Appalling Disaster.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 10 September 1934, Page 2

Appalling Disaster.

Received Sunday, 7 p.m. NEW YORK, Sept. 8. A message from Spring Lake (New Jersey) states tiiat the Ward liner Morro Castle was burned at sea eight miles off the coast of New Jersey early on Saturday, and it is believed that 200 of the 318 passengers and 240 of the' crew perished. A wireless message to Coastguard headquarters at Washington at 9.45 a.m., Eastern Standard Time, from the cutter Tampa reported she was standing by the flaming Morro Castle, preparing to attempt the rescue of a number of the passengers who were grouped on the forecastle deck. The Tampa, in a later wireless message, stated that 260 persons out of the total of 503 aboard the Morro Castle were accounted for as being alive. It is reported that a bolt of lightning struck an oil tank in the Morro Castle, and that fire broke out so quickly, the survivors stated, that there was little time even to spread the alarm to the sleeping passengers. . So far as survivors who arrived at Sprifig Lake could see, only six lifeboats were, able to leave the ship, most of them containing members of the crew. The catastrophe occurred shortly after 3 a.m., Eastern Standard Time. A brief wireless SOS, “Morro Castle on fire 20 miles south of Scotland light; fire near wireless room,” was all the word that came crackling through the night. Captain Robert R. Willmott, who was in command of the ship, suffered a heart attack on Friday night, dying only a few hours before the tragedy, at the time of which the ship was under the command of the chief officer, Mr. W. F. Warms.

in which more than 200 are believed to have lost their lives, started in the library in the forepart of the ship, and that she was not struck by lightning. Later 60 bodies were washed ashore. The missing are estimated at 133, but a true compilation of the dead will probably not be known for hours, due to the widespread shore points of rescue. The skipper of the rescue craft Diana said, after bringing in 12 bodies, that he had counted three sharks in the water where survivors were struggling. Received Sunday, 7.25 p.m. NEW YORK, Sept. 8. A few minutes after 3 a.m. the Morro Castle flashed an SOS and the hre signal. Within an hour four ocean vessels and a score of small craft from land were speeding to the rescue in a dawn made cold grey by driving rain. Aeroplanes joined in the search with the rescuers.

Although due to dock in New York four hours later, a few merrymakers were still in the cocktail bars. The majority, however, were asleep after an evening’s gaiety. Numerous others were suffering from seasickness from two days’ bad weather. Starting in the middle of the vessel, the fire spread to both the port and starboard sides and upward, making the boat deck, where the lifeboats swung out, almost untenable. Only a few boats were successfully launched, apparently none with capacity loads. The rest of the passengers were obliged to leap into the sea or burn to death or suffocate from the acrid fumes. Some were equipped with lifebelts, but others were too panic-stricken to find theirs. By dawn the Furness liner Monarch, the Bermuda freighter Andrea, and the Luchenbach liners President Cleveland and the City of Savannah wore standing by, with lifeboats launched for the frantic and pathetic work of picking up survivors and corpses. The Monarch brought 71 survivors, several seriously injured, into New York, the City of Savannah 65 and the Andrea 21. The President of Cleveland was too late to save any. Meanwhile a number of coastguard cutters and dozens of small craft, patrolling the area, took many survivors into nearby New Jersey summer resorts. At least five persons, including a married couple, swam the eight miles to shore in a heavy swell. In several cases, living but exhausted persons were found clutching the dead bodies of relatives and friends, and the rescuers had to pry them loose. Throughout the day and into the night National Guard soldiers and the police were patrolling the beach to reclaim bodies being washed in. As the day advanced and word spread of the- disaster, the New Jersey coastline for miles presented an almost indescribable sight. The board-walk promenade joining the fashionable summer resorts of Deal, Asbury, Ocean Grove and Spring Lake was lined with anxious relatives and friends and curious thousands who were waiting in driving rain for the rescue ships’ return and a possible sight of the survivors or corpses as they rolled in in the surf. In miserable weather the highways from New York, Philadelphia and interior points became one great traffic jam and Army lorries were pressed into use to remove injured who were unable to move.

Coastguard craft along the New Jersey coast put out immediately in a rough sea for the scene, and liners in the vicinity turned about and raced to the place, which was marked by a ball of fire through thick weather. The s.s. Andrew F. Luckenbach was first to reach the spot and reported "by wireless that she had picked up some survivors. The lifeboats were landed at Spring Lake and several of the occupants were hurried to hospitals. The Morro Castle was returning from an eight-day cruise to Havana. Among the passengers when she left New York on September 1 were 100 members of the Concordia Singing Society, of New York. All but 60 of the passengers were tourists. More than 100 survivors, passengers and crew, landed at Seagirt shortly after dawn. All were in Morro Castle lifeboats. Lifeboats remained near the burning ship for nearly half-an-hour, but no persons were seen in the sea. A hurricane was whipping the Atlantic, and north-east gale warnings have been posted along the coast. Where the Morro Castle caught fire the sea was not especially heavy, however, though the crew of the lifeboats found it heavy G'oino' nullinir eight miles to the Jersey shore. The lifeboats have a capacity of 70 persons, including their crews, but the six known to have been launched were not filled to capacity. One left with only 12 persons, including its crew. Rain boat down in torrents as the wind gained force and, despite poor visibility, the ship ablaze could be seen plainly from the shore. It was believed that she would sink • no one could remain long aboard her and live. Whether Chief Officer Warms escaped was not known.

