1890 | Legislation | Extended 1882 requirements to marine vessels | |
| 1911 | Uniform Boiler Rules, Massachusetts | Legislation | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopts uniform boiler rules, the first statewide boiler code to apply in the U.S. Equivalent rules are quickly adopted by other states | |
| 1915 | ASME Boiler Code | Safety Standard | The ASME Boiler Code Committee issues "Standards for Specifications and Construction of Boilers and Other Containing Vessels in Which High Pressure is Contained" |
-1887 Robert Henry Thurston's book Steam Boiler Explosions in Theory, and in Practice is published
Contemporary listings and accounts
- Manchester Steam Users' Association for the Prevention of Steam Boiler Explosions
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- Marten E.B. Records of Steam Boiler Explosions Various volumes, e.g. at Open Library; at Open Library; 1875, 1878, 1890 covering explosions in Britain.
- The National Boiler Insurance Company
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Other
- For a short status of European steam users' associations and boiler insurance companies c. 1897, see