Comment by bell-cot

The article says that Rogers was a newcomer, who the captain had immediately made Chief Radio Operator. When normal practice would have been to make Rogers the Assistant to the longer-serving Alagna. On what are you basing your statement "[Rogers] apparently had grudges against the captain..."? The article is clear about Alagna's ongoing public disputes with the captain.

I'll agree that Rogers' mental and moral fitness were dubious at best. But I see no mention of him being depressed, nor remotely suicidal. And especially in the 1930's, you'd need to be suicidal to set fire to the ship you were on, at sea, in 40-knot winds. What motive would Rogers have had to do that? His later behavior is obviously self-serving.

I agree that things are very different when you're targeted by an A List adversary. But even if such an adversary is present, the normal laws of physics are not suspended by Plot Fiat. Experienced marine engineer William McFee noted that the ship's funnels were directly behind the locker where the fire started. Funnels clad in flammable materials, which would dangerously overheat if the boiler maintenance had been neglected. In an area with no fire detecting system. Then serious fire-fighting efforts were badly delayed, because nobody knew how to get the fire hose working. And Wikipedia notes that the ship was a fire-trap - with features such as broad wooden bypasses for the "fire doors", hidden above the wooden ceilings.

If there's a closet full of oily rags in an old box factory, where the drunkard night watchman has passed out yet again, then no criminal mastermind is needed for the place to burn down. Though "criminal mastermind" does make a far more salable story.