High Tragedy at Sea
By Roger Weston
The Italian merchant
steamer, SS Sirio, departed from
Genoa on August 2, 1904, starting on a voyage that the Italian immigrants onboard
believed would be a restful and peaceful ride to begin their new lives in
Argentina. After picking up additional passengers in Barcelona, Spain, the
ship, with almost 800 souls on board, set out for South America on August 4.
However, she did not get far at all. In fact, she was only 2 ½ miles east of
Cape Palos near Cartagena, Spain when she ran aground at full-speed on a reef
off Hormigas Island.
Fishermen had taken
notice of the SS Sirio, which was cruising
close by in tricky waters. They heard a tremendous crashing noise when the ship
hit a reef. They saw passengers knocked off their feet from the impact, falling
hard onto the SS Sirio’s steel decks.
For the fishermen, it was a grim moment to see the brutal crash. However, in
the next four minutes, that moment of shock melted into a surreal experience as
they watched the ship’s stern rapidly sink below the rippling, pulsating
surface of the shiny blue waters. Fortunately, these fishermen were not passive
men. They knew the sea as well as they knew their own mothers, maybe better.
They were highly competent on the waters. Realizing that a disaster was
unfolding, they flew into action. They needed little urging; however, they got
some anyway. The stern of the SS Sirio
sank so quickly that within just four minutes, it was underwater, and the
fishermen could hear the screams of the drowning. The bow was still above the
surface, like a dolphin sticking its nose out of the sea.
While the fishermen began
their rescue efforts, a truly tragic, life-and-death drama was playing out on
board ship. By one account, the captain was not on the bridge when the ship
struck the reef; rather, he’d turned over the helm to an inexperienced third
mate. If so, this was one of a series of misjudgments, which is surprising. After
all, the captain had forty-six years experience and a flawless record. This was his
final voyage before retirement. Perhaps he let his guard down and decided to
relax a little on this last trip. Forty-six years experience. Flawless record.
Hundreds of thousands of sea captains never achieved such an impressive record.
Captain Giuseppe Piccone could sail a ship from Spain to Argentina in his sleep
if he had to. Not, however, on this particular day, this most tragic day.
The fishermen and
the passengers on the SS Sirio weren’t
the only players in this epic tragedy. There was a full cast, and all the
actors were on hand. There were other ships in the area. One of those vessels
was the French steamer Marie Louise.
Her captain saw the whole disaster unfold. He saw the SS Sirio on a risky course through a dangerous area when she
crashed into a submerged obstacle. The bow of the doomed ship rose up out of
the water like a breaching whale. The boiler exploded. It erupted like Mount
Vesuvius, a tremendous explosion. Screams were heard. Bodies were suddenly
floating past the Marie Louise.
“I want a boat in
the water now,” the captain of the Marie Louise ordered. “Save anyone you can.”
Over on the SS Sirio, Captain Giuseppe Piccone had a different perspective because it was his ship that was sinking. One thing Piccone lacked was experience in dealing with shipwrecks and calamity. For forty-six years, he had avoided trouble. Conflicting accounts emerged in the press as to what happened on this fateful day. Some said the captain froze; others testified that panic broke out and he tried to contain it, but couldn’t. The captain himself later confessed that his actions were imprudent.
Why would a captain
with forty-six years experience take imprudent actions? Why would he take a course
that was obviously dangerous according to the captain of the Marie Louise? The SS Sirio was not just any ship. Her entire career had been devoted to
delivering immigrants from Italy and Spain to South America. She had safely
helped over 170,000 immigrants begin new lives in Argentina. Thousands and
thousands of people had fond memories of this ship. It is reported, however,
that these were not all legal immigrants.
The SS Sirio was known to frequently make
unofficial stops along the coast of Spain where illegal immigrants were taken
aboard for a steep price. These illegal immigrants made the trans-Atlantic
journeys more profitable. Easy profits were enough to sway owners and captains
to take extra risks.
