on september 8, 1934 137 people would perish in a disaster that is the direct result of modern fire prevention design and life boat drills that are now required. there is an eerie mystery behind this maritime disaster, leaving a burning wreck to float ashore and beach itself, just hundreds of yards from the asbury park convention center, and leaving passengers to either perish or swim for their lives.
the mystery surrounding the fire has never been solved, but it has been hinted that it was purposely set. chief radio engineer, george white rodgers, and his assistant, george alanga were both under suspicion, but nothing had ever been proven. the captain, robert wilmott, who supposedly died of a heart attack the day before, previously expressed to some of his officers that he believed someone was out to murder him and damage or destroy the ship. he never told them who, but he suspected that george alanga was a 'dangerous radical'. wilmott also had suspicions of rodgers as did other crew members because his appearance was not that of a seaman and he had no friends on the crew.
initially, rodgers would be hailed as a hero, as he was one of the few crew members to remain on board until all of the passengers had escaped, but eventually fell under suspicion again when questioned by a collegue about the disaster. his colleguee was led to believe that rodgers did indeed cause the fire and possibly the murder of captain wilmott by poison. there had been a prior instance where rodgers was being investigated for arson or his own repair shop, but was never convicted. in 1938 his collegue, vincent doyle, was sent an annonymous package which contained a heater, delivered by rodgers but containing no signature, and when doyle plugged the heater in, it exploded instantaneously, injuring doyle, but not killing him. rodgers was arrested a few weeks later and convicted of attempted murder.
rodgers was sentenced to 12 to 20 years in trenton state prison, but was released in 1942. after his application to join the navy was rejected because of his criminal record, he opened another repair shop. he was struggling financially and in 1952 was loaned money by a man named william hummel. a year later, hummel began pressuring rodgers to repay the loan and a month later hummel and his daugher were found beaten to death in their bayonne home. rodgers was arrested and convicted of their murders in 1954 and sentenced to life in prison, but died 4 short years later of a brain hemorrhage.
so the mystery may never be solved. did rodgers murder captain wilmott and then set fire to the ship to hide his crime? or is he guilty of arson and wilmott's death a coincidence? but his history of violence and arson of which he was convicted speaks a different story. the truth will more than likely never be known and 137 lives were lost and history was changed forever, possibly caused by a single man.
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