— 38 Cudahy. Around Manhattan Island and Other Maritime Tales of New York. 1997, p.110.^[2]

— 37 Syracuse Herald-Journal, NY. “New blast on tanker adds 4 to toll of 33.” 6-29-1966, p6.[3]

— 37 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. 1983, p. 140.[4]

— 33 NFPA. “The Alva Cape Marine Disaster.” Fire Journal, Vol. 61, No. 6, Nov 1967, p. 89.

— 33 McDaniel. “Marine Fire Safety.” NFPA Fire Journal, Vol. 60, No. 6, Nov 1966, p. 21.

— 33 NTSB. Marine Accident Report. Collision SS Texaco [Mass.]…and MV Alva Cape… P1.

–19 MV Alva Cape, British tankship.

— 8 ESSO Vermont, attending tug.

— 3 SS Texaco Massachusetts. American tank ship.

— 3 Latin American, attending tub.

— 33 USCG. Commandant’s Action…collision…Texaco Massachusetts…Alva Cape…, 1967.

— 33 USCG. Marine Board of Investigation. Memorandum to USCG Commandant, 11-14-1966.

— 3 SS Texaco Massachusetts (June 16)

— 3 Tug Latin American “

— 8 Tug Esso Vermont “

— 19 MV Alva Cape “

— 4 MV Alva Cape (June 28)

Narrative Information

Cudahy: This “…incident took place on the afternoon of Thursday, June 16, 1966. The day was clear, the sky was blue, the wind was moderate; there was nothing to portend the tragedy that was about to unfold. The tanker Texaco Massachusetts had just cast off from that company’s Bayonne Terminal at the southern end of Newark Bay and was outbound in ballast, en-route to Port Arthur, Texas. She had just delivered a cargo of gasoline and was proceeding south, about to make a turn to port into the Kill Van Kull. Inbound on her way through the Kill Van Kull toward Newark Bay was the tanker Alva Cape; her cargo was 5.6 million gallons of naphtha from Karachi, Pakistan. At 2:12 p.m., as the two ships were passing each other about two hundred yards west of the Bayonne Bridge, Texaco Massachusetts knifed into Alva Cape.

“There was a tugboat shadowing each tanker. The impact produced a grinding crunch, but only that; it was not until moments later, as the two ships moved back from each other, that naphtha began to spew out of a gash in Alva Cape’s hull. Texaco Massachusetts had ordered ‘full astern’ prior to the impact, and the effect of this pulled the big ship away from Alva Cape after the crash. The highly flammable liquid flowed onto Esso Vermont, the tug that was traveling with Alva Cape. When it reached the engine room, a terrible series of explosions were set off; fire followed the blasts….Thirty-four people lost their lives in this unfortunate incident….

“When the fire was eventually brought under control, Alva Cape had the appearance of a ship that had been attacked by enemy dive bombers. Hugh Greenan, Director of Public Safety for the City of Bayonne, described the incident in these words: ‘It looked like D-Day. Dozens of bodies were floating in the water. Flames were shooting up all over the place’.

“Despite the explosion – and despite the fire that followed it – there were thousands of gallons of flammable naphtha still aboard the badly damaged Alva Cape. Several days later she was carefully towed to Gravesend Bay, and with the Smith [NYFD Fireboat] standing by in case anything went wrong, efforts were begun to offload the remaining product. At 3:49 p.m. on Tuesday, June 28, another series of explosions tore through the unlucky ship, killing four more people and inflicting serious damage to the fireboat Smith.

“Additional FDNY boats responded, and the fire that followed the explosions was brought under control in less than an hour. But authorities quickly decided that the Alva Cape was worth no further effort. The Coast Guard ordered that she be taken out to sea and sunk. Traffic both into and out of New York Harbor was halted while the tugboats Kerry Moran and Nancy Moran gently towed the badly damaged tanker away from Gravesend Bay, through Ambrose Channel, and out to a point in the Atlantic 140 miles due east of Cape May, New Jersey. There on July 3, 1966, the Coast Guard cutter Spencer put thirty-seven five-inch shells into her hull and sent Alva Cape to the bottom.” (Cudahy. Around Manhattan Island. 1997, pp. 109-110.)

