When the Dancing Stopped: The Real Story of the Morro Castle Disaster and Its Deadly Wake

by Brian Hicks

Book Overview

During the dark days of the Great Depression, thousands of weary souls escaped their bleak lives for a week of paradise aboard the Ward Line's glamorous cruise ship, the Morro Castle. It was the most... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743280083
• ISBN13: 9780743280082
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 345 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A good, if limited, offering.

This is, by my reckoning, the fourth book-length treatment of the Morro Castle disaster. It is also arguably the best of the lot, while not without its flaws. Thomas Gallagher's "Fire At Sea," published initially in 1960 and reprinted a few years ago by Lyons Press, told what was a compelling tale on the surface; however, some of the author's claims fall apart on closer scrutiny, in no small part because he presented as fact incidents that could kindly be called apocryphal (some of which were known, at the time, to have been false). "Morro Castle" (Hal Burton), while a competent offering--here the author sticks to the facts--breaks no new ground. "Shipwreck" (Thomas/Witts) I've seen compared--accurately, it should be said--to a screen treatment; the writing is dramatic in all the worst ways, and the authors make some factual leaps in service to their story, rather than sticking to events as they happened. Each of these books covers slightly different facets of the event, giving a Rashomon-like quality to a narrative whose true nature may never be known. Against this backdrop, "When The Dancing Stopped" appeared in 2006. Hicks takes as his protagonists passenger Doris Wacker and crew member Tom Torreson, whose stories are covered, to varying degrees, in the previous books. He does, however, further flesh out their stories, and much of the rest of the back story both of the vessel and the Ward Line, the company that operated her. He further makes use of FBI files that had previously been unavailable, shedding some new light on the character and actions of the disaster's "hero," Chief Radio Operator George Rogers. On the other hand, much of the Rogers material had been uncovered earlier by Gallagher's research, and much of what Hicks has "unearthed" merely corroborates that part of Gallagher's story. Furthermore, Hicks, like Gallagher, builds the case against Rogers without giving serious consideration to the other possible causes of the fire. One would grant, based on the evidence presented in these two books, that if the fire was caused by arson, Rogers is the prime, if not the only, suspect; however, this is far from an open-shut case. Burton's book, while acknowledging the possible Rogers connection, raises another possibility. While it's more prosaic, it's every bit as plausible, and is compelling in its own right. Without giving the game away, I would refer you to yet another book: "The Aspirin Age," edited by Isobel Leighton, which contains an essay on the Morro Castle that lays out in depth the case that Burton makes only in brief. But I digress. Hicks has delivered a well-researched, eminently readable book. While it doesn't close the nearly 75-year-old case, it's a more-than-worthy addition to the (sadly limited) canon on this disaster. But there's a caveat... Hicks managed to avoid his predecessors' shortcomings and pitfalls, save for one: I can't help but think, based on the evidence, that the author allowed his narrative to shape h

Riveting Retelling of a Classic American Mystery

The strange story of the cruise liner S.S. Morro Castle is truly one of history's most intriguing "stranger than fiction" mysteries. The Depression-era Morro Castle sailed regularly between New York and a then pre-Communist Cuba. But even though old Havana was a prized tourist destination in those days, the political turmoil of the island in and of itself infected the Morro Castle with intrigues. The Morro Castle's cargo business involved it in what can only be called gun running, and the repressive "banana republic" governance found in Cuba lead to political agitation amongst her crew. Labor unrest in general seemed to be a constant since the liner's owners seemed a bit too ready to take advantage of the desperation of the crew for jobs while the Depression raged. And as the troubled liner plied her trade, her captain, Robert Willmott, himself became more and more troubled. Mysterious fires broke out on the ship during her runs. Stories reached the captain about explosives and toxic chemicals being smuggled aboard to either sabotage the ship or injure him personally. On the Morro Castle's last voyage, Willmott had become so paranoid that he had nearly cutoff all contact with passengers and crew. On that last voyage on the last night of the cruise, the beleaguered captain dropped dead under circumstances that can only be called mysterious in the light of subsequent events. The exhausted up-since-dawn first mate, William Warms, has to take charge only to find himself piloting the ship through the most bizarre weather imaginable. A hurricane is traveling up the East Coast from the south while simultaneously a Nor'easter is traveling south - trapping the Morro Castle between the two and leaving her no escape from gale force winds. Three A.M. sees the ultimate horror when a fire breaks out amidships in one of the few rooms aboard that is not fitted with smoke detectors or sprinklers. In minutes the fire burns out of control and cuts nearly everyone off from lifeboats. Most of the passengers and crew find themselves forced to decide whether to burn to death or jump into storm tossed seas. Over a hundred die from the fire or in the water off of the New Jersey coast and in an eerie coda, the burned out liner herself drifts ashore at Asbury Park and draws gawkers to watch her smolder for weeks on end. The sequence of events that night was so bizarre that speculation began immediately that the suspicious fire wasn't accidental but was purposely set. The story didn't end there, however. It became even more disturbing. One of the ship's officers - one of the few that ended that night being lauded for his heroism - proved in subsequent years to be a homicidal sociopath. It was discovered that he had a criminal history prior to his time aboard the Morro Castle. Not only was he convicted for robbery, but he was strongly suspected of having committed arson to hide his burglaries. After his time on the Morro Castle, he attempted to murder a co-worker with a ho

