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The ''Eastland'' was a passenger ship based in between Clark and LaSalle Streets. The ''Kenosha'' came alongside the hull to allow some passengers to leap to safety. 841 passengers and 4 crew died in the disaster. Many of the passengers on the Eastland were Czech ("Bohemian') immigrants from Cicero, Illinois . Writer Jack Woodford witnessed the disaster and gave a first-hand account to the Chicago newspaper the ''Herald and Examiner''. In his autobiography, Woodford writes:
After the ''Eastland'' was raised in October 1915 , she was sold to the Illinois Naval Reserve and recommissioned as the USS ''Wilmette'' stationed at Great Lakes Naval Base . On June 7 , 1921 , the ''Wilmette'' was given the task of sinking the UC-97 , a German U-Boat captured during World War I . The guns of the ''Wilmette'' were manned by Gunner's Mate J.O. Sabin , who had fired the first American shell in World War I, and Gunner's Mate A.F. Anderson , the man who fired the first American Torpedo in the conflict. In 1946 , the ''Wilmette'' was offered up for sale. Finding no takers, the government sold her for scrap and she was demolished in 1947 . External links
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