1945 — Feb 5, tanker Spring Hill hit/explosion and fire, off Stapleton, Staten Isl., NY –19-20

–19-20 Blanchard death-toll estimate. It is clear that at least nineteen lives were lost from the
tanker Spring Hill. The AMMW, Ryan and McCaffery and the USMM all note twenty
fatalities. From the NYT of Feb 7, in noting 19 deaths, it is also noted that 74 men were still in the hospital, four critically injured. It was also reported that there may have been at least several unknown missing. One report (NFPA) notes there were “several” deaths from the crew of the Vivi. We dismiss the report of 40 deaths noted in the Dunkirk Observer (NY) of Feb 7, 1945.

— 40 Dunkirk Observer. “Dunkirk Seaman was Seriously Injured in New York Blast.” 2-7-1945
— 20 AMMW. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1945 (website).
— 20 AMMW. U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S., and Gulf of Mexico…WWII.
— ? Clio.
–20 Spring Hill (Crew 9; Armed Guard 11)
— 20 Ryan (ed.) and McCaffery (primary researcher). Braving the Wartime Seas. 2014, p. 452.
–20 Spring Hill (Crew 9; Armed Guard 11)
— 20 USMM. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Cadets and Graduates lost during WWII (1945).
–20 Spring Hill (Crew 9; Armed Guard 11)
— 19 Goldstein. Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II. 2010, p. 58.
— 19 NYT. “Death Toll Now 19 in Ship Explosion; Number of Missing Still Is in Doubt.” 2-7-1945, 23.
— 19 NYT. “Tanker that Burned after Crash in Bay in February is Back in Service.” 6-3-1945.
— 18 Chester Times, PA. “Survivor of S. S. Spring Hill Waits New Ship.” 2-14-1945, p. 4.
— 18 Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon IL. “Harbor Collision…18 Dead, 22 Missing.” 2-8-45
— 18 Willoughby 1957. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II, p. 68.
— 17 Dunkirk Observer. “Divers Search Hull of Tanker for Bodies…Ship Disaster.” 2-6-45.
–>17 NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1945.” Quarterly of…, Vol. 39, No. 3, Jan, 1946, p. 215.
–Several. Vivi.
— 17 National Fire Protection Assoc. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

Narrative Information

American Merchant Marine at War:
“02/05/45…Clio…Tanker (Panama)…Collision/Fire…Eastcoast…Unknown [deaths]
“02/05/45…Spring Hill…Tanker…Collision/Fire…Eastcoast…Crew 9; AG 11 [deaths].” (AMMW. Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1945 (website).)

Goldstein: “On the morning of February 6, 1945, the American tanker Spring Hill, loaded with 120,000 gallons of aviation gasoline and anchored 1,000 yards off Stapleton, Staten Island, exploded and caught fire when it was struck by the Panamanian tanker Pan Clio. The Norwegian tanker Vivi, passing by when the collision occurred, was set afire by burning oil splattered on its deck. The three-way accident left 19 dead and 122 injured.” (Goldstein, Richard. Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II. NY: Free Press, 2010, p. 58.)

National Fire Protection Association, 1946: “Steamships. Feb. 5. New York Harbor, Tanker Collision and Fire, $2,000,000.

“Explosions and fire followed the collision at 8:59 A.M. of the tanker Spring Hill, at anchor in the lower Basin opposite Pire No. 11, Brooklyn, and the 8000-ton tanker Clio. The Spring Hill, newly completed for the War Shipping Administration, was loaded with gasoline. Within two minutes of the initial explosion and while members of the crew of the Norwegian tanker Vivi, loaded with fuel oil and anchored 100 tards away, were attempting to rescue members of the blazing ships, the Vivi was sprayed with blazing gasoline. This third vessel was set ablaze and several crew members were killed at this time. Dragging her anchor, the Vivi steamed to the windward of the burning Spring Hill and remaining crew members extinguished the flames on this vessel. Water and foam were used by the numerous city and Coast Guard boats in attacking the flames on the Spring Hill and Clio, and in two hours the fire was brought under control. At least 17 lives were lost and 122 other persons injured.” (NFPA. “Large Loss Fires of 1945.” 215.

Ryan and McCaffery: “On February 5, 1945, the Spring Hill was anchored in Anchorage 27 off Pier 18, Staten Island, New York, loaded with 140,000 barrels of high-test gasoline. At around 0845, she was rammed on the port bow by the foreign flag merchant ship M/V Clio. The Spring Hill’s forward cargo tanks immediately exploded and burst into flames, ultimately consuming about one-third of the ship’s cargo. Crew members who survived the explosion jumped overboard into the ice-choked water of New York harbor. Many men tried to make their way to the aft of the ship, where the flames were less intense, but most were unable to do so. In attempting to swim to other ships in the vicinity, several men were caught in burning gasoline floating on the surface of the water. Nine crew members…and eleven Armed Guard members died in the disaster. The remains of Clarence Dengler and four other members of the SS Spring Hill’s crew were never recovered. They were declared ‘presumptively dead’ on February 20, 1945….”