In life, it is said
that the toughest trees are those that must survive in the wind because they
must grow the stoutest roots in order to withstand the harsh elements. As
stated, Captain Giuseppe Piccone had enjoyed a smooth career. According to the
press, when the tragedy sprung upon him, he froze, he choked, he couldn’t
function. He was among the first to abandon ship.
Seeing the captain
flee naturally distressed the hundreds of passengers. Chaos broke out on deck. As
the stern quickly sank, passengers scrambled for the bow. They fought to get
there first. They fought for real estate because prices were rising quickly.
They fought
viciously. Fear rode on their backs. Pandemonium reigned. Primitive instincts
ruled. Passengers who hours earlier treated each other as new friends now
trampled over each other to save themselves. While attempts were made to deploy
lifeboats, fights broke out—knife fights. This was truly survival of the
fittest. It didn’t occur over millions of years; it played out in a matter of a
few desperate minutes. Even fights to the death. Passengers were
spared drowning because they were murdered in bloody brawls. The knowledge of
economics proved less valuable than the knowledge of brute violence. Awful sounds
carried across the waters—shouts of men, screams of women, and cries of
children. The pretenses of civilized man were stripped away, revealing raw,
savage survival instincts.
While some behaved
badly under pressure, others responded differently. The Bishop of Sao Pablo was onboard and blessed drowning passengers as the ship went down. That is how he died. A
monk died while kneeling on deck in prayer. The Austrian Consul to Rio de
Janeiro leapt overboard in a life belt, but when he came across a mother and
child about to give up to the sea, he gave them his life saving device. He then tried to
fight the currents and swim for land without it. When a boat pulled him from
the water, they said he was exhausted. Had they not saved him, he might well
have perished.
A young mother
clinging to her baby was told, “Dump the
child, you fool! Save yourself!”
“Never,” she cried.
“We’ll die together!” As it turned out, they were among the survivors.
There were many survivors
because various ships and trawlers in the area steamed to their rescue. One of
these was the trawler Joven Miguel. The
crew of the Joven Miguel, however, panicked
and considered breaking away from the rescue because they feared they would be
overloaded and sink. Facing a mutiny, the captain drew his pistol and shouted,
“As long as it’s possible to take on another passenger, we will not move.” Fearing
the captain more than the sea, they returned to the rescue.
As they took on more
swimmers, the captain realized that they were becoming top heavy and might very
well capsize. He ordered the survivors below decks, but they were gripped
with fear and refused. The captain brought out his pistol again. He waved it
around in the air. “Get below now or I’ll shoot you and throw you back into
water.” The passengers, having just been rescued, now realized that they were
at the mercy of a gun-wielding madman. They hurried below, which steadied the
boat and kept her safe from capsizing. The madman saved 300 lives.
Another trawler, the
Vicenta Llicano hauled out 200
people. An old man in a dinghy saved twelve more.
More fishermen along the coast sent out boats to rescue passengers. Some of those big-hearted mariners overloaded their boats with people. As a result, their boats overturned, dooming the fishermen along with those they had tried to save.
When all the survivors
were brought ashore, a whole new tragic drama began. Parents who’d been
separated from their children wept bitterly upon learning that their children
were missing. One woman couldn’t take the agony and heartbreak. Her mental
faculties fragmented. She literally went insane over her lost child. Many
rescued children realized that their parents had died, leaving them as orphans.
As they looked out to sea, they saw their parents’ graves. As they looked
around on land, they saw their own scary, lonely futures.
In some cases,
spirits were broken by adversity. Some of the survivors gave up their dreams of
immigrating to Argentina. They resolved to return—by land—to their homeland—for
good.
All told, 300 people
died in the shipwreck of the SS Sirio.
A year later, it was reported that Captain Giuseppe Piccone died of grief.
Author's note: After learning about the SS Sirio, I wrote THE CONFESSION. If you like fast-paced action packed thrillers in the style of Clive Cussler, Matthew Reilly, and James Patterson check out THE CONFESSION.
Roger Weston writes action-packed thrillers with a maritime twist.
You can find all of his books here: Roger Weston's Amazon Author Page
