View source for SS Morro Castle (1930)

{{Short description|American ocean liner}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2014}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = Morro Castle 1.jpg
| Ship caption = ''Morro Castle''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{Shipboxflag|United States|1934}}
| Ship name = ''Morro Castle''
| Ship namesake = [[Morro Castle (Havana)|Morro Castle]]
| Ship owner = *Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies SS Lines (1930–33)<ref name=LR33>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/33/33b0616.pdf |year=1933 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamers and Motorships |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |access-date=11 October 2020}}</ref>
*Agwi Navigation Co, Inc (1933–34)<ref name=LR33/>
| Ship operator = [[File:House Flag of New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company.svg|20px|Ward Line]] [[Ward Line]]
| Ship registry = 
| Ship route = [[New York City]] – [[Havana]]
| Ship builder = [[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News Ship Building & Drydock Co.]], [[Newport News, Virginia]], U.S.
| Ship original cost = {{usd}}4,000,000
| Ship yard number = 337
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 5 March 1930
| Ship completed = 15 August 1930
| Ship christened =
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship maiden voyage = 23 August 1930
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 8 September 1934
| Ship homeport = New York City, New York, U.S.
| Ship identification = *US [[official number]] 230069
*[[code letters]] MJCR (1930–1933)<ref name=LR31>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/31/31b0835.pdf |year=1931 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamers and Motorships |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |access-date=11 October 2020}}</ref>
*{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Charlie}}{{ICS|Romeo}}
*[[Call sign#Maritime|call sign]] KGOV (1934–1935)<ref name=LR34>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0583.pdf |year=1934 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |access-date=20 May 2013}}</ref>
*{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Victor}}
| Ship fate = Caught fire and beached herself on September 8, 1934; later towed off and sold to breakers (Union Shipbuilding Co.)<ref>{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LZAuAAAAIBAJ&pg=1442,3848741&dq=morro+castle+baltimore&hl=en |date=March 28, 1935 |title=Morro Castle Sold as Junk |newspaper=[[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Gazette]] |place=[[Montreal]] }}</ref> Scrapped<ref name="garemaritime.com">{{cite web |url= http://www.garemaritime.com/features/morro-castle/21.php |title=Morro Castle |publisher=GareMaritime.com |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110630025912/http://www.garemaritime.com/features/morro-castle/21.php |archive-date=June 30, 2011}}</ref>
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship class = 
| Ship tonnage = *{{GRT|11520}}<ref name=MV>{{cite book |year=1931–1932 |title=Merchant Vessels of the United States |place=Washington, DC |publisher=United States Government Printing Office}}</ref>
*{{NRT|6,449}}<ref name=MV/>
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|480|ft|0|in|m|1|abbr=on}}<ref name=MV/>
| Ship beam = {{convert|70|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}}<ref name=MV/>
| Ship height = 
| Ship draft = 
| Ship depth = {{convert|18|ft|5|in|m|1|abbr=on}}<ref name=MV/>
| Ship decks = 
| Ship deck clearance = 
| Ship ramps = 
| Ship power = 14,000 [[Horsepower#Indicated horsepower|ihp]]
| Ship propulsion = *steam [[turbo-electric transmission]]
*twin screws
| Ship speed = {{convert|20|kn|km/h|lk=in}}
| Ship capacity = 489 passengers
| Ship crew = 240 crew
|Ship sensors=*[[direction finding]] equipment
*[[Submarine signals|submarine signalling equipment]] (removed by 1934)
*[[gyrocompass]] (added by 1934)
*[[echo sounding]] equipment (added by 1934)
| Ship notes = [[sister ship]]: ''[[USAT Thomas H. Barry|Oriente]]''
}}
|}
{{other ships|SS Morro Castle}}
'''SS ''Morro Castle''''' was an American [[ocean liner]] that caught fire and ran aground on the morning of September 8, 1934, en route from [[Havana]], [[Republic of Cuba (1902-1959)|Cuba]], to [[New York City|New York]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States, with the loss of 137 passengers and crew.

On the previous evening, ''Morro Castle''{{'}}s captain, Robert Willmott, had died suddenly, and his place was taken by Chief Officer William Warms as a strong northeast wind was developing under heavy cloud. At 2:50am, a fire was detected in a storage locker, which burned through electrical cables, engulfed the ship in flames and plunged it into darkness. Responses by the crew, the [[United States Coast Guard]] and rescue vessels were notably slow and inefficient, with lifeboats not loaded to their capacity. The decks were too hot to stand on, smoke made breathing difficult and passengers were forced to leap into [[ocean swell]]s where swimming was impossible. By mid-afternoon ''Morro Castle'' was abandoned and the survivors were landed on the shores of [[New Jersey]] by an assortment of craft.

