A terrifying tale from the Age of Sail. The website of the Penobscot maritime museum was likely being deliberately understated when they wrote: “As one can imagine, wooden ships and fire do not make for a good day at sea.” The fire aboard HMS Queen Charlotte is history that deserves to be remembered.
During the civil war, the manufacture of powder and explosives was often handled by the most vulnerable, young women and children, whose labor was needed when so many men had been sent off to war. On March 13, 1863, the confederacy experienced a munitions disaster, in the confederate capitol of Richmond.