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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Paddy54, post: 8220965, member: 19250&quot;]Encased 1934 Lincoln cent...USS Morro Castle fire [ATTACH=full]1443814[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1443815[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>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, Cuba, to New York, United States, with the loss of 137 passengers and crew.</p><p><br /></p><p>Morro Castle</p><p><br /></p><p>HistoryUnited StatesNameMorro CastleNamesakeMorro CastleOwnerAtlantic, Gulf &amp; West Indies SS Lines (1930–33)[3]Agwi Navigation Co, Inc (1933–34)[3]Operator Ward LineRouteNew York City – HavanaBuilderNewport News Ship Building &amp; Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia, U.S.CostUS$4,000,000Yard number337Launched5 March 1930Completed15 August 1930Maiden voyage23 August 1930Out of service8 September 1934HomeportNew York City, New York, U.S.IdentificationUS official number 230069code letters MJCR (1930–1933)[1]call sign KGOV (1934–1935)[2]FateCaught fire and beached herself on September 8, 1934; later towed off and sold to breakers (Union Shipbuilding Co.)[4] Scrapped[5]General characteristicsTonnage11,520 GRT[6]6,449 NRT[6]Length480 ft 0 in (146.3 m)[6]Beam70 ft 9 in (21.6 m)[6]Depth18 ft 5 in (5.6 m)[6]Installed power14,000 ihpPropulsionsteam turbo-electric transmissiontwin screwsSpeed20 knots (37 km/h)Capacity489 passengersCrew240 crewSensors and</p><p>processing systemsdirection finding equipmentsubmarine signalling equipment (removed by 1934)gyrocompass (added by 1934)echo sounding equipment (added by 1934)Notessister ship: Oriente</p><p><br /></p><p>On the previous evening, the ship&#039;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. Response by crew, Coast Guard, and rescue vessels was notably slow and inefficient, with empty capacity in the lifeboats. The decks were too hot to stand on, smoke made breathing difficult, and passengers were forced to leap into ocean swells 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[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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