The mysterious tragedy of the passenger ship SS Morro Castle. The Morro Castle Mystery - Other Vessels

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page 1 In the world history of navigation, the tragic events associated with the fire on the American cruise ship Morro Castle in September 1934 stand apart. Among the disasters passenger ships
It cannot be said that the history of Morro Castle was not known to the residents of the Soviet Union. An emotional, albeit very biased article about the tragedy of this ship was published in the popular magazine “Technology for Youth”; this liner was talked about in shipbuilding institutes, citing as an example of all sorts of engineering miscalculations and erroneous actions of the crew in an emergency. However, as we will see from what follows, such accusations are not entirely correct, and the picture of the tragedy itself in its “Soviet version” is biased and does not correspond much to reality. Soviet Agitprop, exposing the “kingdom of the almighty dollar,” solved its ideological problems, as always, cynically and rather clumsily.
Laid down in January 1929 at a shipyard in the American city of Newport News, the Morro Castle, like its twin Oriente, symbolized a real breakthrough in the field of passenger shipbuilding. The general designer of both ships, Theodore Ferris, based their project on a truly revolutionary concept - all passengers had to have cabins with portholes. If previously, even on the most luxurious liners, hundreds of “third class” passengers were forced to huddle in wretched multi-seat cells with a smaller area than a railway compartment and, moreover, below the waterline, then according to the concept of Theodore Ferris, all passenger cabins of the new ships were moved to the surface. This was an unprecedented step forward in the world cruise shipbuilding industry. The very concept of “class” has now largely lost its meaning - instead of the classes “luxury”, “first”, “second”, “third” and “no class”, at “Morro Castle” and “Orient” there were only two - “first” and "tourist". The difference between them was limited only to the area of the premises, while the equipment of the cabins was almost identical. On the one hand, the ships did not have the flashy luxury of “luxury” rooms, and on the other, the shameful wretchedness of the “third” class disappeared. The passenger cabins were designed in the minimalist style characteristic of the interior design of the 20s. last century, the furniture was comfortable, functional, white color prevailed in the design of passenger premises. Some first class cabins had baths, some did not. Although the American press immediately dubbed both ships “millionaires’ yachts,” such a name was hardly fair - “Morro Castle” and “Oriente” turned out to be very democratic, balanced in their accessibility to the entire range of services offered, convenient and comfortable. All the attributes of a glamorous life on a cruise - a gym, a swimming pool, a mini golf course, restaurants, bars and dance halls on three decks - were equally available to all passengers. A billionaire and an ordinary stenographer could meet on the same dance floor. Moreover, they could even have cabins on the same deck.

"Morro Castle" at the moment of launching. A very good photograph that allows you to see the relative position of the passenger decks: “A” (also known as the boat deck), “B” (the promenade deck, so named due to the presence of glazed galleries on both sides), “C” and “D” with developed balconies in the aft parts. Below Deck there were three more decks, one of which (E Deck) contained a small number of the cheapest passenger cabins. The “passenger” and “service” zones of the ship were strictly demarcated; mutual passages from one zone to another were prohibited and were possible only with the approval of senior officers who had the keys to the corresponding doors. About this design feature We will still have to talk about “Morro Castle” - it is very important for a correct understanding of the tragic events that occurred on board the ship in the fall of 1934.

With a length of 155 m and a displacement of 11,520 tons, the Morro Castle developed a speed of 20 knots (37-38 km/h). The ship was not originally conceived as a transatlantic liner, and therefore it did not need to achieve high speed at all. "Morro Castle" was to be operated on Caribbean routes, the average duration of which did not exceed a week. The ship had the most advanced turbo-electric propulsion system for that time: turbogenerators powered by boilers generated voltage that powered the electric motors that directly rotated the propeller shafts. This scheme was considered economical in terms of fuel consumption, significantly improved maneuverability in all modes of propulsion and controllability of the vessel, and at the same time significantly reduced the noise and vibration of the propulsion system at full speed. The latter was especially important from the point of view of passenger convenience.

Photo on the left: a painting depicting "Morro Castle" in the open ocean (the author, unfortunately, is unknown). Photo on the right: "Oriente" - a complete twin of "Morro Castle" - in the parking lot in Havana. An excellent photograph that allows one to judge the size and proportions of the liner. Agree, you can admire such a ship!

The ship's nominal capacity was 489 passengers of both classes and 240 people. teams. "Morro Castle" entered service in August 1930 (only a little over a year and a half after its laying), and its twin "Oriente" - in December of the same year. The owners of both ships were the large American shipping company Ward Line, which existed since 1841.
It was decided to use the ship on the New York-Havana-New York line. Morro Castle set off on its first commercial voyage on August 23, 1930, covering the distance to Havana in 59 hours. This was not a record, the larger Mauritania, for example, once “got to Havana” in less than 50 hours, but we repeat, speed records were not at all the goal of the designers, builders and owners of Morro Castle. The latter was positioned as a new word in the established tradition sea holiday and that is why the interest in the liner was enormous. Upon the arrival of Morro Castle in Havana, representatives of the Ward Line company organized a gala reception, to which not only the passengers of the first flight were invited, but also the top officials of the state, and among them - the President of Cuba Gerardo Machado y Morales.
Tours to Morro Castle very soon became popular among Americans. We will have to look into the reasons for this popularity in this essay - they are not as obvious as one might think at first - but it was officially believed that people were attracted to board the Morro Castle by the comfort and availability of services. The cheapest 6-day tour in a “tourist” class cabin cost only $65, and this, mind you, includes a replenished minibar! A regular "first" class tour cost about twice as much - $125, and a cabin with a bathroom was another $65 more expensive. But the latter was already a full-fledged dwelling with an area of 15 sq.m. By American standards, it was quite inexpensive, especially if you take into account the replenished minibar in each cabin (we must not forget that until December 1933, Prohibition was in effect in the USA, which, however, immediately ended behind the line customs control and did not act on board the ship). Thanks to a reasonable pricing policy, Morro Castle and Oriente survived all the hardships of the Great Depression and declines in consumer activity surprisingly well.

Morro Castle had everything you needed to drink, get a hangover, exercise, have sex... and drink again... and get hungover again. From left to right: dining room in the bow saloon (aka restaurant), Gym, dance floor on deck C (photos from the Ward Line advertising brochure).

The advanced design and modern design of the ships were perfectly combined with excellent seaworthiness. The latter were especially pronounced during the famous storm in mid-September 1933, during which the Morro Castle encountered a giant rogue wave about 20 m high. Such waves are very rare and for a long time stories about them were perceived only as sea stories, causing skepticism even among experienced sailors. Nevertheless, such anomalous waves do exist, and an encounter with a rogue wave can destroy even very capital ship(nowadays, space satellites are involved in their timely detection, capable of scanning large areas of the sea surface and performing the necessary selection automatically). On September 16, 1933, a rogue wave hit the port side of the Morro Castle, went over it and went further into the ocean, tearing off the bow mast with the radio antenna. The wave's impact broke part of the glazing on the promenade deck and several hundred tons of water entered the ship. In the passenger cabins on decks B and C, the water was ankle-deep; their occupants numbered about 140 people. In search of a dry place, we gathered in the aft saloon. The cheerfulness and calm of the tourists was maintained by one of the passengers, Gwendolyn Taylor, who played classical works on the piano for long hours. Gwendolyn's self-control was especially noted by the ship's captain, Robert Wilmott, who told reporters about the events on the ship during the storm. Wilmott himself remained on the bridge for more than three days, until the Morro Castle passed the storm zone. Although the storm delayed the ship's arrival from the cruise for two days and caused some damage to it, it had to be recognized that the Morro Castle successfully passed the test of the elements and demonstrated excellent strength and buoyancy.
This September storm did a very good job for the image of the Ward Line company, whose representatives could now advertise their cruises not only as exotic and romantic, but also completely safe.
In general, to summarize a short excursion In the history of the creation and operation of the Morro Castle and its twin, the Oriente, we can say that these ships were in demand and brought good profits to their owners.

