SS Ada Hancock was a steam-powered tender owned by Phineas Banning used to transfer passengers and cargo to and from large coastal steamships in San Pedro Harbor in the early 1860s.

On April 27, 1863, her boiler exploded in San Pedro Bay, the port of Los Angeles, near Wilmington, California, killing 26 people and injuring many others of the 53 or more passengers on board.

Edward Carlson of the 4th California Infantry Regiment remembered:The day after my arrival at Wilmington, I witnessed one of the most distressing accidents that has ever taken place on this coast.

But an instant before they were full of life, each one with some expectations from his contemplated voyage, each one with some cherished hope for the future, and no thought of death; and there I stood alive and well, who, but for a little chilly wind, would have been among them.

One poor fellow seemed as if he had fallen asleep; even his clothing showed not the slightest mark of disturbance, except a new pair of pegged boots, from which the soles and heels were completely blown off.