WEBSITE OF THE MONTH: THE WARD LINE

JULY 2012 – Cruising The Past: Website Of The Month – THE WARD LINE

The Ward Line is best remembered for the ill-fated Morro Castle of 1930.

Andelson’s site not only explores the Morro Castle disaster but gives you a unique history of The Ward Line.

Video of the Morro Castle luxury liner.

The turbo-electric liners Morro Castle and Oriente were the largest and finest Ward Line ships ever built, though hardly the most successful.

Launched in the early stages of the Great Depression, the so-called “millionaire’s yachts” were fast, well-appointed, and safer than most ships of their era.

On the Oriente in 1939 – The bar of the Oriente of 1930 was one of the few shipboard locations that betrayed her Art Deco origins. All in all, the interiors of the Morro Castle and Oriente were quite traditional.

But a strange series of circumstances led to the Morro Castle’s destruction by fire in September 1934, resulting in the loss of 134 lives– the largest loss of life at sea in peacetime in U.S. history.

This tragedy has been the subject of many articles, books, and television programs, so this page is dedicated solely to images and memorabilia related to the Morro Castle and her sister.

Hopefully, these images give a better insight into the ship before her tragic loss– the “feel” of the ship, how she was advertised, and life onboard the Ward Line’s most infamous liner.

The Morro Castle, like the Titanic, was a scene of great tragedy.

The Deck Ballroom, Circa 1932 – Many passengers preferred the less formal feel of this space, which was likened to a nightclub.

Michael Alderson’s THE WARD LINE website is a unique and dedicated historical program.   The site is devoted to the ships and services of the Ward Line, officially known as the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company.

For 115 years, the Ward Line provided freight and passenger service to Nassau, Havana, and Mexican Gulf Ports.  The company was a critical link between these ports and the New York City, and its ships played a major role in the history of the nations they served.

Burned out hulk of Morro Castle disaster opposite Convention Hall, Asbury Park N.J..

Many people know the Ward Line only through the Morro Castle of 1930, the liner whose tragic loss by fire in September 1934 changed Safety of Life at Sea laws forever. The Ward Line site goes beyond the tragic loss of this ship (the single worst loss of life in U.S. history in peacetime) to explore the larger company history through images and memorabilia.

As you look through these pages, keep in mind that Ward Line ships were not transatlantic giants. They did not offer the luster of the White Star Line, the style of the French Line, or the speed of HAPAG and NDL. But they were critical links for U.S. interests in Cuba, Mexico, and the Bahamas, and they served a cross-section of the American public for nearly twelve decades.

The Ward Line weathered the storms of revolution, war, poor profits, fickle subsidies, tragic losses, and changing technology to serve the U.S. Merchant Marine from 1840 until 1955… the oldest U.S. shipping company at the time of its liquidation.

Lounge on the Morro Castle of 1930 – The impressive first class lounge on the Morro Castle and Oriente rose through two decks. When fire broke out on the Morro Castle in 1934, this room was quickly engulfed by flames from the adjacent writing room.

NOTE: Unfortunately, the website no longer exists.