The cause of the fire was never established, though an overheated funnel and certain points of cabin design and electrical circuitry were noted. A theory of [[arson]] by a crew member has attracted support over the years, albeit without any concrete evidence. The high casualties are chiefly blamed on the crew's incompetent handling of the emergency.

==Building==
On May 22, 1928, the [[United States Congress]] passed the [[Merchant Marine Act of 1928]], creating a $250 million construction fund to be lent to American shipping companies to replace old and outdated ships with new ones. Each of these loans, which could subsidize as much as seventy-five percent of the cost of the ship, was to be paid back over twenty years at low [[interest rates]].

One company that availed itself of this opportunity was the [[New York and Cuba Mail Co.|New York and Cuba Mail]] Steam Ship Company, better known as the [[Ward Line]], which had been carrying passengers, cargo and mail to and from [[Republic of Cuba (1902-1959)|Cuba]] since the mid-19th century. [[Naval architecture|Naval architect]]s were hired by the Ward Line to design a pair of passenger liners to be named ''Morro Castle'', after the [[Morro Castle (Havana)|stone fortress and lighthouse]] in [[Havana]], and ''[[USAT Thomas H. Barry|Oriente]]'', after Cuba's [[Oriente Province]].

At the [[Newport News Shipbuilding]] and Dry Dock Company, work was begun on ''Morro Castle'' in January 1929. In March 1930 the ship was [[ceremonial ship launching|christened]], followed in May by her [[sister ship]] ''Oriente''. Each ship was {{convert|508|ft|abbr=off}} long, measured {{GRT|11520|disp=long}} and had [[turbo-electric transmission]], with [[General Electric]] twin [[turbo generator]]s supplying current to propulsion motors on twin [[Propeller (marine)|propeller]] shafts.<ref name=LR31/> Each ship was luxuriously finished to accommodate 489 passengers in first and tourist class and 240 officers and crew. In a growing age of passenger ships having [[cruiser stern]]s, ''Morro Castle'' and ''Oriente'' were built with classic [[counter stern]]s.

As built, ''Morro Castle'' was equipped with [[direction finding]] and [[Submarine signals|submarine signalling]] equipment.<ref name=LR31/> Submarine signalling was becoming obsolete as a form of communication, so by 1934 it had been removed. That same year, [[echo sounding]] equipment and a [[gyrocompass]] had been installed on the ship.<ref name=LR34/>

==Career==
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2014}}
''Morro Castle'' began her maiden voyage on August 23, 1930. She lived up to expectations by completing the 1,100+ mile southbound trip in just under fifty-nine hours, and the return trip took only fifty-eight hours. Over the next four years, ''Morro Castle'' and ''Oriente'' performed as workhorses, rarely out of service and, despite the worsening of the [[Great Depression]], able to maintain a steady clientele. Their success was in part due to [[Prohibition (United States)|Prohibition]], as such trips provided a relatively affordable and (more importantly) legal means for customers to partake in [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]]. The Ward Line's reasonable rates attracted Cuban and American businessmen and older couples, making the ships a microcosm of America during the period.

===Final voyage===
====Impending nor'easter====
The final voyage of ''Morro Castle'' began in Havana on September 5, 1934. On the afternoon of September 6, as the ship paralleled the southeastern coast of the U.S., it began to encounter increasing clouds and wind. By the morning of September 7, the clouds had thickened and the winds had shifted to easterly, the first indication of a developing [[nor'easter]]. Throughout that day the winds increased and intermittent rains began, causing many to retire early to their berths.

====Captain's death====
Early that evening, [[Sea captain|Captain]] Robert Rennison Willmott had his dinner delivered to his quarters. Shortly thereafter, Willmott complained of stomach trouble and, not long afterward, died of an apparent [[heart attack]]. Command of the ship passed to the [[chief mate|chief officer]], William Warms, who was eating dinner with friends Samuel Hicks and Connor Schmutz at the time. During the overnight hours, the winds increased to over thirty miles per hour as ''Morro Castle'' plodded its way up the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]].