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy: “…S.S. Spring Hill. On 5 February 1945, the T-2 tanker, owned by Barber Asphalt Company, was anchored off Pier 13 at Staten Island, New York, loaded with high-test gasoline. At around 0845, she was rammed by the merchant ship Clio on the port side. The Spring Hill immediately burst into flames, and the crew members on board jumped overboard into the icy New York waters. Many men tried to make their way to the aft of the ship, where the flames were less intense, but most were unable to do so. In attempting to swim to other ships in the vicinity, several men were caught in the burning gasoline floating on the surface of the water. Nine crew members…and 11 Armed Guard members died in the water.” (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Cadets and Graduates lost during WWII (1945).)

Willoughby: “As 0857 on February 1945, the Port of New York suffered one of the worst wartime tragedies in its history, when two ships collided off Stapleton, Staten Island; one burst into a raging inferno. At about 1855 the Panamanian freighter Clio was outbound with a cargo of water ballast. To maneuver between a U.S. Navy vessel, KA-75 and U.S. tanker Spring Hill, both anchored, Clio swung to port toward the main ship channel. Suddenly her master saw the opening blocked by several invasion barges being brought alongside KA-75. The master frantically endeavored to swing his vessel hard to starboard, but momentum, combined with a strong ebb current, carried him toward the port side of Spring Hill.

“Collision was imminent. Port and starboard anchors were immediately dropped and the engines reversed, but the bow of Clio rammed the port side of Spring Hill forward of the bridge, leaving a large gaping hole in number three port wing tank. Laden with a cargo of height octane gasoline, Spring Hill was immediately enveloped in flames. Clio backed away. Flaming gasoline from the ruptured tank covered the surface of the water, spreading rapidly downstream with the current and enveloping the Norwegian tanker Vivi, loaded with diesel oil which, fortunately, did not burn. Many of Spring Hill’s crew were trapped below decks; others, as well as the Naval Armed Guard, jumped overboard with life jackets into the icy waters. Attempts to release lifeboat lifeboats were futile. Crew members of Vivi did likewise, though a small detail remained. With steam already up, Vivi proceeding through the blazing water, dragging both anchors.

“Coast Guardsmen at the Pier 18 Signal Tower promptly reported the incident, and all available cutters, fireboats, and small craft were dispatched to render assistance. Working with high efficiency, Coast Guard fireboats, New York City fireboats and commercial tugs extinguished the blaze in two hours.

“There were several well-executed rescues. A DGR vessel was nearby when the fire started. John Zeigler, Chief Boatswain’s Mate, with his two men directed his craft toward the stricken Spring Hill, and rescued 35 survivors from the flaming but icy water. At one time, a line fouled the Coast Guard vessel’s propeller, causing a helpless drift toward the flames. It was freed in the nick of time. Lt. W.A. George in CG-64309, going out to patrol, saved about 23 seamen from certain death by expert seamanship and utter disregard of hazards.

“This fire caused the death of more than 15 seamen, and in all about 85 survivors were brought in to Pier 18, given first aid, and taken to the hospital. Three died soon after arrival at the pier.” (Willoughby, Malcolm Francis. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. Menasha, WI: George Banta Co., Inc., 1957, p. 68.)

Newspapers:

Feb 5: “New York, Feb. 5 – (UP) — Flaming oil spread over the New York harbor early today after a collision of two tankers, setting fire to both tankers, and to a Liberty ship. At least seven crewmen were killed and scores injured. The fire was brought under control, at 10:30 a. m. one hour and a half after it started. Police said at least 60 injured had been taken to Marine hospital, Staten Island, and to other hospitals in Manhattan and Brooklyn by Red Cross ambulances. The ships were identified by survivors as the Liberty ship Bernard Carter, the tanker Spring Hill and a Norwegian-tanker Vivi. One tanker was burned out, with only its blackened hull still afloat, riding like a ghost ship on the smoke-hung waters. Some lifeboats caught afire and crewmen had to jump from the flaming ships into the flaming waters. Several of the dead were landed at Pier 13, Stapleton, Staten island, by crews of small harbor crafts which picked them from, the sea. Flames at one time shot more than 100 feet in the air.” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Seven Dead as Result of Tanker Collision in N.Y.” 2-5-1945, p. 1.)

Feb 6: “New York, Feb. 6 – (UP) – Navy crews searched deep in the hull of a burned-out oil tanker today for the bodies of some 20 crewmen still missing from a fire that left 17 dead and 120 injured. The fire resulted from a collision of two tankers that converted upper New York bay into a bath of flaming oil.

