The Morro Castle burns off the New Jersey coast
on the morning of September 8, 1934.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Wednesday marked the seventy-sixth anniversary of a maritime disaster that the modern world of cruising owes much of its fire-safety features to: the fire and subsequent grounding of the SS Morro Castle.
Built in 1930 for the Ward Line, the Morro Castle was designed to compete on the lucrative New York to Cuba run, carrying passengers, cargo and mail between the two countries. The ship was also popular for another reason: the Ward Line was quick to offer plenty of food and alcohol on its voyages, making the perfect getaway for residents of a country still grappling with Prohibition.
When she set sail on her final voyage on September 1, 1934, the Morro Castle had completed her familiar run hundreds of times. Indeed, the voyage should have been routine and uneventful. A series of bizarre and unfortunate events, some of which had been put in motion months before, would come to a head and result in the deaths of 134 passengers and crew and forever change maritime regulations.
While the Ward Line portrayed life aboard its ocean liners as idyllic and serene in brochures and marketing material, the truth - at least as far as crew were concerned - was quite different. Crew morale was low and turnover in key positions was high; despite the fact that jobs were scare during the depression, many employees were unhappy with their rate of pay, which was considered to be low even for the time. Some though the Ward Line was taking advantage of the situation, an "employer's market" if there ever was one.
Additionally, one crew member - a radio operator named George White Rogers - was making a bit of a name for himself. The tall, heavyset Rogers seemed to be an amiable fellow, but was prone to black moods. Most crew, however, preferred him to his assistant, George Alagana.
Alagana had raised the ire of both officers aboard the ship and the management of the Ward Line by attempting to organize a strike against the line. Outspoken and brash, Alagana quickly faced the wrath of both the line and Morro Castle's Master, Captain Robert Wilmott, and had already been informed that he would be terminated upon completion of what would be the vessel's last voyage.
The growing unrest amongst his crew only served to make the experienced Captain Wilmott uneasy. In the months leading up to September 1934, he had become suspicious and easily agitated. While he still took meals with his passengers, he was otherwise largely invisible, convinced that someone was out to do harm to his ship - or himself. To his mind, this mystery force had a name: George Alagana. He'd even confided to Alagana's superior, George White Rogers, about his suspicions. While Rogers was supposedly the man's friend, he surprisingly didn't come to his defense. Instead, he poured fuel on the fire by suggesting he'd found two suspicious vials in Alagana's possession.
On the evening of September 7th, the Morro Castle disaster started in earnest even before the first signs of fire had been discovered.
Captain Robert Wilmott was found dead in his stateroom.
The Captain had complained of stomach pains and retired to his cabin, choosing to skip the customary "Captain's Dinner" that was usually held on this night. When the ship's physicians attended to him and confirmed that he was, in fact, deceased due to a heart attack, every officer bumped up one rank. This made former Chief Officer William Warms the Acting Captain of the vessel. Warms knew of the former Captain's suspicions, and was undoubtedly rattled when the old man turned up dead.
It probably never crossed the mind of William Warms that the ship had not had any sort of fire drill on this voyage. On a previous sailing, a passenger had tripped over some equipment on the deck during a similar drill and sued the Ward Line. Since then, the line had been reluctant to conduct safety drills. The new Acting Captain was probably pre-occupied with other things, namely the worsening weather and the enormous responsibility of assuming command of a vessel paralyzed by suspicion.
As midnight passed, William Warms settled into his new role and turned his mind to the next day's arrival in New York. That future, however, would come to an abrupt halt at 2:50am, when the first whiffs of smoke were detected coming from a locker in the ship's first-class writing room on B-Deck.
The fire spread quickly, enabled by crew members not sure of the chain of command or their exact duties. Instead of manning the hoses, many went up to inform the bridge and in the process, lost precious minutes. When fire hoses were finally turned on the inferno, many were surprised to find the water pressure had dropped dramatically. Had they done fire drills, the crew would have known the ship was designed to operate a maximum of six hoses at one time. Additional hoses simply decreased water pressure.
Paralyzed by indecision, Captain Warms chose first to beach his ship, then abandoned that task as launching the lifeboats became more serious. This was perhaps his most fatal mistake. By steaming for shore, the high winds fanned the flames that were by now shooting high above the boat deck, spreading the fire to other sections of the ship. As many lifeboats on the ship's deck were unlaunchable, and with decking growing hotter by the minute, many took refuge on the ship's fantail stern. As the situation became more critical, and with almost no official information or direction from the officers or crew of the Morro Castle, many passengers donned lifejackets, and jumped.
Directly above the still-turning screws.
If the rotating screws didn't get passengers, many were somewhat ironically killed by their own lifesaving equipment when they were knocked out by their lifejackets as a result of not holding the top down as they entered the water. This slammed into their heads as they hit the water, killing them instantly or leaving them at the mercy of the enormous, cold swells that had developed.
When all was said and done, the ship had run aground off Asbury Park, New Jersey. One hundred thirty four passengers and crew had died, and safety at sea would be changed forever.
As a result of the fire, regulations were completely overhauled. If the RMS Titanic improved safety in lifeboats, Morro Castle re-invented fire safety. Fire doors were made mandatory, as were regular fire drills for crew members, and mandatory lifeboat drills for passengers. Although the ship had fire doors, they were bordered by a wooden frame, which quickly caught and allowed the fire to spread. Fire bells were also aboard Morro Castle; sadly, these also didn't work.
Ship design was also overhauled to include fire detectors in passenger spaces, and to eliminate the more maze-like corridors that littered the ship. But the harshest criticism and penalties were targeted at the crew, who largely abandoned the passengers. Thanks to unrest and suspicion amongst the crew, many adopted - wrongly - an 'every-man for himself' motto.
The fire would lead to the collapse of the Ward Line, and for the first time force the threat of fire at sea to be taken more seriously.
So how did the fire start? The cause has never been conclusively determined, nor has that of the death of Captain Wilmott. However, the fire was most likely set deliberately - and not by whom Wilmott would have suspected.
Initially hailed as a hero for staying at his post, radio operator George White Rogers eventually emerged as a shady, manipulative character with an intimate knowledge of incendiary devices. Exposed for his shady dealings and multiple arrests before 1934, his actions after the fire would further increase suspicion. Years after the disaster, he would attempt to murder a police colleague with an incendiary device. Later, in 1954, he was convicted of killing a couple who lived near him. He died in prison in 1957 without ever directly admitting to the fire, but alluded to the disaster several times.
The next time you see a fire door on a cruise ship, or a smoke detector, low-level lighting strip, or non-combustible interior spaces, remember that your safety owes a debt to the people who perished aboard the Morro Castle. Today's crews are highly trained and strictly regulated, and perform their duties admirably. Ships are built safer, stronger, and more accessible than ever.
All with one goal: your safety and your enjoyment.
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