FIRES AT SEA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 214, 10 September 1934, Page 8

FIRES AT SEA.

FORMER TRAGEDIES.! j TWO RECENT INSTANCES, j RAPID SPREAD OF FLAMES.! Although the burning at sea of the American luxury liner Morro Castle,' with the loss of nearly 200 lives, as reported in to-day's cable news, is the greatest horror of its kind for many years, it is unfortunately not the first instance of a modern ship being overwhelmed by a fire which resulted in a heavy death roll. Two years ago the French liner Georges Pliilippar caught fire off Cape Gardafui, and 54 passengers were lost, and in January of last year the 42,000-ton L'Atlantique, another of France's finest passenger liners, was destroyed in the English Channel with the loss of twelve members of her crew. Fire at sea has always been the shipmaster's greatest dread, and its prevention and suppression have been the subject of untiring study by ship designers of all nations. The chief factor that makes a fire at sea so much to be dreaded is the rapidity with which the flames usually spread. Within the hull of a ship is contained a vast quantity of highly inflammable material and within a few minutes hundreds of people may become trapped. The numerous passages and alleyways with which the inside of a ship is'- riddled form tunnels along which flames lick their way with startling rapidity. The spread of a fire may be checked by the closing of watertight doors, but these are only installed in the lower part of the hull, and not on the upper decks where there is always any amount of fuel for the flames. Almost invariably when a ship is at sea there is a breeze blowing and this adds materially to the rapid progress of the fire. Georges Philippar Disaster. The tragedy which overcame the Morro Castle on Saturday is similar in several respects to that which resulted in the loss of 54 passengers on the Georges Philippar on May 10, 1932. Like that on the American ship, the fire was discovered at 2 o'clock in the morning, when most of the 707 persons on board were in bed. The first alarm was given when a passenger reported that a cabin was on fire, and although the fire-fight-ing appliances were at once brought into play the flames spread quickly. The ship was manoeuvred so that the wind was behind her, and the passengers were ordered to their stations, as it was feared that the lifeboats would become inaccessible. The wireless apparatus and the auxiliary generator on the upper deck caught fire almost immediately, although some distance away from the main seat of the fire on D deck. Some of the passengers were trapped in their cabins and those who did not throw themselves into the sea were asphyxiated. Commendable orderliness was observed in abandoning the burning liner, women and children being sent away first and male passengers next, with the crew in the following boats, and the officers last of all. In a statement after the fire, the master, Captain Vicq, said that if the rapid spread of the flames had not claimed its victims at the outset he could' have saved everyone. The passengers, he said, showed great coolness, and the officers and crew an admirable devotion to duty, the master himself being the last to leave. The wreck, which carried gold and silver bars to the value of £30,000, subsequently sank at a point 145 miles north-north-east of Cape Gardafui.

The committee of investigation which inquired into the fire on the Georges Philippar found that the disaster was caused by a defect in the electrical circuit, and highly praised the master for liis conduct. Tragedy Due to Malevolence. Sensational circumstances attached to the fire which destroyed the French liner L'Atlantique on January 4, 1933. A vessel of nearly 41,000 tons, the L'Atlantique was on her way to Havre to undergo overhaul, and fortunately was carrying no passengers. A plucky fight was made to stay the progress of the flames, but without result, the- ship being abandoned off the Caskets, in the English Channel. At first it was thought that all of her crew of 228 had been saved, but it was subsequently discovered that 12 had perished on the ship. The fire was discovered at 3.30 a.m., and the spread of the flames to the wireless cabin prevented the , sending of S.O.S. messages. The engineers at the shipyard at St. Nazaire were amazed at the rapidity with which the fire spread, as the ship had been installed with every known precautionary device, while the chief engineer of the vessel declared that the precautions were so complete that a fire was impossible unless deliberately caused. The commission of inquiry into the fire on the L'Atlantique found that the outbreak was due to malevolence. The report caused a sensation in French shipping circles, although the master, Capt. Schoofs, said that he was not surprised at the finding in view of the fact that the fire had started in two separate cabins. The inquiry revealed that after the ■ murder at Bordeaux of a washerwoman by two Annamite seamen, practically all the remaining Annamites among the liner's crew were dismissed. It was alleged that the few Annamites who remained on the ship deliberately set fire to her. Sailing Ship Holocaust. Sixty years ago, on November 17, 1874, the emigrant ship Cospatrick {1220 tons), bound from London to Auckland, was burned oil the Cape of Good Hope with the loss of 470_ lives. The fire broke out at midnight in the forepart of the ship and quickly ran aft. Only two of the lifeboats that were lowered kept afloat, and one of these was never heard of after a gale which sprang up four days after the ship had been abandoned. The port lifeboat, with 41 men on board, stayed near to the burning ship until she sank four days, later, after the master, Captain Elmsley, realising that his fight was hopeless, had thrown his wife and small son into the sea and had jumped in after them. The lifeboat drifted about for some days and was then picked up by the British Sceptre. All but five of the 41 men in the boat died of hunger, thirst, or exposure before resent) came, and two of the five still alive when the boat was picked' up died shortly afterwards. The second mate, the quartermaster, and a lad were tne only three to survive the holocaust. A still more awful tragedy occurred in the East River, New York, »ih June. 100-1, when the excursion steamer General Sloeuin was destroyed by fire with the loss of nearly 1000 people, ' mostly women and childreu.