A Mexican navy tall ship’s fatal collision with the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday really caught everyone’s attention. It’s like, who would’ve thought that a ship would crash into such an iconic structure, right? The incident made me wonder about the history of ships hitting the bridge, and turns out it’s been a thing for almost 150 years. Crazy, right?
The Brooklyn Bridge has been a magnet for ships looking for trouble since before it was even finished back in the late 19th century. You’ve got U.S. Navy ships, training ships, steam ships, you name it—everyone just loves to clip those wires. But the crash on Saturday was next level, with two Mexican naval cadets losing their lives and others getting injured. It’s like a scene from a movie, only it actually happened for real.
Not really sure why this matters, but apparently, the Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 and connects Brooklyn to Manhattan over the East River. The whole thing stands at around 135 feet above the water on average, but that can change with the tides. Back in the day, there was even a lawsuit about ships with topmasts being too high for the bridge, but the Supreme Court shut that down real quick. Despite all the drama, ships kept on crashing into the bridge, with incidents reported throughout the years. It’s like the bridge has a magnet for shipwrecks or something.