====Fire====
[[File:SS Morro Castle burning cph.3b14818.jpg|right|thumb|350px|''Morro Castle'' on fire, September 8, 1934]]
At around 2:50&nbsp;a.m. on September 8, while ''Morro Castle'' was sailing around eight [[nautical mile]]s off [[Long Beach Island]], a fire was detected in a storage locker within the First Class Writing Room on B Deck. Within the next thirty minutes, the ship became engulfed in flames. As the fire grew in intensity, Acting Captain Warms attempted to [[beaching (nautical)|beach]] the ship, but the growing need to launch [[lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]]s and abandon ship forced him to give up his plan.

Within twenty minutes of the fire's discovery (at about 3:10) the fire had burned through ''Morro Castle''{{'}}s main electrical cables, plunging the ship into darkness. As all power was lost, the radio stopped working, so only a single [[SOS]] signal was sent. At about the same time, the [[bridge (nautical)|wheelhouse]] lost its ability to steer the ship, as the hydraulic lines were severed by the fire as well.<ref name="Burton">{{cite book |last=Burton |first=Hal |title=The Morro Castle: Tragedy at Sea |year=1973 |publisher=Viking Press |place=New York |isbn=0-670-48960-3}}</ref>{{rp|40}}

Cut off by the fire amidships, passengers tended to move toward the stern. Most crew members, on the other hand, moved to the [[forecastle]].<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|48}} In many places, the deck boards were hot to the touch and breathing was difficult in the thick smoke. As conditions grew steadily worse, the decision became either "jump or burn" for many passengers. However, jumping into the water was problematic, as high winds churned up great waves that made swimming extremely difficult. Passengers and crew exhibited the full range of reactions to the disaster at hand. Some crew members were incredibly brave as they tried to fight the fire. Others tossed deck chairs and life rings overboard to provide persons in the water with makeshift flotation devices.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|50}}

Only six of the ship's twelve lifeboats were launched: boats 1, 3, 5, 9, and 11 on the [[Port and starboard|starboard]] side, and boat 10 on the [[Port and starboard|port side]]. Although the combined capacity of these boats was 408, they carried only 85 people, most of whom were crew members. Many passengers died for lack of knowledge of how to use the [[Lifebuoy|life preservers]]. As they hit the water, life preservers knocked many persons unconscious, leading to subsequent death by drowning, or broke victims' necks from the impact, killing them instantly.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|58}}<ref>{{cite news|url= https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/_Topics/history/_Texts/BROMWS/4*.html |title=Chapter Four: The ''Morro Castle'' Disaster |work=Men, Wind and Sea |publisher=Carlyle House |last=Brown |first=Riley |place=New York |year=1939 |pages=87–104}}</ref>

====Rescue efforts at sea====
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2020}}
[[File:Steamship Morro Castle Burned out hulk.jpg|right|thumb|350px|''Morro Castle'' after the fire; photo taken from the seaward end of the [[Asbury Park Convention Hall]] pier, November 1934]]
First responders were slow to react. The first rescue ship to arrive on the scene was ''Andrea F. Luckenbach''. Two other ships—''[[SS New Australia|Monarch of Bermuda]]'' and ''City of Savannah''—were slow in taking action after receiving the SOS signal but eventually did arrive on the scene. The fourth ship to participate in the rescue operations was {{SS|President Cleveland|1921|2}}, which launched a [[motorboat]] that made a cursory circuit around ''Morro Castle'' and, upon seeing nobody in the water along her route, retrieved her motorboat and left the scene.

The [[United States Coast Guard]] vessels {{USCGC|Tampa|WPG-48|2}} and {{USCGC|Cahoone|WSC-131|2}} positioned themselves too far away to see the victims in the water and rendered little assistance. The Coast Guard's aerial station at [[Cape May, New Jersey|Cape May]], [[New Jersey]], failed to send their float planes until local radio stations started reporting that dead bodies were washing ashore on New Jersey beaches, from [[Point Pleasant Beach]] to [[Spring Lake, New Jersey|Spring Lake]].

In time, additional small boats arrived on the scene. Large [[ocean swell]]s presented a major problem, making it very difficult to see people in the water. A plane piloted by [[A. Harry Moore|Harry Moore]], [[governor of New Jersey]] and commander of the [[New Jersey Air National Guard]], helped boats to find survivors and bodies by dipping its wings and dropping markers.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|98}}

====Recovery efforts on shore====
As telephone communication and radio stations spread news of the disaster along the New Jersey coast, local citizens assembled on the coastline to assist the injured, retrieve the dead and try to unite families that had been scattered among different rescue boats that landed on the beaches. By mid-morning, ''Morro Castle'' was totally abandoned and its burning hull drifted ashore, coming to a stop late that afternoon in shallow water off [[Asbury Park, New Jersey|Asbury Park]], at almost the exact spot where the ''[[New Era (1854 ship)|New Era]]'' had wrecked in 1854.<ref name="Coaster">{{Citation |date=September 19, 2012 |title=Search for Missing Monument |publisher=Coaster}}</ref> Fires continued to smoulder on board for the next two days and, in the end, 135 passengers and crew (out of a total of 549) were lost.