Special railways were chartered to New York and Philadelphia as the rescue ships started to return, and police and fire stations were converted into emergency hospitals and morgues. The frantic efforts of the survivors to find relatives from whom they were separated, and others, to identify the dead, added to the confusion. By evening matters were better organised, with the uninjured, slightly injured and the survivors removed and the seriously injured placed in regular hospitals. The* dead were concentrated in the regular morgues. Tugs attempted to tow the burning hulk to New York, but the lines broke and the vessel was beached at Asbury shortly after dark. Chief Officer Warms and 14 of the crew remained until late in the, afternoon, seeking a refuge from the flames and the in-

Reports indicated that between 150 and 200 survivors landed, but there may have been some duplication in the count. One survivor said he believed most of the passengers and crew lost their lives. One sailor said all midships was ablaze when the alarm was sounded and it was impossible to go through the aisles to arouse the passengers. Sail ora ran. round the decks, smashing cabin windows to awaken the sleepers. Six boats were launched on his side; but he knew nothing of what had occurred' on the other side. From the shore two rescue ships wei’o seen standing by until the fog closed in. Six members of the crew said that the fire,

Luxury Liner on Fire. Probably Over 200 Lives Lost. Gallant Rescue Work in the Dark. One of the greatest tragedies of recent marin e history occurred eight miles off the coast of New Jersey in the early hours of Saturday, when, wit hi the burning of the luxury liner Morro Castle, probably 200 persons— perhaps several score more—were burned to death or drowned. The Morro Castle, a vessel of 11,520 tons and 518 feet in length, costing 4,800,000 dollars, was completing a Labour Day cruise from New York to Havana when, at 3 o’clock in the morning, a fire, which is as yet of undetermined origin, broke out. The craft was then eight miles off Asbury Park (New Jersey) and less than 25 miles from the safety of New York harbour. Within a few minutes the liner was a raging inferno, with the panic-stricken passengers jumping overboard for their lives. Many perished in their cabins, cut off from exit by flames. Only a few lifeboats were successfully launched, while four ocean vessels and a score of small craft rushed to the rescue. Of the passengers an d crew, numbering between 500 and 600, from 250 to 350 were saved.

tense heat at the extreme stern, Finally they were removed by a Coastguard cutter. The first reports that the flames started by a lightning’ bolt to the oil tanks were quickly disproved. Rumours that the blaze was of incendiary origin were circulated and will be thoroughly investigated. Officials of the Ward Line, operators of the Morro Castle, scouted reports of passible sabotage, but recalled that dock workers in Havana had been staging bloody strikes in recent months, and considered it possible that a time bomb might have been planted. . ■ One of the surviving officers added credence, stating that the flames seemed to start in several places instantaneously. Another theory is that a member of some gay party carelessly flicked a cigarette in the lounge. Received Sunday, 7.30 p.m. NEW YORK, Sept. 8. Still aflame and the superstructure a mass of wreckage, the hull of the seared luxurious Morro Castle was towed towards the shore on Saturday night by the Coastguard cutter Tampa and was beached near Asbury Park. A list of the survivors, compiled at the Ward Line offices, showed that 333 were rescued and 225 not accounted for, but New Jersey private homes may hold many not reported. Other checks made in New York and Now Jersey coast towns indicated that the deaths might run as low as 130. National Guard headquarters at Seagirt, New'’Jersey, however, said that 171 bodies were reported in various communities. The cause of the death of Captain Robert Willmott, who was stricken on the bridge - before the fire broke out, was acute indigestion. His body lay in his quarters aft of the control room, his ship providing a funeral . pyre. Captain W. F. Warms, the chief officer, who assumed command with a few of his aides, and the crew that stayed aboard, abandoned the vessel after the cutter had her securely in tow in mountainous waves and .boarded the Tampa. Officials of the Federal Government and the steamship line have opened "investigations. Many of the survivors agreed that the fire originated in the ship’s library. Some said that lightning had struck the liner. Reports from Havana that it might have been sabotage by striking dock workers were quickly denied, both by Havana officials and officials of the line.

Most of those who made the Jersey shore in lifeboats were members of the crew. They said they repeatedly called for passengers to brave the flames to the upper deck, and were finally forced to lower the boats with what few passengers were aboard after the flames had started burning through the dayit ropes. Some of the survivors who were picked up from the dark and churning waters severely criticised the manner of the crew, stating; “They never turned a hand to help us.” / There are many tales of tragedy. Mothers torn from children and wives and husbands separated. Governor A. Harry Moore, of New Jersey, who was in one of the ’planes, said: “I’ll never forget the face of one man peering at me from the sea as he struggled for his life. I could see that many of those in the water had their lifebelts improperly adjusted.” Many bodies floated ashore, while several persons swam ashore with the aid of lifebelts. The search continued on Saturday night while a north-easter pounded the shore and rain fell in sheets through the fog. The Morro Castle cost 4,800,000 dollars to build. As darkness descended on the New Jersey coast to-night it seemed inevitable that at least 200, perhaps several score more, had perished in the' disaster. A total of 186 bodies were lodged in temporary morgues along the New Jersey coast resorts. An indefinite number of 558 passengers and crew are still missing. The estimates of those saved are believed at between 250 and 350, as confusion prevented a definite cheek. In any event it is one of the greatest tragedies of recent American marine his r tory, the origin of which has not yet been, determined.