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]

The steamer Penobscot.

It was the worst marine disaster in Buffalo in the 20th century.[5][6]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Today in Great Lakes History - October 29". Great Lakes and Seaway Shipping. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Buffalo, NY Barge And Freighter Collide, Oct 1951". GenDisasters. March 6, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Ships and Men of the Great Lakes - Index of Names". Michigan Family History Network. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  4. ↑ "1951 - The Dauntless". E.M. Cotter. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ "The Troy Record from Troy, New York · Page 25". Troy Record. November 1, 1951.
  6. ↑ Still considered worst ever

42°52′43″N 78°53′20″W / 42.87861°N 78.88889°W / 42.87861; -78.88889


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