Morania fire
Morania #130 was a 4000-ton, 120-foot (37 m) freight barge which operated on the Great Lakes. On October 29, 1951, it was carrying 800,000 US gallons (3,000,000 L; 670,000 imp gal) of gasoline, when it was pushed by the diesel tug M/V Dauntless #12 into the path of the 454-foot (138-meter) steamer Penobscot – which was proceeding seaward empty after unloading grain at Buffalo, New York[1] – on the Buffalo River. When the steamer backed away, a spark ignited the gasoline aboard the barge, resulting in a fire[2] which killed 11 sailors, including two from Penobscot.[3][1][4] The fire burned for several days as thousands of spectators watched.[2]
It was the worst marine disaster in Buffalo in the 20th century.[5][6]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b "Today in Great Lakes History - October 29". Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ a b "Buffalo, NY Barge And Freighter Collide, Oct 1951". GenDisasters. March 6, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "Ships and Men of the Great Lakes - Index of Names". Michigan Family History Network. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "1951 - The Dauntless". E.M. Cotter. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "The Troy Record from Troy, New York · Page 25". Troy Record. November 1, 1951.
- ^ Still considered worst ever
External links
[edit]- 1951 - Oct 29, barge/steamer Penobscot collide, explosion, tug Dauntless fire, Buffalo NY- 11
- Location of Lake Erie shipwrecks
42°52′43″N 78°53′20″W / 42.87861°N 78.88889°W