1926 — April 11, Tanker Gulf of Venezuela Explosion (gas fumes), Port Arthur, TX — 29
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-14-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–29 Port Arthur News. “Daniel Fitzpatrick’s Body Is Recovered.” 4-15-1926, p. 1.
–29 Port Arthur News. “Death Toll in Ship Blast Now 29…May Reach 31.” 4-14-1926, p. 1.
–27 Port Arthur News. “Oiler Says Gas Fumes Noted Half Hour Before Blast.” 4-13-1926, 1.[1]
–26 Port Arthur News, TX. “Blast Dead Total Stands at 26,” April 12, 1926, p. 1.
–25 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
–25 Port Arthur News, TX. “Revised List of Dead, Hurt.” 4-13-1926, p. 1.
–13 Identified dead.
–11 Unidentified dead.
— 1 Missing.
–25 Port Arthur News, TX: “The Casualty List.” 4-12-1926, p. 1.
Narrative Information
April 12, Port Arthur News, TX: “Shortly after noon today, the casualty list in the explosion aboard the tanker Gulf of Venezuela, here, Sunday morning, stood at 26 dead, three dying and seven seriously injured.
“The blast, which occurred at 2:45 a.m. Sunday, caught most of the men asleep in their bunks and it is generally conceded by physicians that death in most cases was instantaneous, as they say the explosion was of sufficient violence to stop the heart action of those inside the hold of the vessel.
“The work of identification was made very difficult by the charred condition of the bodies, individual identification being possible in only eight of the twenty-five cases. The names of the other 17 dead are known, but they cannot be individually identified.
“While preparations are being made to bury most of the bodies this afternoon, officials of the Gulf company, have under way a thorough investigation, to determine if possible the exact cause of the disaster, several theories having been advanced as to how the gasoline vapors were ignited.
“The disaster is the worst in the history of Sabine district refineries, and while the vessel was a raging inferno for a time, the company’s fire fighters, experienced in the fighting of oil fires, succeeded with the use of chemicals in confining the greatest damage to amidship in the vicinity of the explosion, and the work of removing the dead and injured was soon under way.
“As the homes of practically all the dead are far distant, it is anticipated that they will all be buried here.
“The vessel was one of the largest in the Gulf Co.’s fleet of tankers. Being of 4276 tons register and having capacity of 85,000 barrels. At the time of the explosion she was being loaded with a full cargo of high test gasoline and only ten minutes more time would have been required to finish the pumping on of the cargo.” (Port Arthur News. “Blast Dead Total Stands at 26,” 4-12-1926, p1)
April 12, Port Arthur News, TX: “The Casualty List.”
“Names of twenty-six men known to have lost their lives to date as a result of the Gulf of Venezuela disaster Sunday morning were made available to The Port Arthur News by Captain John Charlton of the ill-fated ship and Gulf Refining company officials.
“The names of three Port Arthur dock workers who died from injuries in the blast aboard the tanker are:
FRANK TYLER, 712 East Seventeenth street.
FRANK PETTY, 2100 Sixteenth street.
RUDOLPH FUSELIER, 848 Thirteenth street.
“The names of 22 members of the crew who died in the disaster as announced by Capt. Carlton are:
- TWEEDELE, seaman, Chester, Penna.
R. C. RASMUSSEN, seaman, Norway.
E. HOFFMANN, seaman, Germany.
C. A. KOSER, seamen, Collingswood, N. J.
F. LARSEN, seaman, Sweden.
PETER LOOP, seaman, address unknown.
CHRIS VANVIK, seaman, address unknown.
JOHN DAHL, seaman, address unknown.
C. NORDWALL, seaman, address unknown.
M. LEELMISH, seaman, address unknown.
H. SCHICK, first pumpman, address unknown.
J. FOSS, second pumpman, address unknown.
R. KELLY, machinist, address unknown.
C. N. WAECHTER, doorkeeper, address unknown.
N. STEWART, oiler, address unknown.
H. BREMSER, oiler, address unknown. - HELLAND, fireman, address unknown.
JOHN F. LOPEZ, chief cook, address unknown.
G. A. SILVA, second cook, address unknown.
C. PROUDFORD, messman, address unknown.
HERBERT LUMBER, messman, address unknown.
D. MORRISON, messman, address unknown.
DANIEL FITZPATRICK, wiper, address unknown.
“Ten injured are in Mary Gates hospital where they are under medical attention, at least three of them being expected to die. The three thought fatally injured are:
BOWEN HARWELL, 124 Sixth street, Port Arthur, dock worker.
JULIUS EDWARSON, ship’s carpenter, Norway, probably fatally burned.
TIMOTHY FITZMAURICE, 21 Bay street, Dorchester, Mass., perhaps fatally injured and burned.”
April 13, Port Arthur News: “Fumes of gasoline on the deck of the Gulf of Venezuela, ill-fated tanker aboard which an explosion Sunday morning cost the lives of 27 men, were noticeable in the engine room of the craft below deck a few moments before the explosion, according to testimony given Tuesday morning by H. Blair, oiler aboard the vessel….” (Port Arthur News, TX. “Oiler Says Gas Fumes Noted Half Hour Before Blast.” 4-13-1926, p. 1.)
April 14, Port Arthur News: “At 1:30 p.m. today the body of R. Tweedlie, first assistant engineer of the Gulf of Venezuela and listed as one of the missing dead in the disaster, was found floating und4r the Gulf docks near the scene of the blast. His was the second body to be recovered Thursday. This leaves the body of J. Gordon Potts as missing.
