SS Noronic

SS Noronic lying at Maple Leaf Dock in Port Colborne, Ontario 1931.
History
Canada
Name	SS Noronic
Owner	Canada Steamship Lines
Builder	Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company, Port Arthur, Ontario
Launched	June 2, 1913
Nickname(s)	"The Queen of the Lakes"
Fate	Destroyed by fire, September 17, 1949
General characteristics [1]
Type	Passenger ship
Tonnage	6,095 GRT
Length	362 ft (110 m)
Draft	28 ft 9 in (8.76 m)
Decks	5
Propulsion	1 × 3-cylinder triple expansion engine, single shaft, 1 screw.
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Capacity	600 passengers
Crew	200

SS Noronic was a passenger ship that was destroyed by fire in Toronto Harbour in September 1949 with the loss of at least 118 lives.^{[2]: 152 [3]: 179 [4]}

Description[]

SS Noronic after launching on June 2, 1913 in Port Arthur, Ontario.

SS Noronic travelling through the Sault Ste. Marie canal, circa 1948

SS Noronic was launched June 2, 1913, in Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada.^[5] She was built by the Western Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company for the Northern Navigation Company, an operating division of , to perform passenger and package freight service on the Great Lakes.^[6] She had five decks, was 362 feet (110 m) in length, and measured 6,095 gross register tons. At maximum capacity, she could hold 600 passengers and 200 crew. One of the largest and most beautiful passenger ships in Canada at the time, she was nicknamed “The Queen of the Lakes."^[7]: 146

Passenger decks were labelled A, B, C, and D, and none had direct gangplank access to the dock. The only exits were located on the lowest deck, E deck. There were two gangplanks on the port side and two on the starboard side, and only two were operational at a time.^[7]: 146

Noronic had eight fleetmate ships: City of Midland, Doric, Germanic, Ionic, Majestic, Waubic, Huronic and Hamonic.^[8] Hamonic burned in 1945 and Huronic was retired and scrapped in 1950.^[9]

Construction[]

From 1910 the Northern Navigation Co. had an operating agreement with the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), for the construction of a new ship. While the company did not immediately propose to build a new steamer at that time, the addition of new cabins for the Huronic was also under consideration.^[10] In mid-January 1911, James Playfair of Midland made a bid to purchase the Northern Navigation Co. on behalf of himself and his associates. The offer to purchase the company was subject to approval by the GTR, concerning a previous arrangement that its president, Charles Melville Hays, had made with the company for the construction of a new ship. Playfair's offer was to purchase the company at $1,250,000 for the $1,000,000 worth of stock and other terms. The president W. J. Sheppard, had communicated the offer to Hays on January 17. Sheppard said that Hays had discussed the matter with the Grand Trunk's passenger and freight departments. Hays had asked Sheppard if he would consider whether or not the business outlook would warrant the company to place an order for another steamship of equal capacity and general style to the Hamonic, to run in the line with that vessel. Sheppard said that as Hays did not approve of the proposed transfer of ownership and the arrangement with Playfair fell through automatically. Playfair then went to work to change Hays' views and he managed to secure the GTR's approval. On February 6 Hays notified that under the agreement with the two companies, that the N.N.Co. would provide a new steamship within 18 months, the plans were to be approved by the GTR Sheppard replied on February 10, that the company would do so, the new vessel would be ready not later than the opening of navigation in 1913, and that she would probably be 400 feet long.^[11] Hays' untimely death aboard the RMS Titanic likely contributed to the delay to the start of construction.