“Eight of the dead were navy personnel, most of them gunners, and the others were merchant seaman. The navy withheld the names of their dead until next of kin have been notified. Police said more than 70 per cent of the dead, injured and missing were from the tanker Springhill, an American vessel of 17,000 tons. Fire crews probing the Springhill’s blistered, twisted holds expected to find additional dead today.

“The Springhill was riding at anchor in the bay between Staten Island and Brooklyn’s lower bay ridge yesterday morning. She carried a crew of 90, including 40 navy men and was loaded with drums of high octane gasoline. A few minutes before 9 a. m., the 8,000-ton Panamanian tanker Pan-Clio rammed, the Springhill’s port side. While the Pan-Clio backed away, an explosion ripped the Springhill and sent burning gasoline spurting from her decks. Fire shot out from the Springhill and landed on the decks of a third vessel, the Norwegian tanker Vivi, of 10,000 tons and a crew of 54. The Vivi was getting underway when liquid fire enveloped her and forced her crew to leap overboard into the ice-choked harbor.

“Witnesses said the Springhill was afire from stem to stern in less than 30 seconds. Her crew scrambled for lifebelts or jumped over the side. The fire was out at noon, three hours later. Rescue crews and harbor firemen began ferrying the dead and injured shoreward. All the injured were taken to Marine hospital in Stapleton, Staten Island, where their cots jammed corridors and passages in the wards.

“Police said today, that bodies of some of the missing may turn up in bay, ice later this week.” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Divers Search Hull of Tanker for Bodies of 3-Ship Disaster.” 2-6-1945, p. 3.)

Feb 7, NYT: “Death Toll Now 19 in Ship Explosion; Number of Missing Still Is in Doubt – 74 of the Injured Remain in Hospital. Federal Inquiry Started. Tanker That Rammed the Spring Hill Had Sandy Hook Pilot Aboard, Official Says.” 2-7-1945, p. 23.

“The Panamanian tanker Pan-Clio had a licensed New York-Sandy Hook pilot aboard when she rammed the American tanker Spring Hill in upper New York Bay at 8:57 A.M. Monday, according to information disclosed yesterday by Farrell M. Kane, Richmond County District Attorney, head of one of the investigating bodies.

“The impact is alleged to have touched off the explosion that all but destroyed the Spring Hill and two-thirds of her 120,000 drums of high octane gasoline in the most spectacular fire seen in the harbor in many hears. Veterans said it was exceeded only by the Black Tom explosion of World War I.

“Last night the death toll stood at nineteen. Seventy-four of the 121 seamen and Navy enlisted men burned in the explosion or suffering from submersion in the icy bay still are in the United States Marine Hospital at Stapleton, S. I. [Staten Island]. Four of these are listed as critically injured.

List of Missing in Doubt

“Authorities have not completed their check on the number of men missing. They seemed to think last night that it might run from fifteen to twenty, at most. No bodies were found in the Spring Hill skeleton yesterday, but searchers will go aboard the vessel again today to resume the search. They think that such bodies as may be in the bay may not rise for weeks.

“The name added to the death toll yesterday was James Pickenpaugh, 21 years old, of 417 Fifth Street, Clairton, Pa., oiler on the American tanker. He died in the Marine Hospital at 4:35 P.M. and his body was sent to Sea View Morgue.

“The missing may include six men from the Norwegian tanker Vivi, which caught fire from burning oil spattered on her decks as she was about to pass the Spring Hill in the bay.

“Seamen released from Marine Hospital were transported to various shelters – homes and hotels, including the Wilshire House, at 134 West Fifty-eighth Street. They received new kits, or part kits, to replace gear left aboard when they dived into the bay to escape burning.

Tanker Still Afloat

“Hundreds of persons lined the Bay Ridge shore and Staten Island’s hills from Stapleton to Tompkinsville to stare at the Spring Hill’s blackened frame. The vessel is down by the head. Her stern is out of the bay. She remains afloat, however, and seamen said she would not go down. The search for dead is made on sloping decks, or what is left of the decks.

“A Federal hearing into the accident’s cause was opened at 42 Broadway. District Attorney Kane, inquiring into possible criminal negligence, was represented at this hearing by Herman Methfessel, an assistant. The Coast Guard had a hearing board there. The session was under supervision of the Steamboat Inspection Service….

Feb 7: “A Dunkirk seaman was badly injured when two tankers collided and burned in New York bay Monday morning causing a death toll now estimated at 40. In all, 122 were injured and one of these was Arthur Gotowka, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Gotowka, 28 West Second street. The disaster occurred when an incoming vessel crashed into the 16,000-ton tanker Springhill which was loaded with 120,000 barrels of high octane gasoline. An explosion followed and flames quickly enveloped the tanker and spread to the nearby Norwegian ship Vivi, which was carrying Diesel oil….” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Dunkirk Seaman was Seriously Injured in New York Blast.” 2-7-1945, p. 4.)

