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The MV (Motor Vessel) Patrick Morris was a Canadian National Railways (later CN Marine and Marine Atlantic) train ferry that sank on her run from North Sydney, NS to Port aux Basques, Newfoundland during a storm in the early morning hours of 20 April 1970 while responding to a mayday call from the wooden Newfoundland-based herring seiner M.F.V. "Enterprise". Captain Roland Penney was given permission to leave North Sydney ahead of schedule to assist the fishing vessel in distress.

Construction

Built for the West India Fruit and Steamship Company by Canadian Vickers Ltd. of Montreal, Quebec in 1951, the 460-foot vessel was called the SS (steamship) "New Grand Haven" and operated as a railcar ferry between Palm Beach, Florida and Havana, Cuba until 1959 when Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba and business declined due to the United States Trade Embargo. In 1961, the company sold all six of its ferries.

The Government of Canada bought the New Grand Haven, renamed her the MV Patrick Morris (after a Newfoundland politician) and affectionately known as "The Paddy Morris", she became the first railcar ferry to serve in the Newfoundland Ferry system.

Loss

The ship left North Sydney, NS before her regularly scheduled departure time and headed to the last reported position of the "Enterprise" and spotted a body in the water, presumed to be a crewman from the stricken fishing vessel. In the process of maneuvering to recover the body, the Patrick Morris was overwhelmed when struck at the stern by a 30-foot wave which smashed her stern doors and she went down thirty five minutes after sending an SOS call. 47 crew survived but four, Captain Penney, Chief Engineer David Reekie, Second Engineer Joseph Henry Slayman and Third Engineer Ronald A. Anderson were lost. All eight crewmen perished from the "Enterprise". The MV Patrick Morris lies 300 feet down, about 15 nautical miles east of Cape Smokey in the Cabot Strait.

References

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	'''MV Patrick Morris'''

	The MV (Motor Vessel) Patrick Morris was a [[Canadian National Railways]] (later [[CN Marine]] and [[Marine Atlantic]]) [[train ferry]] that sank on her run from [[North Sydney, NS]] to [[Port aux Basques, Newfoundland]] during a storm in the early morning hours of 20 April 1970 while responding to a mayday call from the wooden Newfoundland-based [[herring seiner]] M.F.V. "Enterprise". Captain Roland Penney was given permission to leave North Sydney ahead of schedule to assist the fishing vessel in distress.		The MV (Motor Vessel) Patrick Morris was a [[Canadian National Railways]] (later [[CN Marine]] and [[Marine Atlantic]]) [[train ferry]] that sank on her run from [[North Sydney, NS]] to [[Port aux Basques, Newfoundland]] during a storm in the early morning hours of 20 April 1970 while responding to a mayday call from the wooden Newfoundland-based [[herring seiner]] M.F.V. "Enterprise". Captain Roland Penney was given permission to leave North Sydney ahead of schedule to assist the fishing vessel in distress.