Newly declassified files help to shed light on a 70 year old mystery

Every so often I come across a book that grabs my attention in the opening pages and keeps me fixated right until the very end. "When The Dancing Stopped" is just such a book. Author Brian Hicks relates the incredible tale of the cruise ship Morro Castle and fantastic events that led to its untimely demise in September 1934 off the New Jersey Coast. The Morro Castle, flagship of the steamship company known as the Ward Line, carried all of the mail between New York and Cuba. It was a lucrative government contract worth more than $750,000 per year. The ship was also outfitted to carry hundreds of passengers on its weekly jaunts to Havana. None of the passengers or crew members of the Morro Castle could possibly have anticipated the bizarre and deadly events would unfold on that fateful evening of September 8, 1934. Within just a few short hours the ships captain Robert Willmott would be found dead in his quarters and a deadly fire would break out on board the Morro Castle. To make matters worse a tropical storm was rapidly approaching the disabled vessel from the South while a massive Nor'easter was bearing down from the North. All the ingredients were in place for a major catastrophe! What makes all of this so disturbing is that there was ample evidence to suggest that Captain Willmotte just might have been murdered and that the fire was indeed no accident. What could possibly motivate an individual or group of people to perpertate such dastardly deeds? This is what "When The Dancing Stopped" is all about. You will meet the members of the crew and learn how they reacted during this tragedy. You will be appalled to learn why so many of the lifeboats on board were never even used. You will also learn the identity of the individual who many suspect may have been motivated to set these horrible events in motion. Brian Hicks does a splendid job in researching this book. Hicks also makes use of recently declassified government documents that shed new light on this 70 year old mystery. But the story does not end with the Morro Castle. The individual suspected of planning and executing the events on that fateful night would continue to wreak havoc for another 20 years. It turns out that this portion of the book is every bit as compelling as the story of the disaster itself. Whether you are a fan of disaster books like I am or enjoy murder mysteries I suspect that "When The Dancing Stopped" is a book you will certainly enjoy. Highly recommended!

A great read! Highly recommended!

I highly recommend this book. It gives a poignant overview of the tragedy and a compelling overview of the man behind it. The author has gone to great lengths to research the disaster and it shows-- in a very readable way. An enjoyable read!

The Disaster that Improved Ship Safety

The Morro Castle disaster has largely been forgotten. Simply too much has happened for this ship to have remained in our awareness. Still, it is a story worth remembering. First this is a good, well written story. It describes the ship, what happened and the times themselves in a way that makes it seem current and real. There were enough mysteries about the ship that the story keeps you interested. One of the big mysteries is the origin of the fire. It could have been started in any of a variety of ways, one of which was arson. Mr. Hicks has, however, put together a surprising amout of evidence that it was. No one really knows. Despite its cause, the fire aboard the SS Morro Castle served to improve fire safety for future ships. The use of fire retardant materials, automatic fire doors, ship-wide fire alarms, the necessity of emergency generators, mandatory crew training in fire fighting procedures, and greater attention to fire drills and procedures resulted directly from the Morro Castle disaster.