The SS Viking Explosion

The deadliest day in North American film history

The story of SS Viking has long since faded into the past. One of the worst days in film history barely gets a mention when it comes to dark days in Hollywood today.

Yet, it remains the deadliest film set disaster in North American history and it all happened off the coast of Newfoundland.

SS Viking was built in Norway in 1882 and was used by Fridtjof Nansen for his first Arctic Expedition that same year. That expedition discovered how the Gulf Stream flew beneath a cold layer of surface water.

For many years, the ship was used to hunt seals off the coast of Newfoundland.

In 1902, Bowring Brothers out of St. John’s, Newfoundland bought the ship. The ship was still used to hunt seals and was commanded by Captain William Bartlett until 1923.

In 1930, Bob Bartlett, the son of William, took over the ship.

Hoping to bring in some extra cash, the company chartered the ship to the Newfoundland-Labrador Film Company to make a feature film about the seal hunt in 1930.

Varick Frissel was brought in to direct and Paramount put up $100,000 to finance the film. Most of the filming was complete after a few months but Frissel wanted some action sequences on location.

He boarded the Viking with his crew and cast Bob Bartlett as Captain Barker.

Filming finished and test screenings were conducted in 1931. Paramount didn’t like the response and declined to release the film.

So, Frissel and the crew went out again on SS Viking to get more footage of icebergs, storms and action shots.

At this point, the ship was under the command of Captain Abram Kean.

On March 9, 1931, SS Viking left the port with 138 sealers, two stowaways and the film crew.

As the ship sailed north, it was hit by bad weather. On March 15, it encountered heavy ice off White Bay. Captain Kean had the ship butted into the ice jam to prevent it from moving in the night.

While the captain slept, everyone else went to the saloon for a drink. To get to the saloon, you had to walk past the explosive stored on the ship for breaking ice. Many men would walk by with cigarettes in their mouth.

Even though Frissel put up danger signs near the explosives, no one seemed to pay any attention.

At 9 p.m., an explosion tore through the ship, blowing the stern off where the saloon was. The blast was so loud it was heard 20 kilometres away. It killed the entire film crew.

Several crew members were thrown from the ship onto the ice. They had to walk kilometres to get help through the snowstorm. One man named Sargent had his legs amputated and a projectile remained buried in his skull for the rest of his life.

In all, 28 people and one dog were killed in the explosion.

When the movie came out, it received poor reviews. The New York Times called it sketchy and Theatre Guild Magazine said it was melodramatic and uninteresting.