SS Volturno Catches Fire

Date: October 9, 1913 • Location: SS Volturno (1906), International

Carrying a cargo hold full of highly flammable chemicals, the ocean liner SS Volturno caught fire in the north Atlantic and sank, resulting in 136 deaths.

SS Volturno was an ocean liner that caught fire and was eventually scuttled in the North Atlantic in October 1913. She was a Royal Line ship under charter to the Uranium Line at the time of the fire. After the ship issued SOS signals, eleven ships came to her aid and, in heavy seas and gale winds, rescued 521 passengers and crewmen. In total 135 people died in the incident, most of them women and children in lifeboats launched unsuccessfully prior to the arrival of the rescue ships.