This continued until September 7, 1934, when tragic events claimed the lives of dozens of people and forever secured Morro Castle’s place in world history. maritime disasters. That day the ship was en route from Havana to New York. The flight - the 174th in a row - was safely approaching its end, which was supposed to follow in the early morning of September 8.
On the evening of September 7, the ship's captain, Robert Wilmott, who had commanded the liner since its construction, did not come out for dinner. It must be said that the tradition of the Ward Line company ordered ship captains to invite the most famous or interesting passengers to their table - in the opinion of the management, this strengthened the company’s reputation as democratic and attentive to customer requests. On the evening of September 7, for the last dinner before arriving in New York, the newlyweds Sydney and Dolly McTigue were invited to the captain's table, but the captain's place remained unoccupied - Wilmott pleaded ill and did not leave the cabin.

Newlyweds Sydney and Dolly McTiggy, returning from their wedding trip, were supposed to have dinner at the captain's table on the evening of September 7, 1934. However, they never saw the captain. The story of the McTiggy couple aroused considerable interest among newspapermen for two reasons - because of their happy ending and the newlyweds’ possible awareness of the hidden motive behind the captain’s actions. However, hopes for the latter were not justified; Sydney and Dolly had no idea what exactly and why it happened to Captain Wilmott.

At 20:45, the officer of the watch, Howard Hanson, called the captain in his cabin and asked if he would like dinner to be brought to him. Wilmott refused and, as it turned out, in turn called the ship's doctor, Dewitt Van Zile. His request, although intimate, was still quite trivial - Wilmott asked the doctor to prepare a laxative enema. The captain suffered from constipation and Van Zyl knew better than anyone how to help him. After about 10-15 minutes, the steward went to the captain's cabin with an enema, but no one opened it for him. This caused bewilderment and some confusion, the steward turned to the watchman and at 21:12 Howard Hanson, in the presence of Chief Officer William Warms, unlocked the captain's cabin door with spare keys. Those who entered were greeted with a highly unpleasant sight - the captain was lying in the bathroom with a blue face and showed no signs of life. His trousers and underpants dropped to his ankles indicated his intention to sit on the toilet, located right next to the bathroom, but apparently, having lost his balance, the captain fell over the side of the bathroom and landed his head on its cast-iron rim. It was difficult to determine the extent of his injury by eye, but it seemed that he was no longer breathing.
The ship's doctor was immediately called to the cabin. Dr. Van Zyl quickly established that medical care There is no one to help - Wilmott is dead. According to the ship's doctor, the cause of death was a seizure attack. The doctor could not say how serious the injury could have been when the captain fell into the bathtub and whether it could have influenced the onset of death - this required examining the corpse in the morgue and taking x-rays. While transferring the body from the bathroom to the bed, Worms and Hanson independently noticed the strange bluish color of the captain’s face; Hanson subsequently expressed what he saw very figuratively: “the face turned black before our eyes.” The sight of the corpse seemed so strange to those present that Hanson asked the doctor whether the death was caused by poisoning? Van Zyl replied that similar symptoms are observed in people who die from acute heart failure or heart attack and he does not see anything similar to poisoning. However, the doctor agreed that the death of the 55-year-old captain requires a special investigation and there is work for the coroner. However, there were only a few hours left before arriving in New York, and there both a coroner and a forensic doctor could board the Morro Castle.
While the officers were busy in the captain's cabin (in addition to carrying the corpse, they also tidied up the deceased's clothes), the ship's chief engineer, Eban Abbot, appeared on the threshold. He still knew nothing about the death of Captain Wilmott, the purpose of his visit was purely business - one of the boilers of the main power plant was malfunctioning and the captain’s permission was required to turn it off. William Worms, as the one who took command of the ship, allowed Abbott to turn off the boiler and, to compensate for the drop in power (and as a result, the decrease in speed), ordered the water pressure for household consumers to be reduced. Now no one at Morro Castle could take a shower; the water pressure was barely enough for it to flow in a thin stream.
This was the new captain's first order. As we will see from what follows, it had fatal consequences...
Finally, all the officers present in the captain's cabin, as well as the doctor and steward, left it. This happened at about 21:30, perhaps a little later.
However, people did not leave. For a short time they moved to the cabin of senior officer William Warms, located next to the captain's. The steward served whiskey, those present drank to the repose of the deceased, each said a few words that he considered appropriate for the moment. Everyone was struck by Dr. Van Zyl's phrase, uttered with a strange smile that in no way suited the tragic moment. The ship's doctor expressed himself surprisingly frivolously and even cynically, saying something like: "Who will be next?" This moment was subsequently recalled independently of each other by everyone who heard the doctor - what was said sounded painfully strange and ominous. Van Zyl's remark acquired a special meaning in the context of his own imminent death, which was of a rather unusual nature, which we will have to talk about later.
After some time, the ship's broadcast announced the sudden death of Captain Wilmott, followed by an appeal to passengers, as a sign of respect for the deceased, to refrain from fun and entertainment that evening. In bars and restaurants on all decks, the music stopped, and service personnel began to usher out customers. Usually, the last day of the cruise was always the craziest - no one went to bed, people were having the last time as best they could. Therefore, not everyone obeyed the request to remain silent. Although bars and restaurants were closed, groups of passengers with bottles of rum and whiskey in their hands settled into chairs and sun loungers in the promenade galleries along both sides of Deck B, where they continued to drink. The stewards kept order and tried to reason with the loudest tourists, but this did not always work. Even the increasingly rough ocean and seasickness couldn't stop some of the merrymakers from getting drunk on the last night of the cruise. For others, the last hours of life were passing and, thinking about this, it is difficult to resist the inherently mystical conclusion - disrespect for someone else’s death sometimes predetermines one’s own.

Photo from the advertising brochure of the Ward-line company. On the wide, street-like glassed promenade galleries along both sides of Deck B, sun loungers were placed and passengers could admire the view of the ocean. You could place an order and stewards from a nearby bar would bring drinks. And it wasn't always milkshakes...

