MV Patrick Morris

The MV Patrick Morris was a Canadian National Railway (CN) train ferry that sank on her run from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland during a storm in the early morning hours of 20 April 1970 while responding to a mayday call from the Newfoundland-based herring seiner FV Enterprise. The ship's Captain Roland Penney was given permission to leave North Sydney ahead of schedule to assist the wood-hulled fishing vessel in distress.

Construction

Built for the West India Fruit and Steamship Company by Canadian Vickers Ltd. of Montreal, Quebec in 1951, the 460-foot vessel was called the SS New Grand Haven and operated as a railcar ferry between Palm Beach, Florida and Havana, Cuba until 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba and business declined due to the United States Trade Embargo. In 1961, the company sold all six of its ferries.

The Government of Canada bought the SS New Grand Haven, renamed her the MV Patrick Morris to honour a Newfoundland colonial politician. The ship was affectionately known by the nickname "Paddy Morris"; she became CN's first train ferry to serve the North Sydney - Port aux Basques route.

Loss

The Patrick Morris left North Sydney, NS before her regularly scheduled departure time and headed to the last reported position of the Enterprise where her crew spotted a body in the water that was presumed to be that of a crew member from the fishing vessel. In the process of maneuvering to recover the body, the Patrick Morris ended up with her stern facing into the wind and the ship was overwhelmed when struck by a 30 ft (9.1 m) wave that smashed through rail car loading doors at the stern. The Patrick Morris foundered and sank 35 minutes after sending out her own mayday call. Of her crew of 51 officers and sailors, 47 crew survived. Captain Penney, Chief Engineer David Reekie, Second Engineer Joseph Henry Slayman and Third Engineer Ronald A. Anderson were lost. All eight crewmen perished from the Enterprise. The wreck of the MV Patrick Morris lies in the Cabot Strait approximately 15 nmi (28 km) east of Cape Smokey at a depth of 300 ft (91 m).

References

• http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?35988
• http://cnmarine.webs.com/sspatrickmorris.htm
• http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=k5MjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FbkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1751,1819440&dq=patrick+morris+sinking&hl=en
• http://nswrecks.net/ns-datapages/patrickmorris-dat.htm
• http://www.capebretonpost.com/Opinion/Columns/2008-03-03/article-781650/Search-for-sunken-railcar-ferry-Patrick-Morris-will-begin-in-April/1
• http://images.maritimehistoryofthegreatlakes.ca/63115/page/26
• http://www.capebretonpost.com/Living/2010-04-20/article-1031331/Survivors-mark-40th-anniversary-of-sinking-of-the-Patrick-Morris-/1 40th anniversary remembrance

External Links

http://nswrecks.net/ns-datapages/patrickmorris-dat.htm