My 2 cents (or whatever it's worth these days) - I come down just this side for Yarmouth Castle. Wreck gets the music edge but the YC story, of both the ship and the souls aboard her, is incredibly moving.
Both are based on true disasters. Posted with the video:
"Unlike the loss of the "Fitz", whose Captain(Ernest McSorley)and crew were gallant,brave and victims of a storm on the Great Lakes, the Yarmouth Castle's loss was a testament to incompetence and an aging ship.She was beautiful when 1st constructed but the highly flammable varnishes and paint made her a firetrap.
Of all the great Gordon Lightfoot songs, this one haunts me the most.I spent 3 years in the 1960's doing rescue work with the USCG.This was a tragedy that should have never happened. This sad and very eerie tale, combined with GL's wonderful guitar and lyrics, are unforgettable.Its a tale of incompetence by a captain and crew, who left passengers to die in the fiery carnage of a ship at sea.A true horror story not unlike "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". "
For more on the ship and fire, go to Lost Liners:
http://www.lostliners.com/Liners/Yar...stle/fire.html
The loss of the Yarmouth Castle led to the creation of SOLAS. As described at the Lost Liners page:
Commonly called SOLAS, Safety Of Life At Sea regulations govern cruise ships that call at US ports. Whenever a new ship comes into service, or enters a US port for its first call, it must undergo a rigorous set of inspections by the US Coast Guard, covering fire safety drills, use of emergency equipment, crew drills, and detailed examinations of conditions and safety of the vessel’s hull and its machinery. After the initial series of inspections, the ships are re inspected quarterly. Unlike the CDC inspectors, the Coast Guard has the power to detain a ship and keep it from sailing if it is deemed unsafe for its passengers.
Re: "The Ballad" vs. "The Wreck": Which of the two song do you like better and why?
