 Moored at Staten Island, New York, when "Morro Castle" caught fire, "Tampa" received word of the disaster at 0436 on the morning of 8 September 1934.She hurriedly recalled her liberty party, got up steam, and put out to sea at 1540.It took two hours to reach the scene of the holocaust, but when she arrived, "Tampa" assumed direction of the rescue operations which, by that time, were already well underway.