Destination disaster: tragedies in the maritime world - Seamen's Church Institute's Water Street Gallery, New York, NY

Tragedies in the maritime world, including Amity, Andrea Doria, Central America, Esso Brussels, General Slocum, Great Republic, Lusitania, Mary Celeste, Morro Castle, Normandie, Seawanhaka, Sea Witch, Titanic, and Westfield, prompted the adoption of strong measures that would make safety at sea the most important of objectives. This exhibition reviews the calamities and lessons learned.

WHEN the Mary Celeste left New York in November, 1872, with 10 crew members and a cargo of 1,700 barrels of alcohol, she was bound for Genoa, Italy. However, the sailing ship never reached its destination. It was found one month later as a ghost ship. What became of her crew remains a mystery.

For people living in today's world, it may be difficult to comprehend that ships routinely would sail off for months at a time without any means of communicating with land. If and when they did encounter problems, the crew could not call for assistance. The marine electronics standard on modern merchant vessels could have enabled the Mary Celeste's crew to get help.

A series of ship disasters in the 19th and 20th centuries--such as those on exhibition at The Seamen's Church Institute in New York--resulted in devastating losses and helped bring to light the need for more effective maritime training. The number of casualties at sea has diminished with the use of radio, radar, and electronic and satellite navigation. Though maritime accidents still occur, many training requirements, emergency procedures, and technological improvements in equipment design or ship construction resulted from such tragic events.

Fire figured prominently in many disasters, such as General Slocum in 1904 (for full details, see p. 57), Morro Castle in 1934 (pp. 54-55), and Normandie in 1942 (p. 56).

In an effort to avert such disasters, the U.S. Life Saving Association, the predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard, was established in the mid-1800s; radar certification became a required part of licensing and license renewal; ships were constructed with fireproof materials where possible; and procedures for fighting fires and assisting passengers in an emergency were instituted.

Since 1890, The Seamen's Church Institute, New York, has provided training programs in ship handling and navigation to seafarers of all nations, creeds, and religions. The Center for Maritime Education was established to carry out this tradition of service. In recent years, it has grown to be a leader in the maritime education field by consistently meeting the demands of an ever-changing maritime industry laden with high-technology equipment. The Center seeks to increase seafarers' professional competency, whether they operate a tugboat on an inland waterway, an ocean-going containership, or a cruise ship carrying vacationing passengers.

"The depictions in our gallery show the tragedies that can happen, but also show the silver lining in the cloud by educating us as to what can happen through negligence in disasters," explains the Rev. Peter Larom, director of The Seamen's Church Institute.

Communication at sea between passing ships and from ship to shore has played an important role in the history of maritime transportation and safety. The introduction of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). for instance, promises to improve safety at sea for merchant ships. Hailed as the biggest innovation in communications at sea since the invention of the radio, GMDSS uses satellites and transistor-based electronics to aid in the identification and coordination of search and rescue efforts of all vessels on the high seas, eliminating the possibility of ships disappearing without a trace.

Nevertheless, the sea is an unforgiving element, and the loss of ships and seamen goes on. Lloyd's Register lists 184 ships known to have been lost at sea in 1994, with the loss of 1,522 lives. Still, there are lessons to be learned from the various maritime tragedies that struck vessels sailing to or from the Port of New York. Among the most important were:

Andrea Doria and Stockholm, July 25, 1956. The Andrea Doria of the Italian Line was inbound from Mediterranean ports to New York. Outbound from New York on the same day was the Swedish American Line motor vessel Stockholm. When heavy fog set in some 50 miles south of Nantucket Island, Andrea Doria reduced speed to 21 knots, while Stockholm traveled on at 18 knots. Both vessels relied on their radar in the fog. The bridge watch on the Andrea Doria started to track a target on the radar at 10:40 p.m., but assumed it would pass well off the starboard side. When the target moved to the center of the scope, the Doria sounded her fog horn, but heard no other signal. Just past 11:00 p.m., Stockholm knifed into the side of the Andrea Doria. An S.O.S. brought scores of ships in the heavily trafficked area to the scene. More than 1,600 people were saved, but 52 were killed in the collision. The next morning, the abandoned ship sank. Stockholm returned to New York for repairs, and her hull remains in use today. The two companies agreed to settle the claims for damages out of court in 1957.

