Finley's Shipwreck Blog: SS Sultana Finley's Shipwreck Blog Friday, May 25, 2012 SS Sultana SS  Sultana  was a  Mississippi River   steamboat   paddlewheeler  that exploded on April 27, 1865 in the greatest  maritime disaster  in  United States history. An estimated 1,600 of  Sultana's  2,400 passengers were