Aftermath of the Onawa train wreck of December 20, 1919

This is a list of disasters that have occurred in Maine organized by death toll. Historically documented events that caused 10 or more deaths are included.

List

Notes:

Year Event Type Death toll Location Sources
1864 Wreck of the steamship Bohemian [a] Accident – ship 42[b] off Cape Elizabeth [2][3][4][5][6]
1941 Disappearance of the excursion cruiser Don [c] Accident – ship 34 off Bailey Island [7]
1850 Maine Insane Asylum fire Fire 28 Augusta [8]
1919 Onawa train wreck Accident – railroad 23 Onawa [9]
1899 Mount Desert Ferry gangway collapse Drowning 20 Bar Harbor [10]
1944 South Portland A-26 Invader crash Accident – aircraft 19 South Portland [11]
2023 2023 Lewiston shootings Mass shooting 19 Lewiston [12]
1908 Schooner Fame / steamship Boston collision[d] Accident – ship 18 off Seguin Light [13]
1807 Wreck of the Hanover Accident – ship 17 off Pond Island [14]
1945 Lacoste Babies Home fire Fire 17 Auburn [15]
1979 Downeast Airlines Flight 46 Accident – aircraft 17 Rockland [16]
1807 Wreck of the schooner Charles [e] Accident – ship 16 off Richmond Island [17]
1920 Chesuncook Lake drownings Accident – boat 16 Bangor [18]
1947 Great Fires of 1947 Wildfires 16 Statewide [19]
1807 Wreck of the Sagunto Accident – ship 14 off Smuttynose Island [20]
1902 Isles of Shoals boating accident Accident – boat 14 off Appledore Island [21]
2002 Allagash Wilderness Waterway van accident Drowning 14 Millinocket [22]
1860 Wreck of the schooner Neptune's Bride [f] Accident – ship 12 off Criehaven [23][24]
1936 Gardner Lake Tragedy Accident – boat 12 Marion Township [25]
1849 Disappearance of the schooner Levi Woodbury [g] Accident – ship 10 off Boon Island [26][27]
1920 Wreck of the SS Polias [h] Accident – ship 10 off Port Clyde [28]
1944 North Oxford B-17 Flying Fortress crash[i] Accident – aircraft 10 North Oxford [29][30]
1947 Brockton drownings at Moosehead Lake Accident – boat 10 Greenville [31]

Notable events in Maine that claimed multiple lives, but less than 10 (thus are not included in the above list), include the 1933 Belfast, Maine shooting, the crash of TWA Flight 277 in 1944, the crash of Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 in 1985, the 2014 Noyes Street fire, and the 2023 Bowdoin–Yarmouth shootings.

See also

Notes

References

  1. ↑ "Serious Maine Disaster; Wreck of the Steamship Bohemian. Ninteen Lives Lost". The New York Times. February 14, 1864. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  2. ↑ Bachelder, Peter D. (May 7, 1966). "Shipwrecks Of Casco Bay: 42 Persons Lost When Bohemian Hit Ledge At Cape In 1864". Evening Express. Portland, Maine. p. 16. Retrieved April 5, 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Graham, Gillian (February 18, 2014). "Recalling a Maine shipwreck that time nearly forgot". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Wreck of the Bohemian, Cape Elizabeth, 1864". mainememory.net. Maine Historical Society. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  5. ↑ Seymour, Tom (April 2020). "The Wreck of the Steamship Bohemian". Fishermen's Voice. Vol. 25, no. 4. Retrieved April 5, 2026 – via fishermensvoice.com.
  6. ↑ Sauter, Michael B.; Suneson, Grant; Harrington, John; Gedeon, Joseph (October 28, 2017). "The Worst Tragedy in Every State". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved April 5, 2026. Tragedy: RMS Bohemian Sinking | Date: February 22, 1864 | Total fatalities: 42
  7. ↑ Bennett, Troy (December 3, 2025). "Harpswell shipwreck still a mystery 8 decades later". Harpswell Anchor. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  8. ↑ Prince, Lawrence H. (1891). The Fire Protection of Hospitals for the Insane. p. 10. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  9. ↑ "C.P.R. TRAIN WRECK KILLS 23, INJURES 50". New York Times, December 21, 1919. (paywall link)
  10. ↑ "Twenty Drowned". The Post Express. August 7, 1899. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  11. ↑ Nacelewicz, Tess (July 10, 1994). "Tragic Memories of Deadly Crash at Redbank an Army Bomber Crash Took the Lives Of 19 People 50 Years Ago. Today, the Impact and the Mystery Remain". redbankstreets.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2012 – via Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ "Maine gunman Robert Card died 8-12 hours before being found, medical examiner says". WBZ-TV. November 3, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Sailor Dead In The Yawl". Lewiston Evening Journal. May 28, 1908. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  14. ↑ Parsons, Richard (2022). Wood Island Lighthouse. History Press. p. 49. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  15. ↑ "17 Perish In Nursery Home Blaze, Auburn's Worst Tragedy". The Lewiston Daily Sun. February 1, 1945. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  16. ↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200 N68DE Rockland, ME". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Archived from the original on May 27, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  17. ↑ Romano, Ron (2016). Early Gravestones in Southern Maine: The Genius of Bartlett Adams. History Press. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Woodsmen Trapped In Blazing Motor-Boat". Lewiston Evening Journal. November 19, 1920. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  19. ↑ Butler, Joyce; Parent, Tom (August 1997). "When Maine Burned: Remembering 50 Years Ago". Firehouse. Retrieved December 6, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Mystery of the Spanish Sailors Graves". SeacostNH.com. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Fourteen Young People Drowned off Portsmouth". Meriden Morning Record. July 18, 1902. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  22. ↑ Belluck, Pam (September 13, 2002). "14 drown in wilderness crash / Migrant forest workers' van tumbles from Maine bridge". SF Gate. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Lost at sea". gloucester-ma.gov. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Neptune's Bride (+1860)". Wrecksite. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Twelve Drown In Lake When Boat Capsizes". Gazette and Bulletin. June 20, 1936. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  26. ↑ Procter, George Henry (1873). The Fishermen's Memorial and Record Book. Procter Brothers. pp. 13–14. Retrieved April 1, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Missing Vessel". The New York Herald. October 31, 1849. p. 4. Retrieved April 5, 2026 – via newspapers.com.
  28. ↑ "Bay State Seamen Saved From Wreck". The Boston Globe. February 8, 1920.
  29. ↑ "Accident Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 44-38023, Tuesday 11 July 1944". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  30. ↑ "The ultimate sacrifice; wreck sites a reminder of military plane disasters". Lewiston Sun Journal. Archived from the original on September 15, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2012 – via Wayback Machine.
  31. ↑ "Ten Men Drowned In Moosehead Lake". The New York Times. May 15, 1928. Retrieved April 1, 2026.

Further reading

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_disasters_in_Maine_by_death_toll