Fire[]

On September 14, 1949, Noronic embarked on a seven-day pleasure cruise of Lake Ontario from Detroit, Michigan.^[3]: 177 Noronic departed from Detroit and picked up additional passengers at Cleveland. She was scheduled to travel to Prescott, Ontario and the Thousand Islands before returning via Toronto and Detroit to Sarnia, where she would have remained over the winter.^[12] She was carrying 524 passengers, all but 20 of whom were American,^[13] and 171 crew members, all Canadian.^[3]: 177 The captain on the voyage was Capt. William Taylor.^[3]: 179

Noronic docked for the night at Pier 9 in Toronto Harbour at 7:00 p.m. on September 16.^[2]

At 2:30 a.m., passenger Don Church noticed smoke in the aft part of the starboard corridor on C-deck. Church followed the smell of smoke to a small room off the port corridor, just forward of a women's washroom. Finding that the smoke was coming from a locked linen closet, Church notified bellboy Earnest O'Neil of the fire. Without sounding the alarm, O'Neil ran to the steward’s office on D-deck to retrieve the keys to the closet. Once the closet was opened, the fire exploded into the hallway; it spread quickly, fuelled by the lemon-oil-polished wood panelling on the walls.^[7]: 147

Church, O'Neil, another bellboy, and another passenger attempted to fight the blaze with fire extinguishers, but were forced to retreat almost immediately by the spreading flames. To his dismay, O'Neil found the ship's fire hoses to be out of order. Church rushed to his stateroom on D-deck, and he, his wife, and children fled the ship.^{[7]: 147–8}

O'Neil ran to the officers' quarters and notified Captain Taylor. First Mate Gerry Wood then sounded the ship's whistle to raise the alarm. It was 2:38 a.m., only eight minutes after the fire began, but already half of the ship’s decks were on fire.^[7]: 148

Twenty-seven-year-old Donald Williamson was the first rescuer on the scene. After working a late shift at the Goodyear Tire plant, the former lake freighter deckhand wanted to see Noronic, which he knew was in port. He arrived to the sound of the ship's distress whistle, as the fire was quickly growing and people were frantically jumping into the lake. Spotting a large painters’ raft nearby, he untied it and pushed it into a position near the ship's port bow. As people leapt from the burning ship, he pulled them from the water to the safety of the raft.^[14]

Responding to a "routine" box call, Constables Ronald Anderson and Warren Shaddock turned their "accident" car onto Queen's Quay in time to see the ship erupt in flames as high as the mast. Their cruiser was immediately surrounded by survivors, many in shock, some on fire. A passenger alerted Anderson to those in the water and those on the decks, some in flames.^[14]

Anderson stripped his uniform off, jumped into the frigid, oily water, and began to assist Williamson on the raft.^[14] Detective Cyril Cole later joined them, swimming with survivors and bodies to the dock where other police officers hauled the injured up by rope to Shaddock and others who were administering first aid.^{[citation needed]} Fireboats joined the rescue operation, plucking others who jumped into the water from the ship. Among those officers was Jack Marks, who went on to become Toronto's police chief.

Crew members had to smash portholes to drag some passengers out of their cabins. Moments before the whistle sounded, the pier's night watchman noticed the flames coming from the ship and called the Toronto Fire Department. A pumper truck, a hose wagon, a high-pressure truck, an aerial truck, a rescue squad, the deputy chief and a fireboat were dispatched to the scene. Ambulances and police were also dispatched. The first fire truck arrived at the pier at 2:41 a.m.^[1]

Passengers escape by rope

By this time, the entire ship was consumed in flames. Only 15 crew members had been on the ship when the fire broke out,^[15] and they failed to make a sweep of the upper four decks to wake passengers; those who did wake up were awakened by screaming and running in the corridors. Most of the ship's stairwells were on fire, and few passengers were able to reach E-deck to escape down the gangplanks. Some passengers climbed down ropes to the pier.^[7]: 148

The scene was later described as one of great panic, with people jumping from the upper decks engulfed in flames, some falling to their deaths onto the pier below. Others were trampled to death in the mad rush of terrified passengers in the corridors. Still others suffocated or were burned alive, unable to exit their cabins. The screams of the dying were said to be audible even over the sounds of whistles and sirens.^[7]: 150

The first rescue ladder was extended to B-deck. It was immediately rushed by passengers, causing the ladder to snap in two.^[1] The passengers were sent tumbling into the harbour, where they were rescued by a waiting fireboat. Other ladders extended to C-deck held firm throughout the rescue.^[7]: 150