From the moment the captain’s death was confirmed, his assistant, senior officer William Worms, became the main person on the ship. Professionally, this man was hardly inferior in any way to the deceased captain. Worms had 4 years more maritime experience than Wilmott, and in addition, was the holder of a New York port pilot certificate, which the deceased did not have. Thanks to this, Morro Castle could enter New York Harbor without having to stand in line waiting for a pilot. William Warms had already been the captain of various ships several times, but each time he was removed from his position at the request of the ship inspection department of the US Department of Commerce for gross violations of ship operation and safety regulations. Worms came to Morro Castle less than a year ago, just after the famous storm described above. His very first actions in the role of chief mate provoked a serious scandal, but this specific topic will have to be considered in more detail elsewhere.
Worms reacted very responsibly to the burden that had fallen on his shoulders and the first thing he did was call the purser to the bridge. He dictated to him an order for his own assumption of the position of captain and ordered him to make appropriate changes to the ship's list (a summary list of all persons on board the ship, indicating their position). After this, the newly made captain composed a radiogram to the Ward Line head office, in which he reported on the events of the last hours and the assumption of duties as captain of the ship. The radiogram was immediately broadcast.
Worms decided not to go to bed at all on the night of September 7-8, especially since the wind was getting stronger and reached a speed of 15 m/s by midnight, and in the New York area the liner could fall into the band of a force 8 storm. Particular attention should be paid to this decision of William Warms, since very soon accusations of almost all mortal sins will fall on this man’s head.
Somewhat later - at 2 o'clock in the morning - the captain released Howard Hanson from the bridge; the latter's watch had long ended, but the excitement associated with the events of the last hours still did not allow the officer to go to bed. Worms told him to rest, admonishing him with the words: “If you really can’t sleep, you can go around the promenade deck and see if everyone there has calmed down.” Hanson went on a detour... In a strange twist of fate, this man found himself at the very epicenter of the ominous events that took place on board the ship, so his memories of the events of that night are especially important.
So, at about 02:15, Howard left the pilothouse and moved along the port side promenade deck aft. Overboard the rain was lashing and the wind was howling, but it was warm and dry here - huge windows covered the deck, wide as a street passage. At its far end, a company was having fun, skimping on the declared mourning - several men and women were drinking alcohol and laughing loudly. Not far from them were several stewards who observed, not without condemnation, the actions of the revelers, but did not interfere with what was happening. Satisfied that the situation was under control and the drunks were being properly supervised, Howard walked past the group and found himself at the very end of the promenade deck, after which he turned left and found himself inside the superstructure on Deck B.
There he smelled burning. The officer quickly determined that the source of the smell was in the so-called. "room for writing materials." This was a special room where passengers could write a “cruise” postcard and put a Morro Castle post office stamp on it. Upon arrival in Havana, the postcard could be sent to any recipient, even to yourself, thus leaving a memory of an exotic voyage for life. It is clear that in the room for writing materials these very writing materials were stored - large packs of writing paper, stacks of postcards, pens, ink, etc. In general, there was a lot of flammable material there. And that's not to mention the chairs, tables, carpet on the floor, wood paneling on the walls and fabric curtains on the two windows.

On Saturday evening, September 8, 1934, many people who were walking and found themselves near the beach in the Asbury recreation park, on the coast of New Jersey, witnessed a tragic sight: the hull of a liner that caught fire was blown aground by a strong wind 30 meters from the beach of the park. .

The news of the tragedy has already spread around New York, and last news, broadcast over the radio, brought the emergency to the attention of thousands of people. The next morning, 350 thousand Americans gathered in Asbury Park, all the roads were clogged with cars. Park owners charged $10 to board the still-smoldering vessel. For lovers thrills they were given respiratory masks, flashlights and fire boots so that they could have the “pleasure” of visiting the burned-out site without risking their lives.

« SS Morro Castle» a cruise ship Ward Line was the latest word in science and technology for its time. Construction of the ship began in January 1929. Already in March 1930 it was launched. It was named after the Morro castle-fortress, located at the entrance to the port of Havana. After that, in May 1930, another liner of the same type touched the water. SS Oriente" Each passenger ship had a length of 155 m and a displacement of 11,520 tons. On board there were luxurious cabins for 489 passengers and more than 500 deck seats. The crew consisted of 240 people. The cost of each ship was estimated at approximately $5 million.

Steamboat " SS Morro Castle" could effortlessly compete with the German liners "Bremen" and "Europe" famous Atlantic Blue Ribbon winners, and its turbo-electric power point easily provided a speed of 20 knots. The company's owners hoped that the new liner would bring them good profits on the so-called “drunk line” New York - Havana. Thousands of Americans suffering under Prohibition headed to carefree Cuba with its cheap rum and easy-to-find women. The famous cabaret “La Tropicanca” and more than three thousand bars in Havana were especially popular. From January 1930 to autumn 1934 passenger ship « SS Morro Castle"operated 173 extra profitable flights to Cuba.

At noon every Saturday, almost a thousand passengers on board left New York Harbor, and the liner headed for Havana. After exactly two days of sailing and 36 hours of stay in a Cuban port, the passenger ship returned to New York. This movement schedule for four years was never disrupted even by the famous West Indies hurricanes.

But what happened on board the passenger ship? SS Morro Castle“And who turned out to be the direct culprit of the tragedy? There is still no reliable answer. On the last voyage, the most experienced captain, Robert Wilmott, commanded the liner. On the evening of September 7, 1934, the ship completed its 174th voyage on the route Havana - New York. Five hours later abeam the lightship Ambrose passenger ship will set a new course and approach the Ward Line pier. But first the captain had to give a traditional banquet for passengers to mark the end of the fun sea travel. But he did not honor the passengers with his presence in the cabin at the captain's table. An hour later, the ship's doctor pronounced him dead from poisoning with an unknown poison. The captain's body was found half-naked in the bathroom. First Officer William Worms took command of the passenger ship. During his 37 years at sea, he rose from cabin boy to captain and was certified as a New York Harbor pilot. Worms decided to remain on the bridge until the passenger ship arrived at the port, since the weather forecast received on the radio indicated that the ship " SS Morro Castle"At the Scotland lighthouse, it will enter the zone of an eight-magnitude storm and will encounter two or three strong squalls from the mainland. At 2 a.m., one of the passengers woke up from a strong smell of burning coming from the ship's library room. He ran to the nearest hydrant, unrolled the hose and unscrewed the valve, but there was no pressure in the line. The former fireman rushed to wake up the sleeping second-class passengers. The corridor of the lower deck was already engulfed in flames. Fire always spreads from bottom to top, but this passenger ship he rushed down almost instantly. People, choking from the smoke, jumped out into the corridors in panic. And when fire alarms sounded on all decks of the liner, it was already too late - the corridors and passages were engulfed in fire. The exits from the cabins were cut off by flames. Passengers who did not have time to leave their cabins found themselves in salons whose windows and portholes overlooked bow liner. The only chance to survive was to break the window and jump onto the deck in front of the ship's superstructure. And people, breaking the thick glass of the square portholes with chairs, jumped down onto the deck.