''Morro Castle'' was declared a total loss, and its charred hulk was finally towed away from the Asbury Park shoreline on March 14, 1935. According to one account, it later started settling by the stern and sank while being towed and had to be refloated. (Other accounts have it that the ship was towed without any issues). Regardless, it was towed to [[Gravesend Bay]] and then to [[Baltimore]] on March 29, 1935, where it was scrapped.<ref name="garemaritime.com"/>

In the intervening months, because of its proximity to the Asbury Park Boardwalk and the adjacent [[Asbury Park Convention Hall]] pier, from which it was possible to wade out and touch the wreck with one's hands, the wreck was treated as a destination for sightseeing trips, complete with stamped penny souvenirs and postcards for sale.<ref name="Thurber">{{Citation |last=Thurber |first=James |author-link=James Thurber |publication-date=1948 |contribution=Excursion |title=The Beast in Me and Other Animals |year=1973 |place=New York |publisher=[[Harcourt (publisher)|Harcourt, Brace]] |pages=332 |isbn=0-15-111249-5 |oclc=290331}} Originally published in ''[[The New Yorker]],'' November 17, 1934.</ref>

==Factors contributing to the fire==
The design of ''Morro Castle'', the materials used in her construction and questionable crew practices escalated the on-board fire to a roaring inferno that would eventually destroy the ship.

===Construction materials===
As far as the materials used in her construction were concerned, the elegant but highly flammable decor of ''Morro Castle''—veneered wooden surfaces and glued ply paneling—helped the fire to spread quickly.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|54}}

===Ship's structure and lack of safety features===
The structure of ''Morro Castle'' also created a number of problems. Although the ship had [[fire door]]s, there existed a wood-lined, six-inch opening between the wooden ceilings and the steel [[Bulkhead (partition)|bulkhead]]s which provided the fire with a flammable pathway that bypassed the fire doors, enabling it to spread.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|169}} 

Whereas the ship had electric sensors that could detect fires in any of the ship's staterooms, crew quarters, offices, cargo holds and engine room, there were no such detectors in the ship's lounges, dance hall, writing room, library, tea room or dining room.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|10}} Although there were forty-two [[water hydrant]]s on board, the system was designed with the assumption that no more than six would ever have to be used at any one time. 

When the emergency aboard ''Morro Castle'' occurred, the crew opened virtually all working hydrants, dropping the water pressure to unusable levels everywhere.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|44}} The ship's [[Lyle gun]], which is designed to fire a line to another ship to facilitate passenger evacuation in an emergency, was stored over ''Morro Castle's'' writing room, which is where the fire originated. The Lyle gun exploded just before 3&nbsp;a.m., further spreading the fire and breaking windows, thereby allowing the near [[gale force]] winds to enter the ship and fan the flames.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|39}} Finally, fire alarms on the ship produced a "muffled, scarcely audible ring", according to passengers.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|39}}

===Crew practices and deficiencies===
Crew practices and deficiencies added to the severity of the fire. According to surviving crewmen, painting the ship had been a common practice to keep it looking new and to keep crewmen busy. Unfortunately, the thick layers of paint that resulted from this practice made the ship more flammable and strips of paint broke off during the fire, helping to spread the flames.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|50}} The storage locker in which the fire started held blankets that had been drycleaned using contemporaneous technology, which utilized flammable fluids.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|32}}

Although the ship had [[fire door]]s, their [[automatic trip]] wires (designed to close when a certain temperature was reached) had been disconnected. None of the crew thought to operate them manually at the time of the fire. That said, it is unlikely that that would have made much difference, as the six-inch opening between the wooden ceilings and the steel bulkheads would have allowed the flames to spread even if the fire doors had closed.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|151}}

Many of the hose stations on the promenade deck had been recently deactivated in response to an incident about a month before, when a passenger slipped on a deck moistened by a leaking hose station and sued the Ward Line.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|18}} Although regulations required that [[fire drill]]s be held on each voyage, only the crew members participated. Captain Willmott did not require the passengers to attend the fire drills out of fear of inconveniencing them.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|40}}

