The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-09-08

The Moro Castle was propelled
/ by electric turbines and, while her
cruising speed was 81 knots an hour
she was capable of greater speed
/ She was 500 feet long and had mod
ern quarters for 500 passengers.
Her public rooms equalled any Of
the giant liners in the north At
lantic trade.
On her first voyage she reached
Havana in fifty-nine hours, not a
| record for the run, but excellent for
boats in the regular Havana-New
York service. The Cunarder Maure-
tania, on a special cruise, established
the record Of less than fifty hours.
The Moro Castle held the record for
the Havana-to-New York run of
fifty-eight hours.
She was built by the Newport
News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock
Company.
Sailors described passengers with
their heads out of port holes pa
thetically begging for help as the
lifeboats pulled away from the
burning ship. There was no posi-
bility of saving them. They were
cut off completely by the flames.
The fire apparently started in the
writing room forward and had
gained much Roadway when dis
covered. The crew, quartered for
ward. was aroused by the bells
sounding a general alarm. BY the
time they reached the scene, the
flames were leaping many feet high.
It was impossible to penetrate to
the corridors leading to passenger
quarters admidships and aft, the
surviving seamen said.
Few Passengers Survive
The port side Of the ship was one
mass of flames from bow to stern
within a few minutes. Only one
life boat got over on the port side
Six, perhaps seven, we're launched
from the starboard side. Approx
mately all the survivors who APP
peared here were members of the
crew, and it was believed that few
Of the passengers survived,
James York, an oiler, Brooklyn,
told the United Press this story:
I was asleep in my bunk on c
deck. I heard a bell about $3.50
a. m. which 1 thought was an alarm
clock. Just then a sailor busted me
one in my bunk and told me the
ship was on fire. I rushed up to
b deck and found the passenger
quarters in the amidships super
structure Just about surrounded by
fire.
We hooked up the hose lines and
poured water on the fire, but it
seemed to make it blaze higher
Finally there was nothing to do but
break out the boats. We broke out
che on the starboard side and man
aged to lower it,"
Warned Into Silence
cat this point an official, appar-
emily of the Ward line, warned York
to talk no further)
Henry Harris, a sailor. Brooklyn,
said:
I was too busy fighting the fire
10 think of passengers. We were
ordered to the boats when the whole
ship seemed ablaze. God only knows
what happened to the passengers"
Some of us tried TO get the pas
sengers out, but it was virtually i'm
possible to get them out" said one
sailor. We heard two girls scream
ing. I used a fire AK on the port
of their stateroom and pulled them
out. There was one boat left on the
port side with flames all around.
We put the two girls in it and sew
eral men passengers, I don't know
how many. but not many. and man
aged TO lower it.
Girls Are Swell
The flames were so bad I was
afraid they'd get to the boat ropes
before We were launched. One of
the ropes gave when We hit the
water and its end fell down and hit
the girl on the head. She didn't
cry. She was swell Neither did
the other. NO, not once. They were
swell
we pulled away and We could see
passengers with their heads pro-
jecting out of the portfolios C. their
Staterooms. We could see some on
deck. backed entirely by fire.
we yelled for them to jump and
we'd pick them up. They wouldn't
jump. I don't know why. Maybe
some did. 1t was gray and rainy
and hard TO see. We looked around
but didn't pick up anybody"