fire on the passenger ship SS Morro Castle

Steamboat " SS Morro Castle"continued to travel at a speed of 20 knots, and the corridors of the passenger ship turned into a wind tunnel. 20 minutes after the fire started, the fire was roaring throughout the ship. The passenger ship was doomed. For unknown reasons, the automatic fire extinguishing system did not work. Although Captain Warms was immediately notified, he was more concerned about the impending difficulties of mooring in the cramped New York harbor and was confident that the fire would be contained. For the first half hour of the fire, the officer was in a state of some kind of stupor, and only the breakdown of the autopilot forced him to change the course of the ship and turn away from the wind. Worms did not assign any of his assistants to lead the fire, so the passengers themselves tried to extinguish the fire. In a panic, they unrolled their sleeves, opened hydrants and poured water on the smoke. But the flames came - people had to seek salvation. Thus, almost all the fire hydrants remained open, and although the mechanics had already turned on the pumps, there was almost no pressure in the main fire line. There was nothing to put out the fire. Within ten minutes the passenger ship " SS Morro Castle"Changed course several times, described zigzags, until the wind turned it into a giant blazing fire. The captain ordered the SOS signal to be sent only fifteen minutes after he was informed that the fire could not be extinguished. was twenty miles from the Scotland lighthouse and eight miles from the coast. The senior radio operator did not have time to transmit the distress signal to the end, because the spare acid batteries in the radio room exploded, and the cabin was filled with caustic fumes. Choking and almost unconscious, the radio operator managed to once again transmit the coordinates and message about the tragedy at sea.

The next day, September 8, 1934, the central US newspapers came out with special editions. The focus was on the incident with the passenger ship " SS Morro Castle" Eyewitnesses of the disaster wrote that those who sought salvation at the stern of the ship had no chance to leave the liner on boats. Those who managed to escape were those who could look down without fear, where the cold waters of the ocean “waited” ten meters below.

At dawn, a small group of people led by Captain Warms remained on the still smoking passenger ship. To stop the ship from drifting, the starboard anchor was released, and when the US Navy rescue ship Tampa approached the liner, the towing had to be postponed. Only at 13 o'clock, those who remained on the passenger ship were able to saw through the anchor-chain link with a hacksaw. The commander of the rescue ship ordered a cable to be placed on the liner's tank to take the burned ship to New York. But in the evening the weather worsened. Suddenly the tow rope broke and the steamer was abandoned. SS Morro Castle" drifted until it ran aground off the coast of New Jersey, thirty meters from the beach of the Asbury Recreation Park.

photographs of the burned passenger ship SS Morro Castle

Investigation into the death of a passenger ship " SS Morro Castle" was carried out by experts from the US Department of Commerce, who published 12 volumes of the case. The following was established: the first three boats launched from the ship could accommodate more than 200 passengers, but they contained only 103 people, 92 of whom were crew members. The liner left the port of Havana with 318 passengers on board and 231 crew members. Among the 134 dead were 103 passengers.

The newly appointed captain Warms lost his boatmaster's license and received two years in prison. Ward Line President Henry Kabod received a year of probation and paid a $5,000 fine. According to the claims of the victims, the owners of the passenger ship " SS Morro Castle" paid out $890,000. But in this tragic story There were also heroes who saved about 400 people. And, of course, the main character of the events described was radio operator George Rogers. In his honor, the mayors of New York and New Jersey gave lavish banquets, and the US Congress awarded Rogers a gold medal for bravery. In 1936, he left naval service and settled in his hometown, where he was gladly offered the position of head of the radio workshop in the city police department.

Nineteen years later, radio operator Rogers again became the No. 1 sensation. In July 1953, police arrested a former radio operator of a passenger ship on suspicion of the brutal murder of 83-year-old typist William Hummel and his adopted daughter Edith. SS Morro Castle"George Rogers. An American hero ended up in a prison detention cell. After deliberating for 3 hours and 20 minutes, the jury found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The investigation established that Rogers, a former American police officer, is a most dangerous person for society, a murderer, a thief and a swindler. During the investigation, facts suddenly began to emerge that shocked not only the inhabitants of Bayonne, but the whole of America. It turned out that the “national hero” was now credited with poisoning Captain Wilmott and setting the liner on fire. SS Morro Castle».

When analyzing the case, having analyzed a number of circumstances preceding the fire, interviewing witnesses and eyewitnesses, experts recreated the picture of the disaster “ SS Morro Castle" An hour before the passenger ship left Havana, Captain Wilmott, seeing the head of the radio station who was carrying two bottles of some chemicals, ordered him to throw them overboard. The police learned that Wilmott and Rogers had been feuding for a long time. The fact that the captain was poisoned did not raise doubts among experts, although there was no direct evidence, since the corpse was burned during the fire. Experts suggested that Rogers set the ship on fire using time bombs in two or three places. He turned off the automatic fire extinguishing system and released gasoline from the emergency diesel generator tank from the upper to the lower decks. Therefore, the flame spread from top to bottom. He took into account the storage location of the flares, which explained the rapid spread of fire on the boat deck. The arson scheme was thought out professionally and competently. On January 10, 1958, Rogers died in prison from a myocardial infarction. The cause of the fire was never officially established. There are other versions of the disaster: a short circuit in the wiring, spontaneous combustion of chemically treated blankets in the pantry, etc. Regardless of the cause, the fire on board the liner " SS Morro Castle” became the impetus for improving the fire safety of new ships. The use of fire-resistant materials, the appearance of partitions that automatically close in case of fire, mandatory training of the crew for firefighting, and equipping ships with emergency generators.

Memorial to those killed on the SS Morro Castle

September 8, 2009, the 75th anniversary of the disaster " SS Morro Castle"The first and only memorial to the victims, rescuers and survivors was unveiled in Asbury Park, not far from where the passenger ship sank.

UNUSUAL FIRE

He spent his entire life putting out fires. For John Kempff it was a profession. He worked as a firefighter in New York. Over his 63 years, he fought hundreds of times with fire, when cinemas, department stores, and port warehouses burned in his hometown. After 45 years of honest service, spent on night duty, emergency trips into smoke and flames, the New York Firefighters Union awarded Kempf a ticket to the Morro Castle - the safest and most comfortable ship in the world, as stated in the advertising brochure. For the old man, it was a kind of benefit before retiring for a well-deserved retirement.
(At 2:30 a.m. John Kempf woke up from the smell of burning. His professional instinct told him that something was burning somewhere. Having dressed instantly, Kempf jumped out into the corridor. Acrid black smoke hurt his eyes. The ship's library was burning. A metal cabinet , where writing instruments and paper were stored, was engulfed in some strange blue flame, he tore off the carbon dioxide fire extinguisher hanging on the bulkhead, turned off the valve and directed a stream of foam into the slightly open cabinet door.
The flame spluttered, changed color, and rushed out of the closet, scorching the fireman's eyebrows. Kempf threw down the fire extinguisher and, covering his mouth with a handkerchief, rushed to find the nearest hydrant. Near the library, orange flames were breaking through the black curtain of smoke: they were licking the door of the adjacent room. The fireman rolled out the hose and unscrewed the hydrant valve. But instead of a powerful jet, several rusty drops fell onto the rubber track of the corridor... There was no pressure in the line. Cursing, the old man rushed to bang on the cabin doors. He woke up the sleepy inhabitants of the second class. After running a good hundred meters along the corridor, Kempf rushed to the lower deck to go down into the car and tell the mechanics that it was necessary to connect the fire pumps and give pressure to the line. With bewilderment, the veteran of fire battles saw that the corridor of the lower deck was also engulfed in flames. This was contrary to common sense, contrary to the professional experience of firefighting master Kempf. Fire always spreads from bottom to top, but here, on the ship, it almost instantly rushed down...
As time went. The night silence that reigned at Morro Castle was already broken by heartbreaking screams. People, choking from the smoke, fell and went mad with horror. Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the cabins, where the smoke had not yet reached, continued to sleep. And when fire alarms rang across all decks of the liner, it was already too late - the corridors were engulfed in flames. The exit from the cabins was cut off by a fire curtain. Those who managed to run out into the corridor in time got confused in its numerous passages and branches, and in the end the fugitives found themselves squeezed into the salons, the windows and portholes of which overlooked the bow of the liner. The only chance to escape is to break the windows and jump onto the deck in front of the ship's superstructure. Thus, almost all the portholes were knocked out. "Morro Castle" continued to race at twenty knots. The corridors on both sides of the airliner looked like a wind tunnel. In 20 minutes. After the fire started, the flames hummed throughout the ship, like a blowtorch.
John Kemgaf, having never made it through the fire to the engine room, looked at what was happening with detachment. He knew that the ship was doomed...