For quite some time after the discovery of the fire, the ship continued on its course and speed—pointed directly into the wind. This no doubt helped to fan the fire.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|45}} Later, in their attempt to reach passengers in some suites, crewmen broke windows on several decks, allowing the high winds to enter the ship and hasten the fire's fury.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|40}}

Because the [[wireless operator]]s could not get a definitive answer from Acting Captain Warms, the SOS was not ordered until 3:18 and was not sent until 3:23. Within five minutes, the intense heat of the fire began to distort ''Morro Castle''{{'}}s signal. Shortly thereafter, emergency generators failed and transmissions ceased.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|45}}

== Aftermath ==
===Inquiries===
In the inquiries that followed the disaster, there were criticisms of the response of Warms' handling of the ship, the crew's response to the fire and the delay in calling for assistance.

The inquiries concluded that there was no organized effort by the crew to fight and control the fire or close the fire doors. Additionally, the crew made no effort to take their regular fire stations. Most damning was the conclusion that, with a few notable exceptions, the crew made no effort to direct passengers to safe pathways to the boat deck. For many passengers, their only course of action was to lower themselves into the water or jump overboard. The few lifeboats that were launched carried primarily crewmen and no efforts were made by these boats to maneuver toward the ship's stern to pick up additional survivors.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|162}} Warms never left the wheelhouse to determine the extent of damage and maintained the ship's [[Bearing (navigation)|bearing]] and full speed for some distance after the fire was known. As systems failed throughout the ship because of power loss, no effort was made to use the emergency steering gear or emergency lighting.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

Warms, [[chief engineer]] Eban Abbott and Ward Line vice president Henry Cabaud were eventually [[indictment|indicted]] on various charges relating to the fire, including [[Negligence (criminal)|willful negligence]]; all three were convicted and sent to jail. However, an appeals court later overturned Warms' and Abbott's convictions, deciding that a fair amount of the blame could be attributed to the deceased Captain Willmott.{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

In the inquiry that followed the disaster, Chief Radio Operator George White Rogers was made out to be a hero because, having been unable to get a clear order from the bridge, he sent a [[distress call]] of his own accord amidst life-threatening conditions. However, suspicion was later directed at Rogers when he was convicted of attempting to murder a colleague in the [[Bayonne, New Jersey]], police force with an incendiary device. Additionally, his crippled victim, Vincent "Bud" Doyle, spent the better part of his life attempting to prove that Rogers had set the ''Morro Castle'' fire. In 1954, Rogers was convicted of murdering a neighboring couple for money, and died three and a half years later in prison.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://weirdnj.com/stories/mystery-history/morro-castle/ |title=The Mystery of the Morro Castle |work=Weird N.J. }}</ref>

====Liability claims====
''[[The New York Times]]'' reported the end of the inquiry on March 27, 1937, with an order by Federal Judge [[John C. Knox (New York judge)|John C. Knox]] affixing liability at $890,000, an average of $2,225 per victim.<ref>{{cite news |date=March 28, 1937 |title=$890,000 Fixed to Pay Morro Castle Claims; Liability Is Set by Judge Knox—settlement of 400 Cases Will Take Months |newspaper=The New York Times |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/03/28/96734813.pdf |access-date=May 11, 2014}}</ref> About half the claims were for deaths. The order reportedly included agreement by 95% of the claimants. The order also barred further claims against the Ward Line and its subsidiary, the Agwi Navigation Company, operators of the vessel. Several months' work remained in deciding each claim individually by the lawyer members of the Morro Castle Committee. Damages were fixed under the [[Death on the High Seas Act]].{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

====Causes====
Officially, the fire's cause was never determined. In the mid-1980s, [[HBO]] aired a televised dramatization of the fire in an episode of their ''Catastrophe'' series, titled "The Mystery of the Morro Castle".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2189997/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt |title=The Mystery of the Morro Castle (1980) |work=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> The dramatization starred [[John Goodman]] as George Rogers and blamed Rogers for causing the fire. In 2002, [[A&E (TV network)|A&E]] produced a television documentary about the incident. Both the HBO dramatization and the A&E documentary reawakened speculation that the fire was actually [[arson]] committed by a crew member. Other theories included a [[short circuit]] in the wiring that passed through the rear of the locker, the [[spontaneous combustion]] of chemically treated blankets in the locker or an overheating of the ship's one functioning [[Funnel (ship)|funnel]], situated just aft of the locker.<ref name="Burton"/>{{rp|178}}

