Este sitio utiliza cookies para ofrecer nuestros servicios, mejorar el rendimiento, análisis y (si no estás registrado) publicidad. Al usar LibraryThing reconoces que has leído y comprendido nuestros términos de servicio y política de privacidad. El uso del sitio y de los servicios está sujeto a estas políticas y términos.
On a stormy night in September 1934, the Morro Castle was making its way through heavy seas en route from Havana to New York City. Shortly after 2:00 A.M., while most of the passengers slept, fire suddenly engulfed the luxury liner; within an hour, hundreds were dead or struggling desperately in the water. The fire's apparently inexplicable outbreak wasn't the only secret that night aboard the Morro Castle. Hours earlier, Captain Robert Wilmott had died in his cabin under suspicious circumstances. Had Wilmott been poisoned? Was the fire accidental, or intentionally set? Drawing from interviews with the survivors, as well as his own in-depth research, Thomas Gallagher skillfully recreates the Morro Castle tragedy, proposing convincing solutions to its myriad mysteries. In FIRE AT SEA, originally published in 1959, a seasoned reporter's meticulous attention to detail is combined with a novelist's sense of his story's drama. The result is a vivid and unforgettable story of the sea.… (más)
The SS Morro Castle was a luxury cruise ship, built for the Ward Line, that operated between New York City and Havana, Cuba in the 1930s. The ship was named for the fortress that guards the entrance to Havana Bay.
In the early morning hours of Saturday, 8 September 1934, as the ship was enroute from Havana to New York, passengers and crew members reported the smell of smoke in various areas around the ship. By the time fire was discovered in a locker in the writing room, flames were spreading through the ship.
As is the case with most disasters, the outcome of the event was influenced by multiple factors. Just a few hours earlier, Captain Robert Wilmott had been found dead in his cabin under suspicious circumstances. After his abrupt promotion to Captain, former First Officer Warms was overwhelmed by rapidly changing circumstances, and failed to order distress signals in a timely manner.
The fire spread rapidly on combustible interior finish materials (lacquered wood paneling, etc.), unchecked by incomplete bulkheads or by fire doors that failed to close. Within 20 minutes of discovery, the fire burned through electrical insulation and the ship lost power.
Unlike the Titanic twenty years earlier, the Morro Castle was adequately equipped with life boats. However, cruises to Havana provided a welcome escape from Prohibition, and many of the passengers had been drinking. With a hurricane approaching, the high winds and rough seas may have deterred many of the passengers from getting into the boats or jumping overboard. Several of the lifeboats were never launched, and of those that were, at least two contained almost exclusively crew members.
By the time the ship grounded itself off Asbury Park, NJ, the fire had killed a total of 137 passengers and crew members.
The author implicates Chief Radio Operator Rogers in the fire and in the mysterious demise of Captain Wilmott. While Rogers may have been guilty - he was later convicted of two brutal murders - Gallagher's obsession with this issue gets in the way of the overall story. ( )
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
To my friend Ray Robinson
To my friend Ray Robinson
Primeras palabras
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
On Wednesday afternoon, September 5, 1934, the Morro Castle, a trin-screw turbo-electric liner regarded as the last word in marine construction, one of the safest and most modern vessels afloat, steamed out of Havana harbor and put to sea.
AUTHOR'S NOTE The material for this book was compiled from documents in the National Archives in Washington, D.C.; from prison files and police- and fire-department records; from the personal accounts of passengers and crew given under oath during the Steamboat Inspectors' Investigation in the Custom House in New York in September, 1934; and from the Dickerson Hoover Report, based on the Custom House testimony and prepared for the United States Department of Commerce in October, 1934.
1 On Wednesday afternoon, September 5, 1934, the Morro Castle, a twin-screw turbo-electric liner regarded as the last word in marine construction, one of the safest and most modern vessels afloat, steamed out of Havana harbor and put to sea.
Citas
Últimas palabras
Información procedente del conocimiento común inglés.Edita para encontrar en tu idioma.
But his case was never brought before the Court of Last Resort, and on January 10, 1958, he died of a stroke in the New Jersey State Penitentiary in Trenton.
On a stormy night in September 1934, the Morro Castle was making its way through heavy seas en route from Havana to New York City. Shortly after 2:00 A.M., while most of the passengers slept, fire suddenly engulfed the luxury liner; within an hour, hundreds were dead or struggling desperately in the water. The fire's apparently inexplicable outbreak wasn't the only secret that night aboard the Morro Castle. Hours earlier, Captain Robert Wilmott had died in his cabin under suspicious circumstances. Had Wilmott been poisoned? Was the fire accidental, or intentionally set? Drawing from interviews with the survivors, as well as his own in-depth research, Thomas Gallagher skillfully recreates the Morro Castle tragedy, proposing convincing solutions to its myriad mysteries. In FIRE AT SEA, originally published in 1959, a seasoned reporter's meticulous attention to detail is combined with a novelist's sense of his story's drama. The result is a vivid and unforgettable story of the sea.
Google Books — Cargando...
(4.17)
1
In the early morning hours of Saturday, 8 September 1934, as the ship was enroute from Havana to New York, passengers and crew members reported the smell of smoke in various areas around the ship. By the time fire was discovered in a locker in the writing room, flames were spreading through the ship.
As is the case with most disasters, the outcome of the event was influenced by multiple factors. Just a few hours earlier, Captain Robert Wilmott had been found dead in his cabin under suspicious circumstances. After his abrupt promotion to Captain, former First Officer Warms was overwhelmed by rapidly changing circumstances, and failed to order distress signals in a timely manner.
The fire spread rapidly on combustible interior finish materials (lacquered wood paneling, etc.), unchecked by incomplete bulkheads or by fire doors that failed to close. Within 20 minutes of discovery, the fire burned through electrical insulation and the ship lost power.
Unlike the Titanic twenty years earlier, the Morro Castle was adequately equipped with life boats. However, cruises to Havana provided a welcome escape from Prohibition, and many of the passengers had been drinking. With a hurricane approaching, the high winds and rough seas may have deterred many of the passengers from getting into the boats or jumping overboard. Several of the lifeboats were never launched, and of those that were, at least two contained almost exclusively crew members.
By the time the ship grounded itself off Asbury Park, NJ, the fire had killed a total of 137 passengers and crew members.
The author implicates Chief Radio Operator Rogers in the fire and in the mysterious demise of Captain Wilmott. While Rogers may have been guilty - he was later convicted of two brutal murders - Gallagher's obsession with this issue gets in the way of the overall story. (