CATASTROPHE.

Unfortunately, this was not known either on the bridge or in the engine room. For unknown reasons, the vaunted fire detection system and automatic fire extinguishing system did not work. Although Captain Worms was immediately notified of the fire, he had no idea that anything serious could happen. He thought about the upcoming difficulties of mooring in the cramped New York harbor and was quite confident that the fire would be extinguished.
The trial report on the Morro Castle fire, heard in New York, noted that the behavior of Captain Worms and his assistants resembled the actions of tragic actors, embodying panic and confusion. Perhaps Worms was influenced by the death of Captain Robert Wilmott? Five hours before the fire, the captain of the Morro Castle was found half-naked in a bathtub. His uniform jacket was lying on the bedroom carpet. Convulsions convulsed his blue face, his head hung helplessly on his chest. “The captain is dead. “There are clear signs of poisoning with some strong poison,” the doctor stated. “He recently had dinner,” said the steward who served the captain, “about an hour ago I brought a tray with dinner here, but I have not yet had time to remove it. None of our people, except me, dares to come here, but there is no tray...” Yes, it was a strange, unexpected death, and the senior mate had to, according to the regulations, take control of the ship.
It was also strange that Chief Engineer Abbott, called by telephone from his cabin, did not appear on the bridge. They didn’t see him in the engine room either. It turned out that he organized the launch of the lifeboat on the starboard side. Journalists saw him in it (albeit with a broken arm) when a few hours later the boat reached the shore.
For unknown reasons, Worms did not assign any of his assistants to extinguish the fire. The passengers themselves tried to extinguish it. In a panic, they rolled out hoses, opened hydrants and poured water into the smoke. But the fire was advancing and we had to look for salvation. Thus, almost all the hydrants were open, and although the mechanics had already turned on the pumps, there was no pressure in the lines. There was nothing to put out the fire. Meanwhile, from the navigation bridge down through seven decks, Worms, using a machine telegraph, transmitted commands to the mechanics. According to routine, they were entered into the machine log, just as they do now. This is what Captain Worms did, according to the Morro Castle engine room log:

3 hours 10 minutes - full forward with the right car.

3 hours 10.5 minutes - small forward right.

3 hours 13 minutes - full forward left.

3 hours 14 minutes - full forward left.

3 hours 18 minutes - full back right.

3 hours 19 minutes - full forward right.

3 hours 19.5 minutes - middle forward left.

3 hours 21 minutes - middle back right.

For ten minutes, "Morro Castle" constantly changed course, described zigzags, and spun in place. This was enough for the wind to turn the fire into a giant raging bonfire.
Later, one of the Morro Castle mechanics wrote:

“Having been relieved from my watch at midnight, I lay down on the sofa in the junior engineers’ cabin. I was awakened by cries for help. When I woke up, I felt smoke in the cabin. I opened the door and saw that everything around was on fire. Three times I tried to climb up the ladder, and three times I was pulled down by my legs by those who, like animals, fought in the narrow passage leading to the boat deck. On the left side the flames were raging, in my opinion, stronger. For some reason there were a lot of women there. I saw them die in the fire. There was no way to get to them because of the terrible heat from the fire...”

MY RADIE IS ALREADY SMOKING...

As soon as the fire alarm sounded throughout the ship, the ship's third radio operator, Charles Miki, ran to the cabin where the head of the ship's radio station, George Rogers, and his assistant George Alagna lived. Both were fast asleep. Hearing the report of the fire, Rogers said in a calm, firm voice:
- Return to your post immediately. I'll get dressed now and come.
He sent the second radio operator to the bridge to find out the captain's decision regarding broadcasting a distress signal. It has long been the case that sending “SOS” at sea is the prerogative of the ship’s commander, and only he alone has the right to do so.
Rogers sat down next to the switched on transmitter.
About three minutes later Alagna ran into the radio room. “They went crazy there on the bridge. They are fussing and no one wants to listen to me,” he said.
Rogers turned on the receiver. The clear Morse code of the steamship Andrei Lakenbuck asked the coast station: “Do you know anything about the burning ship at Scotland Lighthouse?”
The answer was: “No. We didn’t hear anything.” Rogers put his hand on the key and tapped: “Yes, it’s Morro Castle that’s on fire.” I'm awaiting an order from the bridge to give an "SOS". But there was still no order. Alagna ran to the captain for the second time. Rogers, without waiting for his return, at 3 o'clock. 15 minutes, in order to “clear the air,” he sent an emergency signal - “CQ” and KGOV - radio call signs “Morro Castle”.
After 4 min. after that, the radio lost power and the lights on the ship went out - the diesel generators stopped working. Rogers, without wasting a moment, turned on the emergency transmitter and ordered Alagna:
- Run to the bridge again and do not return without permission to “SOS”1
The flames were already surrounding the radio room, approaching the bridge, shrouded in smoke. Choking from coughing, Alagna shouted in Warms' ear:
- Captain! Listen! What about "SOS"? Rogers is already dying there. The radio room is on fire! He won't last long. What should we do? - Is there still an opportunity to send "SOS"?- asked Worms, without taking his eyes off the crowd of people rushing about on the deck. - Yes!
- So pass it quickly!
This phrase was said by Worms exactly a quarter of an hour after he was informed that the fire could not be extinguished.
Finally, having achieved an answer, Alagna ran to the radio room. And although the control room was located not far from the navigation bridge, he did not have time: tongues of flame blocked the path to the door from all sides. Through the curtain of fire, Alagna shouted into the open porthole of the control room:
- George! Let's SOS! Rogers, covering his face with his left palm, rattled the key.
He did not have time to convey the message to the end - the spare acid batteries exploded. The cabin was filled with acrid fumes. Choking from sulfur fumes and almost losing consciousness, the radio operator found the strength to reach the key again and convey a message about the tragedy that was unfolding at sea.
Exactly at 3 o'clock. 26 min. The radio operator on duty of the nearby English liner Monarch of Bermuda tapped out the message received through the headphones: “CQ “SOS” 20 miles south of the Scotland lighthouse dot I can’t transmit any more dot There’s a flame underneath me dot Give help immediately. "SOS" My radio is already smoking.”
Alagna somehow miraculously made his way into the burning wheelhouse. Rogers was unconscious. When Alagna began to shake him by the shoulders, he said quietly:
- Go to the bridge and ask if the captain has any other orders.
- Are you crazy! Everything is burning! Let's run! - shouted the assistant head of the radio station. It was only when Alagna said that Worms gave the command to abandon ship that Rogers agreed to leave his post. He could not run - his legs were covered with blisters from the burns. Still, Alagna managed to drag Rogers out of the burning radio room.