While modern electronics for navigation have been developed in recent times, there still is the need for basic caution and seamanship by mariners. The chief cause of the Andrea Doria and Stockholm collision was attributed to careless and negligent operation of the radar and handling of the ships in the fog. As a result, radar certification became a required part of licensing and license renewal. Radar manufacturers also increased the tempo of their work to produce a new type that would show the true motion of other ships instead of their relative positions.

RMS Titanic, April 15, 1912. There is no other ship in the world that is as well-known, along with the story of her sinking, as the RMS Titanic. Books have been written about it, movies produced, a diving expedition focused on the wreck, and societies of buffs probed into her history. She sailed on her maiden voyage from England to New York in April, 1912, the largest ship in the world at the time--882.5 feet long and 46,328 gross tons. While 1,600 miles northeast of New York on April 14, she hit an iceberg, tearing a 300-foot gash in the hull. More than 1,500 people perished in the disaster when Titanic sank two and a half hours after the collision. The ship that experts said was "unsinkable" only carried lifeboats for half of the 2,200 people on board under British Board of Trade regulations.

The Titanic disaster was directly responsible for influencing many improvements for safety at sea, perhaps because of the great publicity she received and the famous people who lost their lives when she sank. There were new regulations for watch standing, coverage for ships' radios, and providing auxiliary power. Ships were required to carry enough lifeboats for all on board. The International Ice Patrol was established to track the movement of icebergs and warn ships traveling the Atlantic of the bergs' locations.

Lusitania, May 7, 1915. At the start of World War I, international naval warfare was carried out under the "Cruise Rules," giving passengers the opportunity to abandon ship if the vessel was no threat to the attacker. Nevertheless, the Cunard liner Lusitania while inbound from New York to England, off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. The ship went down in 18 minutes, killing 1,200 people, including many U.S. neutrals. American and British public reaction was one of outrage at the Germans sinking an unarmed passenger ship. The Germans claimed Lusitania was an armed auxiliary cruiser, carrying war material and military personnel, and they had warned passengers boarding at New York not to sail on her.

Even after eight decades and the release of much of the classified material on the disaster, the full truth has not been revealed.

Amity, April 24, 1824. The Black Ball packet ship Amity, heading from Liverpool to New York, wrecked off Squan Beach (now Manasquan), N.J., in a thick fog. The crew and five passengers got off safely, but the bilge was damaged and the ship could not be saved. Even though there was no loss of life, the shipwreck was a devastating setback to the Black Ball Line and her insurers. She was carrying a valuable cargo of dry goods, including linens, woolens, cashmere, and other fine textiles. The secondary cargo, which remained in her hold, was Birmingham hardware, Midlands tools, and Sheffield cutlery.

The wreck of the Amity lay untouched until 1955, when it was discovered by a sport fisherman and local scuba divers. The wreck was salvaged for the State of New Jersey in 1958, yet the ship remained unidentified until 1994, when divers from the New Jersey Historical Divers Association finally determined the name by her remaining cargo. In order to avert disasters such as that of the Amity, the U.S. Life Saving Service came into existence in the mid-1800s.

Great Republic, Dec. 27, 1853. Donald McKay had served his apprenticeship in the shipyards on the East River in Manhattan, then opened his own yard in Boston and built sailing ships for the California Gold Rush. In 1853, he launched the biggest ship of its day, Great Republic, 30% longer and 90% larger in tonnage than anything afloat. It would not be until 1858, when Great Eastern was launched, that any ship would exceed her size. The ship was towed from Boston to New York by the tug R.B. Forbes loaded with grain, and prepared for her maiden voyage to Liverpool with hopes of setting new speed records.

However, the Novelty Bakery caught on fire three blocks from the waterfront, and the sparks were driven downwind to set fire to the sails and freshly tarred rigging of many of the ships docked at South Street. The Great Republic was a prisoner of the river's low tide, mired in the mud, and tugs could not move her away from the pier and fire.

