 During this time, she participated in the drama which accompanied the tragic fire on board the Ward Line steamer SS "Morro Castle".At about 0230 on the morning of 8 September 1934, a fire broke out aboard the ocean liner as she was returning from a Caribbean cruise.The fires spread rapidly, and inept seamanship on the behalf of her captain – who had only taken command after the ship's regular master had died earlier that evening – resulted in the loss of many lives.