According to the catalogue of prints of steamships from the Macpherson collection, 'Mail and Passenger Steamships of the XIXth Century' (eds Captain H. Parker and Frank C. Bowen), the 'Alabama' was an "American paddle steamer, built of wood in New York, in 1850, for the coastal passenger service maintained by the New York and Savannah Line. A ship 220 feet in length, with a gross tonnage of 1,300, she was propelled by a vertical beam engine; and was burned on the 24th December, 1871" (p. 4). In fact, the paddle steamer that was destroyed by fire on that date was the ‘America’, but possibly originally named ‘Alabama’ (built at New York in 1850-51 and served with the US Navy 1861 – 65 as the USS Alabama, and was then sold out of service).

The print is a dramatic depiction of the paddle steamer being consumed by flames, seen from her starboard side. The fire may have broken out from the engine, the flames seemingly emanating from the paddle and travelling along the length of the ship. Passengers can be seen leaping from her bow and stern end, while countless others, having already escaped the burning vessel, struggle for survival in the water. A small boat in the middle foreground to the right of the composition attempts to rescue some of the survivors. According to contemporary news reports, between 80 and 100 people were lost, and a large proportion of the passengers were German – which probably explains the origin of the lithograph.