The volunteer fire department of the time had no hoses powerful enough to spray water on the soaring masts with the burning sails of the four-masted square-rigger. McKay was aboard and offered $1,000 to any man who would go aloft and cut away the sails and rigging, but there were no takers. Volunteer firemen fled from the deck of the ship and the pier when the blaze broke loose the rigging and caused it to fall.

To save the hull of the ship, the stays were cut, and the four masts fell to the deck and pier. The burning fore topmast snapped and came crashing down, going through four decks to reach the cargo of grain and set it on fire. The ship was scuttled, settled into 10 feet of the East River, and burned for two days before the fire reached the water's edge.

The insurance underwriters paid McKay in full, $280,000, then resold the ship. She was rebuilt and, with reduced sail and crew, went to sea. Although still the world's largest sailing ship at the time, she was not the Queen of the Sea McKay had built. Sailing under different owners, flags, and name (Danmark), the clipper lasted until lost off Bermuda in 1872.

Morro Castle, Sept. 8, 1934. The Ward Line cruise ship Morro Castle was returning to New York from Havana, Cuba, when the master died on Sept. 7 and the chief mate assumed command. In the early morning hours of Sept. 8, it was off Barnegate Light Vessel, steaming at 20 knots, when smoke was reported and a fire discovered. The fire alarm was sounded, but the ship continued at full speed. By 3:21 a.m., the fire was out of control and the ship's systems failed, including the steering, electric lights, and communication from the bridge to the engine room. The ill-trained crew did little to fight the fire or help the passengers, and the lifeboats launched had few passengers aboard. Most of those rescued were by Coast Guard boats from New Jersey stations and commercial fishing boats. One hundred and twenty-four people lost their lives in the disaster.

The Morro Castle burning had a great impact on changes of the rules and regulations for American ships and crews. Part of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 established training requirements for crews and was the genesis of the present U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and the training of unlicensed personnel. There was a complete revision of procedures for holding fire and boat drills, as well as duties for assisting passengers in an emergency. Ship construction was changed radically, along with the use of fireproof material.

Central America, Sept. 11, 1857. The California Gold Rush brought a boom for the American Merchant Marine in the demands for ships to sail from the gold fields in the West to banking interests in the East. In 1857, the side-wheel paddle steamer Central America was returning to New York from California via Havana with a cargo of gold that was needed to back up U.S. government loan payments and avert a possible bank crisis. The value of the shipment, with gold selling for $20 an ounce, was $1,219,189 and included double eagle gold pieces and gold dust. The actual value of the cargo, however, was much more, for passengers carried gold-filled bags and money belts, too.

While proceeding north in the Atlantic Ocean, Central America was hit by a hurricane off Cape Fear, N.C. In spite of the heroic efforts of all aboard, the steamer lost her boilers and fell to the mercy of the sea. A brig from Boston came upon the sinking ship and took off 31 women, 29 children, and 39 men. Not until the ship was sinking did those who carried money belts with gold discard the extra weight. About 428 men passengers and crew perished.

The Civil War years following the disaster pushed the gold ship from the news, and salvage technology of the day made it too difficult to even locate the vessel. In 1987, a salvage group from Columbus, Ohio--Columbus American Discovery Group--found the wreck more than a mile and a half down on the ocean floor. The 150 investors had spent $2,200,00 to locate the treasure, which is estimated to be valued today at $1,000,000,000.

Using the latest technology, including a robot submarine, the company brought up more than a ton of gold. After the announcement of the discovery, 39 insurance companies that had paid out $1,200,000 in claims on the ship sued the salvagers. The Columbus group maintained that the wreck was abandoned and, as finders, they were the owners. The courts in 1990 awarded the entire treasure to the salvagers, but, on appeal by the insurance companies in 1992, a Federal court gave the salvagers 90% and the insurance companies 10% of the cargo.