[[William McFee]], a well-known writer of [[nautical fiction|sea stories]] who had served as an engineer on oil-fired steamers, wrote in 1949 that "if the burners were neglected... [the] long uptakes which lead from the furnaces to the funnel would become dangerously overheated", as he once found on another ship, whose "funnel was glowing red-hot just above the uptakes". ''Morro Castle''{{'}}s funnel was clad in flammable material where it passed through the passenger quarters, and several people had noticed smoke as early as midnight. The ship was making 19 knots against a 20-knot [[Headwind and tailwind|headwind]] and simply overheated, according to McFee, but the high loss of life was caused by the crew's incompetent handling of the emergency.<ref name="McFee">{{cite book |last=McFee |first=William |title=The Peculiar Fate of the Morro Castle |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1949 |page=344}}</ref>

[[Renée Méndez Capote]], a Cuban writer who was aboard ''Morro Castle'' when the tragedy happened, was trapped in her cabin as the ship became engulfed in flames but was rescued by crew members. Because of her corpulence, she had to be removed through a hatch. American steward Carol Prior gave Capote his flotation device, thereby saving her life. Upon her arrival in [[New York City]], she was interviewed by the American press. Because she expressed sympathy with the [[Popular Socialist Party (Cuba)|Cuban communist party]], Capote was accused of being a "[[communism|communist]] agitator" who was responsible for destroying the ship. Capote later declared, “That fire is—undoubtedly—the worst memory I've ever had."

===Burials===
Some victims of the fire are buried in the Mount Prospect Cemetery in [[Neptune Township, New Jersey|Neptune, New Jersey]], along the coast.<ref name="AsPkPress1">{{cite news |last= Shields |first= Nancy |date= September 12, 2008 |title= Historian Disputes Shipwreck Burial Claim |newspaper=[[Asbury Park Press]] |publisher= [[Gannett Company]] |publication-place= Asbury Park, NJ |oclc= 16894042 |url= http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/NEWS01/809120400/1004/NEWS01 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130117093713/http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/NEWS01/809120400/1004/NEWS01 |archive-date= January 17, 2013
}} [https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/app/access/1696876571.html?FMT=ABS&amp;date=Sep+12,+2008 Alt URL]{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

===Call sign===
The ''Morro Castle''{{'}}s radio [[call sign]], KGOV, is still registered to the ship by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] nearly ninety years after her demise, and is therefore unavailable for use by terrestrial broadcast stations.<ref name="RadioHist">{{cite web |url= https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/public/tv/publicCallSignSearch.html |title=Call Sign Search |last=Federal Communications Commission |author-link=Federal Communications Commission |access-date=September 7, 2022 |quote= Csll Sign KGOV is assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard. Vessel Information: MORRO CASTLE 230069 |work= Call Sign Desk
}}
</ref>

===Memorial===
On September 8, 2009, the first and only memorial to the victims, rescuers and survivors of the ''Morro Castle'' disaster was dedicated on the south side of Convention Hall in Asbury Park, very near the spot where the burned-out hull of the ship finally came aground. The day marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of the disaster.<ref name="AsPkPress2">{{Cite news |last=Webster |first=Charles |date= September 8, 2009 |title=Monument unveiled in Asbury Park to Morro Castle victims |newspaper= Asbury Park Press |publication-place=Asbury Park, NJ |publisher=[[Gannett Company]] |url= http://www.app.com/article/20090908/NEWS/90908177/1282/LOCAL06/Monument+unveiled+in+Asbury+Park+to+Morro+Castle+victims |oclc=16894042 |access-date=January 10, 2010}}
</ref>

''Morro Castle'' ship's bell is now at SUNY Maritime's Fort Schuyler.

===Anchor===
In September 2023, ''Morro Castle'''s five-ton Baldt anchor was recovered from the water in Point Pleasant Beach in New Jersey.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.app.com/picture-gallery/news/history/2023/09/07/morro-castle-anchor-rises-back-from-the-deep/70788337007/ | title=Morro Castle anchor rises back from the deep }}</ref>