After about 20 minutes, the metal hull was white hot, and the decks began to buckle and collapse onto each other. After an hour of fighting the blaze, Noronic was so full of water from fire hoses that it listed severely toward the pier, causing firefighters to retreat. The ship then righted itself, and firefighters returned to their original positions. By the end, more than 1.7 million gallons (6.4 million litres) of water had been poured on the ship from 37 hoses.^[7]: 151

The fire was extinguished by 5:00 a.m., and the wreckage was allowed to cool for two hours before the recovery of bodies began. Searchers found a gruesome scene inside the burned-out hull. Firefighters reported finding charred, embracing skeletons in the corridors. Some deceased passengers were found still in their beds. Many skeletons were almost completely incinerated. Glass had melted from every window, and even steel fittings had warped and twisted from the heat.^[7]: 151

Every stairwell had been completely destroyed, save for one near the bow.^[7]: 151

Forensic dentistry was used to identify the victims.^[16][17][18] This has been described as the first use, or one of the first uses of dental records for identifying bodies.

Aftermath[]

The death toll from the Noronic disaster was never precisely determined. Estimates ranges anywhere from 118^{[2]: 152 [3]: 179} to 139 deaths.^[7]: 151 Most died from either suffocation or burns. Some died from being trampled or from leaping off the upper decks onto the pier. Only one person drowned. To the anger of many, all 118 of those initially killed were passengers. (One crewmember, Louisa Dustin, later died of her injuries; she was the only Canadian victim, and the 119th fatality.)^[3]: 179

A Federal inquiry was formed by the House of Commons of Canada to investigate the accident. The fire was determined to have started in the linen closet on C-deck, but the cause was never discovered.^[15] It was deemed likely that a cigarette was carelessly dropped by a member of the laundry staff.^[2]: 146

The burned-out hull of Noronic

The high death toll was blamed largely on the ineptitude and cowardice of the crew. Too few crew members were on duty at the time of the fire, and none attempted to wake the passengers. Also, many crew members fled the ship at the first alarm, and no member of the crew ever called the fire department. Passengers had never been informed of evacuation routes or procedures.^[7]: 152

The design and construction of the 36-year-old ship were also found to be at fault. The interiors had been lined with oiled wood instead of fireproof material. Exits were only located on one deck instead of all five. None of the ship's fire hoses were in working order.^[7]: 152

Captain Taylor was hailed as a hero in the weeks after the fire. He was among the last of the crew to leave Noronic. During the fire, he broke windows, pulling trapped passengers from their rooms.^{[7]: 148–50} He was even said to have carried an unconscious woman from a smoke-filled passageway and lowered her by rope to rescuers on the pier below.^{[citation needed]} The inquiry into the disaster blamed both Canada Steamship Lines and Captain Taylor for failing to take adequate precautions against fire, and ordered Taylor's master's certificate suspended for one year. A witness made an accusation that Taylor had been under the influence of alcohol when the ship caught fire; Taylor denied this, and other witnesses testified that Taylor was behaving normally.^[19]

The ship, which settled to the bottom in shallow water, was partially taken apart at the scene. The upper decks were cut away, and the hull was re-floated on November 29, 1949. It was towed to Hamilton, Ontario, where it was scrapped.

Company officials suspected arson. Comparisons were later made to the fire aboard the CSL passenger ship Quebec, on which the fire was proven to have been deliberately set in a linen closet on August 14, 1950. In that year, Noronic's near sister ship, the smaller Huronic, was retired and scrapped. By 1967, CSL phased out its remaining passenger ships from the fleet due to new international regulations relating to ships containing wood and other flammable materials.^[20]

Damage suits for Noronic were settled for just over $2 million.

Noronic's whistle was displayed in a nautical museum on Toronto's Waterfront.^[21]

The Ontario Heritage Foundation placed a plaque near the site of the disaster on its 50th anniversary.^[22]

The hull of Charles A. Reed, Toronto's wooden-hulled fireboat, was damaged by the fire's extreme heat, triggering city council to seek to replace her with a more powerful, modern, steel-hulled vessel.^[23]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Noronic (ship, 1913).

• Javed, Noor (16 September 2009). "Witness to a disaster". Toronto Star. Toronto. Retrieved 25 November 2012.