Westfield, July 30, 1871. The ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan still was operated by the Staten Island Railroad. As a result of heavy passenger traffic, the wooden-hull side-wheel steamer Westfield was put into unscheduled service on that Sunday. As an extra boat, Westfield was not held to a tight schedule, and the captain decided to wait until the 1:00 p.m. arriving boat appeared off Governors Island before leaving Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan. Ferry passengers today still congregate on the bow, or Staten Island end, when leaving Manhattan, especially in summertime. Westfield had her steam boilers and coal bunker on this end of the boat, where 250 people gathered. At 1:27 p.m., the boilers exploded, killing 66 people and injuring 200. The Steamboat Inspection Service conducted a hearing, found the chief engineer did not have a marine license to operate the boilers, and held the ferry company's superintendent responsible for employing the engineer in violation of the law.

Westfield was repaired to sail again and, when New York City took over the Staten Island ferry, continued in service. This disaster showed how, even with laws on the books, they still must be enforced. Today, the Staten Island ferries carry 2,500,000 people safely every year. The Barberi-class ferry, with a capacity of 6,000, is the largest carrier vessel under the American flag.

Normandie, Feb. 9, 1942. When the U.S. entered World War II, the great French liner Normandie, which had been laid up temporarily in New York since 1939 because of the war, was taken over for conversion to a troop ship at Pier 88 on the Hudson River and renamed U.S.S. Lafayette. During the conversion, kapok life jackets brought aboard the ship caught fire from a workman's torch, and the fire quickly spread. The water pumped aboard the burning ship by New York City fireboats and harbor tugs, estimated at 800,000 gallons, caused the ship to roll over onto her port side. Although the great liner was salvaged at the pier, she never was returned to service and was scrapped. American taxpayers paid $24,000,000 in compensation to the French government for the liner.

In a strange way, U.S.S. Lafayette contributed to the war by providing training in salvage and diving operations for the U.S. Navy. The disaster also brought out the need for better coordination in a port fire between various official agencies. Although sabotage was suspected, the established cause was the lack of a proper fire watch during the burning torch operation and the storage of flammable life jackets.

Mary Celeste, November, 1872. The ship sailed from Pier SO, East River, New York City, on Nov. 5 with a crew of 10 and a cargo of 1,700 barrels of alcohol for Genoa, Italy. Eight days after the ship cleared port, the Dei Gratia left New York for Gibraltar. On Dec. 5, Dei Gratia sighted a sailing vessel and, after trying to "speak" to her, sent over a boarding party and found the derelict Mary Celeste, with no one aboard and her lifeboat gone. The last entry in the Celeste's log, dated Nov. 25, noted her position and the fact she had just passed St. Mary's Island in the Azores. Three members of the Dei Gratia crew, mindful of the salvage reward, took over the Celeste and sailed her to Gibraltar.

Thanks to the interest of Charles Edey Fay, vice president of the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co., the only firm still in existence that had part of the insurance of the Mary Celeste, the legend of the mystery has been preserved. Drawing from Fay's book published in 1942, there are two theories on what happened to the ship. The first, by the author, was that a change in temperature affected the cargo of alcohol, causing fumes, and the crew abandoned the ship to perish in the small boat. The second theory was that it beached on one of the rising and disappearing islands scientists have documented in the area. With the ship beached, the crew took to the boat, but the island later disappeared, freeing the Celeste.

Seawanhaka, June 28, 1880. The Seawanhaka was a side paddle-wheel steamer used as a commuter boat between Manhattan and Glen Cove and Sea Cliff, Long Island. She made two stops in Manhattan, picking up around 300 commuter passengers, and then sailed up the East River. Many wealthy New Yorkers used the boat to commute between the city and their homes on the north shore of Long Island.

When the steamer entered the Hall Passage, at about 5:00 p.m., there was an explosion in the engine room, with a resulting fire. Capt. Charles D. Smith knew he was in one of the most perilous sections of the port, filled with rocks and having dangerous tides. He stayed in the pilothouse, in spite of the fire, and drove the burning steamer aground on Sunken Meadow, between Ward's and Randall's islands, on the west bank.

