The Sultana was a Mississippi River steamboat destroyed in an explosion on April 27, 1865. An 1)____________ 1,800 of the 2,400 passengers were killed, and the Sultana sank not far from Memphis, Tennessee. This disaster received little public attention, as it took place soon after the President Abraham Lincoln was 2) ____________. The wooden steamboat was constructed in 1863 and 3) ____________ be used for the lower Mississippi cotton trade. Registering 1,719 tons, the steamboat was built to carry no more than 376 people. For two years, it ran a regular route between St. Louis and New Orleans. Sometimes it was asked to carry troops. The Sultana left New Orleans on April 21, 1865.Most of the passengers were Union soldiers who had recently been 4) ____________ Confederate prison camps. The US government had 5) ____________ the Sultana to transport these former prisoners of war back to their homes in the north. At 2 a.m. on April 27, about seven miles north of Memphis, at least one boiler 6) ____________, causing a huge explosion that destroyed the center portion of the boat, throwing sleeping men high into the air before landing in the river Confusion and chaos 7) ____________ as men tried to save themselves and others. Many drowned while others burned to death. The direct cause of the explosion was later determined to be the leaky and poorly repaired steam boiler. Passengers who 8) ____________ the initial explosion had to risk their lives in the icy water of the Mississippi or burn with the ship. Many died of drowning or coldness. Bodies of 9) ____________ continued to be found downriver for months. Many were never recovered. Some of the Sultana's crew, including the captain, were among those who 10) ____________.