==In media and popular culture==

===In film and television===
Despite the tragedy and mystery of the ''Morro Castle'' disaster, no film for theatrical distribution nor even a television movie was made of the story, excepting the aforementioned HBO dramatization and A&E documentary. Shortly after he was hired by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] following his emigration from Germany to the United States in 1934, [[Fritz Lang]] collaborated with Hollywood scriptwriter [[Oliver H. P. Garrett]] on a screenplay about the disaster entitled ''Hell Afloat'', but it was never filmed.<ref>{{cite book |first=Prof. Barry Keith |last=Grant |title=Fritz Lang: Interviews |series=Conversations with Filmmakers |place=[[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson, MS]] |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |year=2003 |isbn=1578065763 |page=62}}</ref> However, there have been references to it:
* Movietone News Reel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI0wWSEe3t0
* A fire aboard a ship making the New York-Cuba run, an evident allusion to the ''Morro Castle'', is shown in the film ''[[Exclusive Story]]'' (1936).
* At the end of the [[Spencer Tracy]] film ''[[Dante's Inferno (1935 film)|Dante's Inferno]]'' (1935), a gambling cruise ship (resembling the ''Morro Castle'') is completely ablaze.
* In the film ''Boy Meets Girl'' (1938), [[James Cagney]] (in dictating a letter to [[Pat O'Brien (actor)|Pat O'Brien]] regarding what a third person is supposed to be saying to his missing wife) says, "I did not go down on the ''Morro Castle''!"
* In the early moments of the film, ''[[Doomed to Die]]'' (1940, one of six Monogram releases featuring the fictional [[Mr. Wong (fictional detective)|Mr. Wong]]), film footage of the burning ''Morro Castle'' is shown, although for the film's plot it is referred as the ''Wentworth Castle''.
* An exploitative mention is also made in the detective film ''[[The Man Who Wouldn't Die (1942 film)|The Man Who Wouldn't Die]]'' (1942): one suspect was assumed to have perished on this ship but survived, unbeknownst to another.
* The movie ''[[Minstrel Man (film)|Minstrel Man]]'' (1944) features the fire and sinking of the ''Morro Castle''. 
* In the film ''The World Was His Jury'' (1958), Edmond O'Brien portrays an attorney defending a ship's first officer on trial for negligence after the ocean liner he has taken command of (following the sudden death of the original captain during the voyage) burns to a hulk off NY/NJ, killing a great many passengers. Most of the case's points closely mirror those of the ''Morro Castle''.
* Newsreel footage of the disaster opens ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'' TV episode "The Underground Court", in which a fictitious character in the episode is an apparent survivor of the tragedy.
* The sinking was featured in an episode of ''[[Mysteries at the Museum]]'' (2013).

===In music===
* The first artists to remember the tragedy of the ''Morro Castle'' were the members of the Trio Matamoros of Santiago de Cuba, with the song "El desastre del Morro Castle" (1934).
* The ''Morro Castle'' disaster occurred when the musical ''[[Anything Goes]]'', a comedy set aboard an ocean liner, was about to open. Under the circumstances, the producers decided that going ahead would be in bad taste, and cancelled the opening. The musical was then subjected to several rewrites before finally opening later in 1934.<ref name="Jasen">
{{cite book
 |last= Jasen
 |first= David A
 |title= P G Wodehouse: A Portrait of a Master
 |publisher= Garnstone Press
 |year= 1975
 |place= London
 |pages= 143
 |isbn= 0-85511-190-9}}
</ref>
* In 1970, the West Coast music critic Philip Elwood described the early [[Bruce Springsteen]]-led, and Asbury Park-based, [[Steel Mill]] as "the first big thing that's happened to Asbury Park since the good ship ''Morro Castle'' burned to the waterline of that Jersey beach in '34".<ref>''Springsteen: Saint In The City: 1949-1974'' by Craig Statham. Soundcheck Books, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0957144231}}.</ref>

===In literature===
* The ship is referenced in [[Samuel Beckett]]'s novel ''[[Murphy (novel)|Murphy]]'', published in 1938.<ref>Beckett, Samuel. ''Murphy''. New York: Grove, 1957. Print.</ref>
* The ship provided inspiration for [[William Burroughs]]' "Twilight's Last Gleamings", a version of which was published in his ''[[Nova Express]]''.
*The ship is referenced in [[William H. Gass]]’s novel [[The Tunnel (Gass novel)|''The Tunnel'']].
*The ship is the main focal point in [[Chanel Cleeton]]’s novel [[The Cuban Heiress (novel)|''The Cuban Heiress'']].
*The ship disaster is covered in the article ''"Pleasure Cruise for 137 Corpses"'' "Sheldon Lord" ([[Lawrence Block]]) published in REAL MEN November 1958.<ref>''The Naked and the Deadly:  Lawrence Block in Men's Adventure Magazines, May 2023''</ref>