With the captain shouting instructions from the pilothouse, most of the passengers kept their heads, saving themselves and others. The way the boat had been run aground, the lee side was free of flames, giving those on board the chance to jump free. The death toll was estimated at 50. Smith was awarded a gold medal for his heroic action in the fire, but died on the day he was supposed to receive it.

After the Seawanhaka disaster, the professional mariners in the port founded the organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots, a union that remains in existence today on American ships at sea and on inland waterways.

S.S. Sea Witch and S.S. Esso Brussels, June 2, 1973. The containership S.S. Sea Witch sailed from the Howland Hook Container Terminal on Staten Island, N.Y., on June I at 11:29 p.m., bound for sea. She entered the channel to sail under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, passing the Stapleton Federal Anchorages. When the sea pilot ordered a change in course at 12:37 a.m., the helmsman reported a loss of steering. The Sea Witch was traveling at 13 knots full ahead and started to veer to the right towards anchorage. The crew tried to drop the port anchor, but it was held in place by a jammed pawl (bolt). With the general alarm sounding, the ship's whistle blowing constantly, and an attempt to run the engine full astern, Sea Witch collided into the starboard side of the anchored tanker Esso Brussels, spilling her cargo of oil, which started to burn on the water. Flames from the collision shot up approximately 217 feet to stop traffic on the Verrazano Bridge. Various harbor crafts, fire and police boats, tugsboats, and U.S. Coast Guard units raced to aid the crews of the burning vessels. The masters of both ships died in the collision along with two people on Sea Witch and 10 crew members from the Brussels. The New York City fireboat Firefighter saved 32 people from the Sea Witch, and the tugs Grace, Jane, and Brian McAllister rescued 10 people from the Esso Brussels. Harbor tugs, police boats, and fireboats picked up 15 other survivors.

It was obvious the main reason for the collision was the malfunctioning of the steering gear on Sea Witch, caused by the failure of a three-sixteenths of an inch shaft key. All vessel steering gears were inspected after the accident by the Coast Guard, and a major design change was made. Sea Witch's speed in the harbor waters was cited as a contributing factor. The use of reflective tape and lights on life jackets became standard. Because of difficulty in starting the engine of the Brussels' lifeboat. an improved starting mechanism was introduced.

General Slocum, June 15, 1904. St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, chartered the excursion side-wheel steamer General Slocum for its annual picnic. With approximately 1,330 passengers aboard, mostly women and children, the boat sailed at 9:40 a.m. from the Third Street pier on the East River. By 10:20 a.m., the Slocum had entered the history books as the largest fire fatality in New York City and the second largest inland water disaster in U.S. history. The wooden steamer claimed some 1,021 victims, drowned or burned to death, in the disastrous fire in the Hell Gate waters of the East River. There was a complete breakdown in fire fighting by the crew and equipment in a vessel that was supposed to have been fully inspected by the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service. Life jackets fell apart from age; fire hoses burst when pressurized; and lifeboats were impossible to launch.

The world was shocked at the loss of life on the General Slocum, and Pres. Theodore Roosevelt appointed a commission to investigate the disaster. It placed the responsibility on the U.S. Steamboat Inspection Service, dismissed all inspectors associated with the Slocum, and ordered re-inspection of 268 vessels under its jurisdiction. Recommendations of the commission urged that vessels be constructed of metal, if possible, and the addition of fireproof bulkheads to contain fires. The 1871 laws were clear on one point: the vessel's master had over-all responsibility for safety, crew training, and equipment.

An exhibition of famous ship disasters, "S.O.S. Safety on Ships: Learning from New York's Maritime Tragedies," is at The Seamen's Church Institute's Water Street Gallery, New York, through Dec. 30. Using ship models, photographs, paintings, prints, and artifacts, the exhibition illustrates the circumstances behind the tragic events and provides analyses of how such incidents might have been avoided using the technology and procedures that are in place today.

The authors are, respectively curator of the exhibition, "S.O.S. Safety on Ships: Learning from New York's Maritime Tragedies," and director of public relations, The Seamen's Church Institute, New York.

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