Fear and Fire Afloat: The Morro Castle Disaster

My grandmother, Athalia Ogden Barker, was a marvelous storyteller, especially when it came to the escapades of family members and their brushes with notable events and personages. Today is the 72nd anniversary of one of these incidents, in which she and her family were eyewitnesses to a marine disaster.  On September 8th, 1934, the Ward Line steamer SS Morro Castle caught fire in heavy seas off the coast on New Jersey.  The Captain had died the evening before of an apparent heart attack and the chain of command broke down.  The heavy varnish on the elegant paneling of this luxury liner fed the flames that started in a closet and spread to the library, and the fire safety features of the ship failed to contain them.  When the charred hulk of the ship finally beached near Asbury Park, upwards of 137 passengers had lost their lives. 

The story of the SS Morro Castle is a tale of needless tragedy, of confusion at sea, of dereliction of duty and suspected arson, but also the story of citizens all along the Jersey shore, my grandmother and her siblings among them, who went out that morning to tend to the injured, recover the drowned, and try to rescue any survivors who had been in the water overnight.   My great Uncle Archie Ogden reportedly put a boat into the surf and tried to reach an exhausted swimmer, but she died before he got to her. 

Though Prohibition had been repealed the previous December, liquor regulations remained tight in many places, and SS Morro Castle was still an opulent booze cruise, capitalizing on the less restrictive and exotic allure of Havana for its wealthy clientele. It was also the height of the Depression, and according to my grandmother several of the stewards drowned after they leaped into the water with their pockets filled with the ship's silver.

The fire amidships isolated many of the passengers in the stern while much of the crew and most of the lifeboats were located closer to the bow.  The most egregious dereliction came from Chief Engineer Eben Abbott - as far as I know no relation to me - who donned his full dress uniform and stepped into a lifeboat with scores of crew and but a single passenger.  Neither the crew nor the passengers knew how to respond to the disaster.  Numbers of people had their necks broken or were knocked unconscious and drowned after hitting the water with improperly fastened cork life vests.  The radio operator, thought at first to be a hero of the disaster, was later suspected of arson, and the cause of the fire remains hotly debated today.

You can read a survivor's account that aired on NOVA in the late 1990s here, and a detailed examination of the disaster on a blog of talented crime and mystery writers at The Naked Truth.  One of the most comprehensive sites on the disaster is at Gare Maritime, which has lists of victims, survivor stories, and analysis of the decadent vessels of the Ward Line, the SS Morro Castle and her sister ships on the Havana run:

"(T)here was a dark undercurrent beneath the glamorous and placid surface presented by Ward Line publicists: rumors abounded regarding drug and alcohol smuggling; illegal alien importation; gun running and gambling. The "Havana Ferryboats" were referred to, not affectionately, by longshoremen and NYC waterfront police as "The Floating Whorehouses" because of the alleged presence of not-on-the-passenger-list call girls who worked the liners during peak convention and charter season. Particularly during her final year, enough of the Morro Castle's misadventures appeared in the press to make the other rumors seem plausible."

According to the Wikipedia entry for this disaster,

"Despite its cause, the fire aboard the SS Morro Castle served to improve fire safety for future ships. The use of fire retardant materials, automatic fire doors, ship-wide fire alarms, the necessity of emergency generators, mandatory crew training in fire fighting procedures, and greater attention to fire drills and procedures resulted directly from the Morro Castle disaster."

My grandfather came courting my grandmother the week after the disaster and to meet her family at Point Pleasant for the first time.  They all went down to the boardwalk at Asbury Park to view the wreck.  It remains, nearly three quarters of a century later, one of the most costly marine disasters along the East Coast of the United States, and families up and down the Jersey shore have letters, scrapbooks and elderly relatives that recall the night that there was fear and fire afloat and days with the smoking hulk of the SS Morro Castle ashore.

  More: (6/7/2007):  A list of the dead and missing from the Morro Castle disaster is available here.

Comments

[Joe]

Does anyone know where i can purchase photos of the morro castle on the beach. I found many pictures to view, but none to buy. thank you. joegray83@gmail.com

[Mark Sceurman]

For Ross Hillesheim:
Please let me know if you'd like to contact the Garner family and I'll forward any info. Feel free to contact me at: editor@weirdnj.com. And a correction: The Garners address is 98 Bay Ave in Bloomfield, NJ 07003, not 93. The Garner property has been there for over 100 years.

[Ross Hillesheim]

Mark Sceurman,

Thank you for the info, that is amazing to hear.

Kindly,
Ross Hillesheim (Valerie's son)

[Clint]

I am searching for a specific newspaper article about the Morro Castle. My grandfather, Hakon or Haakon Karlsen is in the article and described as having "eyes of granite blue." He helped rescue people. Please email me if you have any suggestions. clintkarlsen@mac.com

[Mark Sceurman]

This is a comment for Valerie Hillesheim regarding her great uncle Robert Garner. He lived at 93 Bay Ave in Bloomfield, NJ, and the Garner relatives still live there today. The garners have been friends of mine for years, and I remember when I was small, someone had come to the house to tell the story of what had happened to him.I don't remember all the details, but he had to abandon the ship when there was no hope, and he swam four miles onto the NJ shore where he collapsed with a heart attack on the beach. This story was told to me over 40 years ago, so that was really all I can remember.

[Tim Abbott]

There is a new maritime museum in Beach Haven, NJ with an entire room and exhibit dedicated to the Morro Castle disaster.

Museum of NJ Maritime History - (609) 492-0202 - 528 Dock Rd, Beach Haven, NJ

http://www.museumofnjmh.com/

[Franz arango]

I'm a direct disentant to Franz Hoed De Beche,He did not survive..... Any Photos or information would be helpful. My dad just recently passed. I am attempting to incoporate Morro Castle tragedy in a book that my dad and I were trying to complete.It's in my hands now.

Best regards,

Franz A Arango
farango@vivogroup.net

[Valerie Hillesheim]

My great uncle, Robert Garner was a first time seamen on the Morro Castle. I would like to see the crew list. Is it available?
Thank you.

[Sandi Lee Craig]

I was looking through some old family photos and found 5 of this ship while she was beached on the Jersey shore. Thanks for the stories that bring the photos into relevance! Would share with anyone who would like,

[GreenmanTim]

How, generous, Bud. I'd be delighted with whatever you have to share. I've responded to your e-mail address with mailing details.