SCAR OR HERO?

The next day, September 8, 1934, the central newspapers of the United States came out with special editions - the focus was on the events of the past night on board the Morro Castle. Rogers's last radiogram, in bold type, caught my eye. It was to her that four hundred passengers of the “safest ship in the world” owed their salvation. Below the radiogram were interviews received by reporters from those who were the first to reach the shore from the floating hell.
There was also an interview with sailor Leroy Kesley:
“From the boat I saw a terrible sight. The burning ship continued to leave. Its black body was engulfed in orange flames of fire. Women and children, huddled closely together, stood at its stern. A cry reached us, pitiful and full of despair... This cry, similar to the groan of a dying person, will be heard by me until my death. I could only catch one word - “Farewell.”
Many witnesses to the disaster accused Captain Worms and his crew of cowardice. This is what the son of the famous American surgeon Phelps wrote: “I swam under the stern of the ship, holding on to a rope hanging from the side. Paint burned overhead. It bubbled, making some kind of terrible squelching sound. Its falling pieces burned my neck and shoulders. Every now and then in the darkness there were splashes of people falling into the water. Then suddenly I saw a lifeboat. She quickly moved away from the side of the liner. Around her in the darkness, white faces and outstretched hands were visible, and pleas for help were heard. But the boat sailed right over the heads of drowning people. There were only eight or ten sailors in it and one officer with chevrons on his sleeves.” This was a boat, which, as it later turned out, was lowered on the orders of Chief Engineer Abbott, who shamefully abandoned the ship to its fate.
The investigation into the Morro Castle case established that the first three lifeboats lowered from the burning ship could have carried more than 200 passengers. These boats were to be manned by 12 sailors. In fact, there were only 103 people in them, of which 92 were members of the airliner’s crew.
America was shocked by the cowardice, mediocrity and meanness of Worms and Abbott.
134 people were burned alive in the fire, and hundreds of people, having received severe burns, were left deformed for life.
The newly appointed captain of the Morro Castle, Worms, lost his navigational diploma and received two years in prison. Abbott's mechanic's degree was taken away and he was sentenced to four years in prison. For the first time in the history of American shipping, the court sentenced the indirect culprit of the fire, a person who was not on the ship. It turned out to be the vice-president of Ward Line, Henry Kabodu. He received a year of probation and paid a fine of $5,000. The US Senate fined the owners of Morro Castle $10,000. According to the passengers' claims, they paid 890 thousand dollars.
But in this tragic story there were also heroic sailors of the “Monarch of Bermuda”, the steamships “City of Sazana”, and “Andrea Lakenback”, the tugboat “Tampa”, the boat “Paramont”, who saved 415 people. And of course, the main character of the events described was George Rogers. Let's face it, he became the No. 1 sensation and the country's national hero. The mayors of New York and New Jersey gave lavish banquets in his honor. The US Congress awarded Rogers a gold medal for bravery.
In the hero's homeland - in the small town of New Jersey - Bayon - a parade of the state garrison and police did not take place on this occasion. In Hollywood, they began to think about the script for the film “I Will Save You People!” Rogers triumphantly traveled through many states, where he spoke to the American public with stories about the drama “Morro Castle.”
This triumph lasted for more than a year. But, being modest and shy by nature, Rogers apparently grew tired of journalists and filmmakers. In 1936, he left naval service and settled in his hometown. There he was gladly offered the position of head of the radio workshop in the city police department.
This, in fact, could be the end of this story. But...

SECOND SIDE OF THE MEDAL

On March 16, 1938, Rogers was arrested by the police for... deliberately blowing up his close friend, police lieutenant Vicente Doyle, with a homemade bomb.

It turned out that more than once Rogers told Doyle: “Yes, in the world, except me, no one knows and will never know the true cause of the death of Morro Castle.” The liner was destroyed by a fountain pen, which was a bomb...”
The policeman became wary; he remembered the former radio operator’s constant hobbies in chemistry. In the archives of his department, he found an old Rogers case related to various explosions and fires, where the latter appeared as an eyewitness. In turn, Rogers realized that he had been found out. One day, Doyle, who was a passionate hunter, received a package in the mail - a homemade hand warmer. The parcel was accompanied by a letter: “Dear Vicente! This is a hunting heating pad for you. It can work both from a battery and from the mains. To check, turn it on to the network." And Doil turned on the homemade product to the network. The lieutenant's hip was crushed and three fingers on his left hand were torn off.
During the analysis of the case, having analyzed a number of circumstances preceding the fire at Morro Castle, interviewing witnesses, experts recreated the picture of the disaster. An hour before the liner left Havana, Captain Wilmott, seeing the head of the radio station carrying two bottles with some chemicals, ordered him to throw them overboard. The police learned that Wilmott and Rogers had long had their own personal scores. The fact that the captain was poisoned, although his corpse was burned during the fire, did not raise doubts among experts, although there was no direct evidence.
Shipbuilding and chemical experts have made a strong case that Rogers set fire to the ship using time bombs in two or three places. He turned off the automatic fire detection system and released gasoline from the emergency diesel generator tank from the upper deck to the lower ones. That's why the flames spread from top to bottom. He also took into account the storage location of signal flares and rockets. This explained the rapid spread of fire on the boat deck. The arson scheme was thought out professionally, with knowledge of the matter...
The “national hero” went to prison.
The matter became scandalous. The Americans did not want to disgrace themselves to the whole world, and soon, thanks to the efforts of Rogers' influential friends, the matter was hushed up.
Rogers again became the ship's radio operator. After the end of the war, he returned to Bayonne, where he opened a private radio workshop.
Fifteen years have passed. In the hot summer of July 1953, on one of the quiet avenues of the sleepy town of Bayonne, a criminal crime was committed - 83-year-old typesetter William Hummel and his adopted daughter Edith were brutally murdered. Traces of the crime led police detectives to the house next door, where former Morro Castle radio operator George Rogers lived (the motive for the murder was Rogers' $7,500 debt). He again ended up in a prison detention cell. The jury found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to life in prison. During the investigation, facts unexpectedly began to come to light that shocked not only the inhabitants of BayO"Nn, but also all the states. Newspapers published the complete “track record” of the “radio hero” who turned out to be a criminal.
The investigation established that George Rogers is the most dangerous person for society: a pyromaniac, a murderer and a thief. Here are a few excerpts from the biography of the “national hero” compiled by investigators: “He is an abnormal criminal who has committed all sorts of atrocities for 20 years. Endowed with a remarkable mind, he was a brilliant specialist in juggling facts. Despite the long list of crimes, he remained untainted for many years. Since childhood, Rogers read many serious scientific journals. Having an excellent knowledge of chemistry, electricity and radio engineering, he repeatedly experimented with time bombs, all kinds of “infernal machines”, acids and gases.
At the age of 12, he was already brought before the police for lying and theft. In 1914 he was tried for stealing a radio in Auckland and bailed.
After graduating from technical school, Rogers joined the Navy as a radio operator. In 1923, he was fired from service for stealing radio tubes. Rogers repeatedly witnessed large explosions and fires, the causes of which remained unclear. These included the Newport Naval Station bombing in 1920, the great New York Radio Building fire in 1929, and Rogers' own workshop fire in 1935 (for which he received a $1,175 insurance claim)."
And finally, the fire at Morro Castle. The life ending of the “hero”, the arsonist, the pyromaniac, was absolutely ordinary: Rogers died in prison from a heart attack.
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“On September 8, 1934, a fire on the ship Morro Castle killed 137 passengers and crew. The ship was returning from Havana (Cuba) to New York. It was one of the worst maritime disasters in US history."

