Seventy-five years ago on Sept. 17, 1949, one of the worst tragedies in Great Lakes history occurred, just down the Queen Elizabeth Way from Hamilton. There are people alive today who have vivid memories of this night of horror.
On Sept. 14, the Canadian cruise liner Noronic cast off from its wharf in Detroit Michigan. It was 36 years old, 362 feet long and could carry up to 600 passengers.
It was one of the most beautiful vessels on the Great Lakes, and had been nicknamed the “Queen of the Lakes.” Its furnishings were on par with the finest hotels in the world. It was on a seven-day cruise through lakes Erie and Ontario.
The Noronic stopped in Cleveland, Ohio, to pick up more passengers, bringing her passenger total to 524 (with a crew of 200). On the evening of Sept. 16 the Noronic docked in Toronto Harbour.
Captain William Taylor gave most of the crew the night off so they could go into Toronto and enjoy the sights. Many passengers also disembarked to go into the city for dinner or see a show. By midnight, most of the passengers had returned and gone to bed.
Ominously there were only 15 crew on duty that evening to care for over 500 passengers. The rest of the crew was either still in Toronto or asleep. Nicknamed “the Queen of the Lakes,” the Noronic was 362 feet long and could carry up to 600 passengers.
At 2:30 a.m., a passenger by the name of Donald Church smelled smoke in a corridor on C deck.
Investigating, he saw smoke coming from a locked linen closest. He t.