==See also==
* {{PS|General Slocum}}
* {{SS|Normandie}}
* {{SS|Noronic}}
* {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth}}
* {{MS|Prinsendam|1973|6}}
* [[Herbert Saffir]]—a survivor of the ''Morro Castle''
* ''[[Star Princess (2001)]]''
* {{SS|Yarmouth Castle}}
* {{RMS|Titanic}}
* {{SS|Edmund Fitzgerald}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last=Burton |first=Hal |year=1972 |title=The Morro Castle: Tragedy at Sea|url= https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6790476-the-morro-castle |publisher=[[William Collins, Sons]] |isbn=9780002117432}} Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime (1973)
*{{cite book|title=Inferno At Sea: Stories of Death and Survival Aboard the Morro Castle |first1=Gretchen F. |last1=Coyle|first2= Deborah C. |last2=Whitcraft |publisher =Down The Shore Publishing|edition= First |year= 2012|isbn=978-1593220617}} (Whitcraft is the Founder and President of the New Jersey Maritime Museum in [[Beach Haven, New Jersey]], which has a room dedicated to the ''Morrow Castle.)''
*{{cite book |last=Gallagher |first=Thomas |year=1959 |title=Fire at Sea: The Story of the 'Morro Castle' |url= https://archive.org/details/fireatseastoryof00gall |url-access=registration |place=New York |publisher=Rinehart & Company |oclc=1227134}}
*{{cite book |last=Hicks |first=Brian |year=2006 |title=When the Dancing Stopped: The Real Story of the Morro Castle Disaster and its Deadly Wake |place=New York |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=0743280083 |url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/whendancingstopp00hick}}
*{{cite book |last1=Thomas |first1=Gordon |last2=Witts |first2=Max Morgan |year=1972 |title=Shipwreck: The Strange Fate Of the Morro Castle |publisher=[[Stein and Day]] |place=New York |isbn=978-0-8128-1438-5 |oclc=447229 |url-access=registration |url= https://archive.org/details/shipwreckstrange00thom}}
Book, ''Mrs. Astor's Horse'' by Stanley Walker, copyright 1935 and published by Frederick A. Stokes Company of New York. Essay, "Something To Remember You By", pages 20–30. Lengthy descriptions of the looting activity and commercialization of the event, including beachside hot dog vendors and rental planes which took onlookers out to view the smoldering hulk of the burned ship.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Morro Castle (ship, 1930)}}
*{{cite news |url= http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/morro-castle-disaster |title=When the Wreckage of a Horrific Ship Disaster Became a Tourist Destination |work= Atlas Obscura |last=Blake |first=Sarah |date=10 September 2013}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.wardline.com/morrocastle.html |title= Morro Castle of 1930 |work= The Ward Line |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050311185145/http://www.wardline.com/morrocastle.html |archive-date= March 11, 2005 |df= mdy-all}}
*{{cite news|url= https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/_Topics/history/_Texts/BROMWS/4*.html |title=Chapter Four: The ''Morro Castle'' Disaster |work=Men, Wind and Sea |publisher=Carlyle House |last=Brown |first=Riley |place=New York |year=1939 |pages=87=104}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.garemaritime.com/features/morro-castle/ |title=The ''Morro Castle'', the ''Mohawk'' and the End of the Ward Line |work=GareMaritime.com |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110719172149/http://www.garemaritime.com/features/morro-castle/ |archive-date=July 19, 2011}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.garemaritime.com/features/morro-castle-watremez/ |title=A ''Morro Castle'' Survivor's Story |first=George |last=Watremez |work=GareMaritime.com |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110719172301/http://www.garemaritime.com/features/morro-castle-watremez/ |archive-date=July 19, 2011}}
*{{cite web |url= http://bob.plord.net/Ships/MS-3/UnitedStates/MorroCastle.html |last=Wiringa |first=Robert P |title=Morro Castle |work=Bob's Ship Collection |date=December 26, 2009}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.jerseyboardwalk.com/morro.htm |last=Norris |first=CV (Bud) |title=The Morro Castle |work=The Boardwalk Catalog |publisher=Lewis Publishing Co}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.asburyboardwalk.com/morrocastle/morro1.htm |title=The Morro Castle |work=Asburyboardwalk }}
*{{cite web |url= http://sideolamb.squarespace.com/morro-castle/ |title=The Morro Castle Disaster |work=side o' lamb }}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.damninteresting.com/the-derelict/ |title=The Derelict |work=Damn Interesting }}

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{{1934 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morro Castle, SS}}
[[Category:1930 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1934]]
[[Category:Ship fires]]
[[Category:Ships of the Ward Line]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the New Jersey coast]]
[[Category:Turbo-electric steamships]]
[[Category:1934 in New Jersey]]