The Morro Castle, a Ward Line liner, was the latest word in science and technology. Its turboelectric installation provided an economical speed of 25 knots. "Morro Castle" could easily compete with the German liners "Bremen" and "Europe" - winners of the "Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic". The owners of the Ward Line hoped that the new ship would bring them good profits on the so-called “drunk line” New York - Havana. Thousands of Americans, who were burdened by Prohibition, flocked to Cuba with its almost free rum and available women. Particularly popular among them were the famous cabaret “La Tropicana” and three thousand bars scattered throughout Havana.
From January 1930 to the fall of 1934, Morro Castle made 173 super-profitable voyages to Cuba. Every Saturday afternoon, a thousand passengers left New York Harbor. The liner headed for Havana and, after exactly two days of sailing and 36 hours of stay in the Cuban port, returned to New York again. For four years, this schedule of movement was never disrupted even by the famous West Indian hurricanes - the true scourge of navigation in the Caribbean.

On that voyage, the liner was commanded by the most experienced captain of the World Line company, Robert Wilmott, who faithfully served its owners for three decades.
On the evening of September 7, 1934, Morro Castle completed its 174th flight on the route Havana - New York. Five hours later, abeam the lightship Ambrose, he will set a new course and approach the Ward Line pier. But first, the captain had to give a traditional banquet for passengers in honor of the end of a fun voyage.
However, Wilmott did not honor the passengers with his presence in the cabin at the captain's table. “Watchman! Let them announce at the banquet that the captain is not feeling well and offer his sincere apologies. I'll have dinner served in my cabin. Call us when we're abeam Scotland."
These were the last words of Robert Wilmott. An hour later, the ship's doctor De Witt van Zijl confirmed his death from poisoning with some strong poison... The captain was found half-naked in the bath.
The news of the captain's death spread throughout the ship. The music stopped, the laughter and smiles on their faces disappeared. The banquet was canceled, and the passengers began to disperse to their cabins.
The senior mate, William Worms, took over as captain. During the 37 years he spent at sea, he went from cabin boy to captain. In addition, he had a New York Harbor pilot's certificate. Warms decided to remain on the bridge until the ship arrived at the port, since the weather forecast received on the radio indicated that the Morro Castle near the Scotland lighthouse would enter the band of a force eight storm and encounter two or three strong squalls from the mainland.
The ship's clock showed 2:30 a.m. when John Kempf, a 63-year-old firefighter from New York, woke up to the smell of burning. He ran out into the corridor. The ship's library room was on fire. The metal cabinet where writing instruments and paper were stored was engulfed in some strange blue flame. Kempf tore off the carbon dioxide fire extinguisher hanging on the bulkhead, unscrewed the valve and directed a stream of foam into the slightly open closet door. The flames changed color and burst out of the cabinet, scorching the fireman's eyebrows. Then Kempf rushed to the nearest hydrant, unrolled the hose and unscrewed the valve, but there was no pressure in the line. Kempf rushed to wake up the sleeping second class passengers. The lower deck corridor was also engulfed in flames. Fire always spread from bottom to top, but here, on the ship, it almost instantly rushed down...
The silence of the night was suddenly broken by heartbreaking screams. People, choking from the smoke, jumped out into the corridors in panic. Meanwhile, the occupants of the cabins where the smoke had not reached were still sleeping. And when fire alarms rang across all decks of the liner, it was already too late - the corridors and passages were engulfed in flames. The exit from the cabins was cut off by a fire curtain. Those who did not have time to leave their cabins unwittingly found themselves in the salons, the windows and portholes of which overlooked the bow of the liner.
The fire continued to pursue those who were driven into the salons of decks “A”, “B” and “C”. The only chance to escape is to break the windows and jump onto the deck in front of the ship's superstructure. And people broke the thick glass of the square portholes with chairs and jumped down onto the deck.
"Morro Castle" continued to race at twenty knots. The longitudinal corridors of both sides of the liner now resembled a wind tunnel. 20 minutes after the fire started, the flames were buzzing throughout the entire liner.
The ship was doomed. But this was not yet understood on the navigation bridge and in the engine room. For unknown reasons, the fire detection system and the automatic fire extinguishing system did not work. Although Captain Worms was immediately notified of the fire, he thought more about the upcoming difficulties of mooring in the cramped New York harbor and was confident that the fire would be extinguished.
For the first half hour of the fire, Worms was in a state of some strange stupor, and only the failure of the autopilot forced him to change the course of the ship and turn away from the wind.
The trial report on the Morro Castle fire, which was later heard in New York, noted that the behavior of Captain Warms and his assistants was reminiscent of the play of tragic actors, creating panic and confusion by their actions. It was also strange that Chief Engineer Abbott, called by telephone from his cabin, did not appear on the bridge. They didn’t see him in the engine room either. It turned out that at that moment he organized the launching of the lifeboat from the starboard side. Journalists saw him in it (albeit with a broken arm) when a few hours later the boat reached the shore.
For unknown reasons, Worms did not assign any of his assistants to lead the firefighting effort. The passengers themselves tried to put out the fire. In a panic, they rolled out hoses, opened hydrants and poured water into the smoke. But the fire came - people had to seek salvation. Thus, almost all the hydrants were open, and although the mechanics had already turned on the pumps, there was almost no pressure in the main fire line. There was nothing to put out the fire.
Meanwhile, Worms transmitted commands to the mechanics by machine telegraph. For ten minutes, the Morro Castle kept changing course, describing zigzags, going into circulation, spinning in place until the wind turned the fire into a giant raging fire.
After the last command, the diesel generators were stopped, and the liner plunged into darkness... The engine room was filled with smoke. It was no longer possible to stay there. Mechanics, mechanics, electricians and lubricants left their posts. But few of them managed to find salvation on the upper decks of the ship...
Worms ordered the SOS signal to be sent only fifteen minutes after he was informed that the fire could not be extinguished. At this time, Morro Castle was twenty miles south of Scotland Lighthouse, approximately eight miles from the coast.
Assistant Chief of the ship's radio station George Alagna rushed to the radio room, which was located not far from the ship's bridge. But the flames blocked his path, then Alagna shouted through the open porthole of the control room to the radio operator to send an SOS signal. The head of the ship's radio station, George Rogers, did not have time to transmit the distress signal to the end - spare acid batteries exploded in the radio room. The cabin was filled with acrid fumes. Choking from sulfur fumes and almost losing consciousness, the radio operator found the strength to once again reach for the key and convey the coordinates and a message about the tragedy that had unfolded at sea.
At 3 hours 26 minutes, the radio operator on duty of the nearby English liner Monarch of Bermuda tapped out a message received through the headphones: “CQ, SOS, 20 miles south of the Scotland lighthouse.” I can't send any more. There's a flame underneath me. Get help immediately. My radio is already smoking.”
