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February 24
“AN OCEAN HORROR THAT HAS COME HOME, THE SS FLORIZEL”
The SS Florizel, set out amidst poor weather conditions on its regular route from St John’s, Newfoundland to New York City on February 23, 1918. By February 24th , a storm had both diminished visibility and interfered with the ship’s equipment. With the crew confused and mistaken about the ship’s position, the Florizel struck a rock called Horn Head near Cappahayden on the Southern Shore.
Ninety-three crew and passengers perished, while 44 were miraculously rescued after 27 hours spent braving punishing seas and bitter cold. One of the passengers on this ship was a three year old little girl named Betty Munn who was sailing with her father; she was torn from his arms in this disaster. In memory of her death there is a statue of Peter Pan (the fairy tale she loves most) in Bowring Park.
The task of preaching and bringing comfort to the families of those who had suffered the loss of loved ones fell to Archbishop Edward Patrick Roche of St. John’s who in a sermon at a memorial to the victims said “With the exception perhaps of the great Sealing Disaster of a few years ago [the Newfoundlander, 1914], never has there been in our history -- strewn as that history is with marine tragedies great and small -- an ocean horror that has come home to us with such appalling force as the great disaster of the ‘Florizel’ which now throws its shadow over our city and our Island.”
Archival fonds: Archbishop Edward Patrick Roche fonds
Recommended Reading:
A Winter's Tale: The Wreck of the Florizel
By Cassie Brown, Flanker Press, 1997.
For more information on this and other related subjects contact the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese. www.stjohnsarchdiocese.nf.ca
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Larry Dohey
Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s
P.O. Box 1363
St. John’s, NL
A1C 5M3
709-726-3660
E-mail: archives@nf.aibn.com
We hope that you have enjoyed this archival moment.
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