Incredibly, the Sultana was a four-deck wooden steamboat measuring 260 feet long by 42 feet wide and weighing 1,719 tons. Many of the victims had survived prison camps during the Civil War, including the horrors of Andersonville. But they never made it home because officers may have chosen kickbacks over the safety of the men. In a time before safety regulations, the crush of humanity was protected by only two small lifeboats and 76 life preservers.