_______
“Death toll of the Gulf of Venezuela disaster mounted to 29 Wednesday morning when the body of Leslie Brownell, a wiper, was recovered from the canal, across the stream from the point where the explosion occurred and the finding of Brownell’s body, burned almost beyond recognition and bloated to twice its natural size, developed the fact that J. Gordon Potts, another wiper and a pal of Brownell, is also missing and thought certain to be dead. These two men joined the ship late Saturday afternoon and apparently had not reported as their names do not appear on the ship’s register. Both men’s homes are in Galveston and they left there early Friday bound for Port Arthur in the hop of signing on a ship. And Saturday afternoon they did sign on a ship, the death ship, Gulf of Venezuela.
“Finding of Brownell’s body and discovery that Potts, with whom he was talking when the blast shook the vessel was still missing, leaves two bodies unrecovered. The other is that of R. Tweedlie, first assistant engineer who was in the engine room when the explosion occurred. Desperate efforts are being made to locate the two missing bodies
“A wrist watch, still wrapped about his burned and bloated forearm, and a pocketbook containing the picture of his young wife at Galveston were the two articles which made Brownell’s identification possible. The hands of the watch had stopped at exactly 2:52, indicating the fatal blast had occurred at that hour.
“Two victims of the Gulf of Venezuela blast disaster are in such critical conditions that their death seems certain within a few hours at Mary Gates hospital, it was learned today. The men are Timothy Fitzmaurice, a wiper from Dorchester, Mass., and P. F. Morrill, seaman from Portland, Me. They are in comatose states, and a turn for the worse struck each during the night, it was said at the hospital. Their deaths would bring the known toll to 31 lives….Fitzmaurice and Morrill are seared from head to foot, and their bodies are swathed in masses of bandages….
“The remaining seven men in the hospital were improving today, and their recovery is considered probable….” (Port Arthur News. “Death Toll in Ship Blast Now 29…May Reach 31.” 4-14-1926, p. 1.)
April 15, Port Arthur News: “With the finding of the twenty-ninth and possibly the last body of victims killed in the Gulf of Venezuela explosion, Gulf officials believed today that unless some of those critically injured, now in the hospital, succumbed, the death toll of the disaster would mount no higher. After a frantic search of the canal all day Wednesday, during which workers had located two bodies, search parties about 5:45 p.m. yesterday recovered the remains of another victim, floating close to the dock
Potts Among Unidentified
- Gordon Potts, 23, a wiper from Galveston who had joined the ship’s crew late Saturday, was the only victim known to be missing, but relatives declared the last body recovered was not his. It is believed that Potts’ body was among the seared and torn ten which were buried this morning, and that the newly recovered corpse is that of one of the crew already listed as being among the unidentified. The body found last night was identified by M. Blair, a surveyor, as that of Daniel Fitzpatrick, previously listed among the unidentified dead….” (Port Arthur News. “Daniel Fitzpatrick’s Body Is Recovered.” 4-15-1926, p. 1.)
April 15, Port Arthur News: “Fairly defying death in their brave efforts to recover from injuries sustained in the Gulf of Venezuela blast early Sunday, two victims of the explosion who were thought yesterday to be in dying conditions, had rallied slightly today and may be on the road to final recovery. The men are Timothy Fitzmaurice, a wiper from Dorchester, Mass., and P. F. Morrill, seaman from Portland, Me. Bodies of both are masses of burns. Although their condition is still critical, their chances of getting well are better than at any time since the disaster. Other injured blast victims were reported doing reasonably well today at the hospital.” (Port Arthur News. “Sailors Battle For Their Lives.” 4-15-1926, p. 1.)
May 11, Port Arthur News: “Months of tender care for critically injured survivors of the Gulf of Venezuela tanker explosion ended at Mary Gates hospital today when Timothy Fitzmaurice, wiper aboard the ill-fated vessel, became able to leave the building. He was the last of the dozen or more blast victims who recovered at the hospital. Frank Wood, Port Arthurian and second mate on the Gulf tanker, several days ago returned to his home at 2015 Procter street. He is still suffering from burns sustained in the blast. P. F. Morrill, seaman, and Conrad Jackstead, chief engineer, also left the hospital several days ago. With Morrill, Fitzmaurice was probably the most seriously burned of any of the survivors, doubt having been expressed they would recover so critical was their condition following the accident.” (Port Arthur News, TX. “Last of Blast Injured Walks.” 5-11-1926, p. 1.)
Sources
National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1
Port Arthur News, TX. “Blast Dead Total Stands at 26,” 4-12-1926. Accessed 3-14-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-apr-12-1926-p-1/
Port Arthur News, TX. “Daniel Fitzpatrick’s Body Is Recovered.” 4-15-1926, p. 1. Accessed 3-14-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-apr-15-1926-p-1/
Port Arthur News, TX. “Death Toll in Ship Blast Now 29…May Reach 31.” 4-14-1926, p. 1. Accessed 3-14-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-apr-14-1926-p-1/
Port Arthur News, TX. “Last of Blast Injured Walks.” 5-11-1926, p. 1. Accessed 3-14-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-may-11-1926-p-1/
Port Arthur News, TX. “Oiler Says Gas Fumes Noted Half Hour Before Blast.” 4-13-1926, p. 1.
Accessed 3-14-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-apr-13-1926-p-13/
Port Arthur News, TX. “Revised List of Dead, Hurt.” 4-13-1926, p. 1. Accessed 3-14-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-apr-13-1926-p-13/
Port Arthur News. “Sailors Battle For Their Lives.” 4-15-1926, p. 1. Accessed 3-14-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-apr-15-1926-p-1/
Port Arthur News, TX. “The Casualty List.” 4-12-1926, p. 1. Accessed 3-14-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/port-arthur-news-apr-12-1926-p-1/
[1] The “Revised List of Dead, Hurt,” on the same page notes 24 dead and one missing.