Alagna managed to get into the burning radio room. Both radio operators made their way through the half-burnt bridge and went down the right ladder to the main deck. From there, the only way to escape was to the tank. It was already crowded there: almost all the officers and sailors of the Morro Castle were looking for salvation there. Among them was Captain Worms...
The next day, September 8, 1934, the central newspapers of the United States came out with special editions - the focus was on the events of the past night on board the Morro Castle. Sailor Leroy Kesley spoke of helpless passengers who "resembled a line of blind men desperately searching for the door." Kesley explained to journalists why the hoists jammed on many boats when descending from the Morro Castle, told how the liner, which was still running, towed the boats behind it, how, very close to it, huge pieces of thick glass from the cabin windows, which had burst from the heat, fell into the water with a hiss, how they cut the people in the boat in half...
The sailor later recalled: “From the boat I saw a terrible sight. The burning ship continued to move away... Its black hull was engulfed in orange flames of fire. Women and children, huddled closely together, stood at its stern. A cry reached us, plaintive, full of despair... This cry, similar to the groan of a dying person, will be heard by me until my death... I could only catch one word - “farewell.”
Eyewitnesses of the disaster from among the rescued passengers wrote that those who found refuge at the stern of the ship had no chance to leave the burning liner on boats. Only those who looked down without fear, where 10 meters below seethed cold water ocean.
During the investigation, it turned out that about twenty people managed to escape from the burning liner by swimming, overcoming 8 nautical miles raging sea. A sixteen-year-old Cuban ship's cabin boy managed to do this without a life jacket.
By dawn on September 8, a small group of crew, led by Captain Worms, remained on the already completely burned out and still smoking liner. Rogers and his deputy, second radio operator George Alagna, were also there.
To stop the ship from drifting downwind, the right main anchor was released, and when the US Navy rescue ship Tampa approached the Morro Castle, the towing had to be abandoned. Only by 13:00 were those remaining on the liner able to saw through the anchor-chain link with a hacksaw. Captain third rank Rose ordered a tug to be put on the liner's forecastle to deliver the burnt ship to New York. But by evening the weather worsened sharply and a northwest storm began. Soon the tow rope broke and wound around the Tampa's propeller. The Morro Castle began to drift into the wind until it ran aground off the coast of New Jersey, three dozen meters from the beach at Ashbari Recreation Park. This happened on Saturday at 8 pm when there were a lot of people there.
The news of the tragedy had already spread throughout New York and its suburbs, and the latest news broadcast on the radio attracted thousands of people to this unusual incident. The next morning, 350 thousand Americans gathered in Ashbary Park, all highways and country roads were clogged with cars. The park's owners charged $10 to board the still-smoldering liner. Thrill-seekers were given respiratory masks, flashlights and fire boots so that they could enjoy visiting the burned-out Morro Castle “without risking their lives.”
The governor of New Jersey was already making plans to turn the wreck of the liner into a permanent “horror attraction.” But the Ward Line company responded with a categorical refusal. She chose to sell the burned-out building of Morro Castle, which at one time cost $5 million to build, for $33,605 to a Baltimore company for scrap metal.
The investigation into the death of Morro Castle, conducted by experts from the US Department of Commerce, who published 12 volumes of this case, established the following: the first three boats lowered from the burning ship could have carried more than 200 passengers. These boats were to be manned by 12 sailors. In fact, there were 103 people in them, of which 92 were crew members. Everyone knew for sure that the liner left Havana with 318 passengers and 231 crew members on board, and that of the 134 dead, 103 were passengers.
In addition to the dead, hundreds of people, having received severe burns, remained disabled for life... America was shocked by the cowardice, mediocrity of Worms and the meanness of Abbott. The newly appointed captain of the Morro Castle, Worms, lost his boating license and received two years in prison. Mechanic Abbott's mechanic's diploma was taken away and he was sentenced to four years in prison.
For the first time in the history of American shipping, the court sentenced the indirect culprit of the fire, a person who was not on the ship. It turned out to be the vice-president of Ward Line, Henry Kabodu. He received a year of probation and paid a fine of $5,000. According to the claims of the victims, the owners of Morro Castle paid 890 thousand dollars.
But this tragic story also had its heroes - the sailors of the Monark of Bermuda, City of Savannah and Andrea Lackenbach, the Tampa tug, and the Paramont boat, who saved about 400 people. And, of course, the main character of the events described was radio operator George Rogers. The mayors of New York and New Jersey gave lavish banquets in his honor. The US Congress awarded Rogers a gold medal for bravery.
In the hero's homeland - in the small town of Bayonne, New Jersey - a parade of the state military garrison and police took place on this occasion. Hollywood is thinking about the script for the film “I will save you people!” Rogers triumphantly traveled through many states, where he spoke to the American public with stories about the drama on Morro Castle.
In 1936, Rogers left the naval service and settled in his hometown. There he was gladly offered the position of head of the radio workshop in the city police department.
Nineteen years later, Rogers was again the number one sensation. In July 1953, former Morro Castle radio operator George Rogers was arrested by police on suspicion of the brutal murder of 83-year-old typist William Hummel and his adopted daughter Edith. An American hero ended up in a prison detention cell. After deliberating for 3 hours and 20 minutes, the jury found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
The investigation established that Rogers, a former American police officer, is a most dangerous person for society, a murderer, a swindler, a thief and a pyromaniac. During the investigation, facts suddenly began to emerge that shocked not only the inhabitants of Bayonne, but the entire United States. It turned out that the “national hero” was now credited with the poisoning of Captain Wilmott and the arson of Morro Castle.
During the analysis of the case, having analyzed a number of circumstances preceding the fire, interviewing witnesses and eyewitnesses, experts recreated the picture of the Morro Castle disaster. An hour before the liner left Havana, Captain Wilmott, seeing the head of the radio station carrying two bottles with some chemicals, ordered him to throw them overboard. The police learned that Wilmott and Rogers had been feuding for a long time. The fact that the captain was poisoned did not raise doubts among experts, although there was no direct evidence (the corpse burned during the fire).
Shipbuilding experts and chemists suggested that Rogers set fire to the ship using time bombs in two or three places. He turned off the automatic fire detection system and released gasoline from the emergency diesel generator tank from the upper deck to the lower ones. That's why the flames spread from top to bottom. He also took into account the storage location of signal flares and rockets. This explained the rapid spread of fire on the boat deck. The arson scheme was thought out professionally, with knowledge of the matter...
On January 10, 1958, Rogers died in prison from a myocardial infarction.

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