Feb 8: “New York – (INS) – The death toll in the New York harbor collision and fire aboard two fuel-laden tankers Monday stood at 18 today with 22 more missing and 122 injured. War shipping administration officials and other agencies were engaged in a five-day investigation of the disaster which occurred when a collision set the tanker U.S.S. Spring Hill ablaze and the conflagration spread to the Norwegian tanker Vivi.” (Daily Journal-Gazette and Commercial-Star, Mattoon, IL. “Harbor Collision Toll 18 Dead, 22 Missing.” 2-8-1945, p. 3.)

Feb 18: “….The Chester [PA] built tanker [Spring Hill] was only 53 days old and had only one trip to England on its log when destroyed by fire in New York Harbor last week following a collision with another tanker, eighteen seamen losing their lives…” (Chester Times, PA. “Survivor of S. S. Spring Hill Waits New Ship.” 2-14-1945, p. 4.)

June 3: “The 16,000-ton tanker Spring Hill, which was blasted and burned from stem to stern by exploding gasoline after a collision with another tanker in Upper New York Bay last February, is now back in service, repairs having been completed forty days ahead of the estimated time by Todd Shipyards Corporation’s Brooklyn division, it was disclosed yesterday.

“In the disaster, second worst in New York Harbor since the outbreak of the war, nineteen lives were lost and 122 seamen were injured, and it was feared the vessel would be a total loss.

“The repairs required the services of hundreds of Todd workers, working night and day, to get the Spring Hill back to sea. Todd officials said the fore and aft sections of the spar deck were completely rebuilt. All piping, valves and fittings were renewed, and about 6,000 feet of cable was installed and tested, and much of the ship’s electrical equipment also was replaced. Crew and officer quarters were extensively renovated. Exhaustive tests were made of the main engines, and necessary overhaul completed. The vessel now has new rigging on the fore and main masts, new life rafts and floats. Six of her original lifeboats were rebuilt, and the entire vessel was painted inside and outside. The ship’s guns had been removed and sent to the Navy yard for repair before being reinstalled.” (New York Times. “Events of Interest in Shipping World. Tanker that Burned after Crash in Bay in February is Back in Service.” 6-3-1945.)

Sources

AMMW (American Merchant Marine at War). Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1945 (website). Accessed 5-11-2013 at: http://www.usmm.org/sunk45.html

AMMW (American Merchant Marine at War). U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged on Eastcoast of U.S. and Gulf of Mexico During World War II. Eastcoast of U.S. (175 ships). 12-22-2010. Webpage accessed 4-11-2021 at: http://www.usmm.org/eastgulf.html

Chester Times, PA. “Survivor of S. S. Spring Hill Waits New Ship.” 2-14-1945, p. 4. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=85884965&sterm=spring+hill+tanker+fire

Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon IL. “Harbor Collision Toll18 Dead, 22 Missing.” 2-8-1945, p. 3. Accessed 4-23-2021 at: Daily Journal-Gazette, Mattoon IL. “Harbor Collision…18 Dead, 22 Missing.” 2-8-45

Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Divers Search Hull of Tanker for Bodies of 3-Ship Disaster.” 2-6-1945, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=36051261&sterm=spring+hill

Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Dunkirk Seaman was Seriously Injured in New York Blast.” 2-7-1945, p. 4. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=36051276&sterm=springhill

Goldstein, Richard. Helluva Town: The Story of New York City During World War II. NY: Free Press, 2010. Partially Google digitized. Accessed 4-23-2021 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=2o2hMeHeuz8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss Fires of 1945.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 39, no. 3, January, 1946, p. 215.

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

New York Times. “Death Toll Now 19 in Ship Explosion; Number of Missing Still Is in Doubt – 74 of the Injured Remain in Hospital. Federal Inquiry.” 2-7-1945, p. 23. Accessed 4-23-2021 at: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/02/07/88192190.html?pageNumber=23

New York Times. “Tanker that Burned after Crash in Bay in February is Back in Service.” 6-3-1945.

Ryan, George J. (Editor) and Thomas F. McCaffery (Primary Researcher). Braving the Wartime Seas: A Tribute to the Cadets and Graduates of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Cadet Corps Who Died during World War II. Xlibris LLC, 2014. Accessed 4-23-2021 at: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Braving_the_Wartime_Seas/aT34AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=tanker+spring+hill+explosion+%221945%22&pg=PA452&printsec=frontcover

U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Cadets and Graduates lost during WWII (1945). Accessed 5-11-2013 at: http://www.usmm.org/cadetbio1945.html

Willoughby, Malcolm Francis. The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II. Menasha, WI: George Banta Co., Inc., 1957, 347 pages. Limited Google digitized copy accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=T5A9LCujs08C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false