At Shore, recalling ‘New Jersey’s Titanic’

September 30, 2013

Social Studies

Period V

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer (www.philly.com)

This article is about the personal recollection of the last living survivor of the Morro Castle disaster, which occurred off the coast of New Jersey in 1934. One hundred and thirty-seven people died when the cruise ship caught fire during a nor’easter. Jerry Edgerton, who at the time was a 19-year-old radioman on the ship, managed to jump safely into the sea. He and many other passengers were rescued by local fishermen, who bravely dared to sail out into the storm to offer help. Mr. Edgerton, who is now 99 years old, has his story recorded in a 2012 book entitled Inferno At Sea, written by two local authors, Gretchen Coyle and Deborah Whitcraft. Many questions about the sinking of the Morro Castle remain unanswered, but this disaster did result in many changes and improvements in cruise ship safety.

This story fascinated me. I’ve lived in New Jersey my whole life (just about) and have spent many happy days at the shore, but I had never heard about this terrible tragedy before. In addition, I’ve been on a number of cruises with my family and have never felt unsafe while on board a cruise ship. That might be because of all the obvious safety precautions that are evident on modern cruise ships, some of which were mentioned in this story. I also thought Mr. Edgerton’s story was really gripping, like a scene from a movie. It’s remarkable that he went on to serve in World War Two and trained with the famous Tuskegee Airmen. I need to get this book!