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The Derelict (2015)

A series of accidents and errors amass into disaster at sea. But that's not the end of the story.

Hundreds of lady and gentlemen passengers would gather in the Grand Ballroom in their finest evening attire for the customary Farewell Dinner, where veteran sailor Captain Willmott would captivate his guests with salty tales from his years at sea over endless glasses of champagne. Charles O’Connor, a police officer on vacation, would later report that, “we had to heave a number of passengers overboard because they were too scared to jump.” These heavers of reluctant ladies, well-meaning as they may have been, had little regard for the women’s protests, resulting in numerous drownings. Unable to find the source of the fire, man-made or otherwise, the incident was ultimately dismissed as “an act of God.” In January 1936, a federal jury convicted William Warms, two of his officers, and a Ward Line executive on charges of willful negligence.

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