NTSB: “Action by National Transportation Safety Board….The National Transportation Safety Board finds that the cause of the accident with attendant loss of life was failure of the persons in charge of the navigation of the SS Texaco Massachusetts and the MV Alva Cape to exercise due caution. The masters of both vessels were ultimately responsible for the safe navigation; however, the vessels were under the control of the pilots at time of the collision and it was their duty to provide expert direction to the safe navigation of the vessels. The Alva Cape, as the burdened vessel, failed to keep out of the way of the Texaco Massachusetts, and, in the opinion of the Board, the Alva Cape was primarily responsible for the accident. However, when collision was imminent, both vessels failed to sound the danger signal and to take evasive action as was incumbent upon them. The Texaco Massachusetts failed to sound the signal to indicate her engines were going at full speed astern. The fatalities were caused by the explosion and burning of the naphtha cargo which leaked from the Alva Cape after the collision.” (p. 2.) (NTSB. Marine Accident Report. Collision SS Texaco Massachusetts…and MV Alva Cape… June 16, 1966. 10-24-1967.)

USCG: “….The Texaco Massachusetts was privileged and the Alva Cape was burdened and thereby required to keep out of the way of the Texaco Massachusetts by directing her course to starboard so as to cross astern of the other vessel or, if necessary, to slacken her speed or to stop or reverse. A any rate she was duty bound to avoid crossing ahead as required by Article 22 of the Inland Rules of the Road. The Alva Cape acknowledged this situation by returning the one short-blast whistle of the Texaco Massachusetts. Neither vessel sounded the danger signal indicating that the course or intention of the other was in doubt….

“Findings of Fact – 1. The American tankship SS Texaco Massachusetts and the British tankship MV Alva Cape collided at or about 1412 EDST, 16 June 1966, at the junction of Bergen Point West Reach of Kill Van Kull and Newark Bay South Reach (C&GS Chart 285), Naphtha cargo from the damaged number one starboard cargo tank of the Alva Cape spilled on the water. An explosion occurred and fires ensued on the Alva Cape, the Texaco Massachusetts and the attending tugs MV Latin American and MV Esso Vermont resulting in the death of thirty-three persons; nineteen from the Alva Cape, eight from the tug Esso Vermont, three from the Texaco Massachusetts, and three from the tug Latin American….Number one starboard cargo tank of the Alva Cape was holed and the stem of the Texaco Massachusetts incurred slight damage. All four vessels involved sustained extensive fire damage….

“5. At the time of the casualty the weather was clear, wind southwesterly 15-20 knots; sea calm….” (p. 7)

“Conclusions….2. That the initial explosion was caused by naphtha vapors rising from the naphtha on the surface of the water being drawn into the diesel engine of the tug Latin American….” (p. 16.)

June 29: “New York (AP) — Like a deadly echo of disaster, the volatile cargo of a British tanker

has again exploded and burned in New York harbor, adding at least four deaths to the toll of 33 in a harbor collision June 16. This time the 11,252-ton Alva Cape was stricken at anchor off Brooklyn, while the remains of its naphtha cargo were being removed. A new flash of flame seared the Alva Cape’s already scarred hull Tuesday and there was fear of a greater disaster until a tug bravely pushed the barge unloading the naphtha away from the flames.

“Mayor John V. Lindsay flew over the scene in a helicopter — as he had after the June 16 collision — and said he would seek the Alva Cape’s removal from the harbor as a continuing menace to navigation.

“Besides the four known dead in Tuesday’s [June 28] explosion, nine were injured and three were missing….

“Fire Chief John O’Hagen blamed the latest explosion on oxygen mixed with the naphtha being pumped from the tanker in temperatures that reached 101 degrees in the past two days….

“Salt water and inert gas was pumped into the Alva Cape to avert further explosions after fire commissioner Robert O. Lowery warned that the cargo was still volatile….

“The tug Susan Moran, which had towed the Alva Cape to Gravesend Bay after the collision, removed 10 persons from the newly burning tanker….” (Syracuse Herald-Journal, NY. “New blast on tanker adds 4 to toll of 33.” 6-29-1966, p. 6.)

Sources

Cudahy, Brian J. Around Manhattan Island and Other Maritime Tales of New York. Fordham University Press, 1997. Google preview accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=4RTxzui1OG4C

McDaniel, Dale (USCGR). “Marine Fire Safety.” Fire Journal (National Fire Protection Association), Vol. 60, No. 6, Nov 1966, p. 21.

National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

National Fire Protection Association. “The Alva Cape Marine Disaster.” Fire Journal, Vol. 61, No. 6, Nov 1967, pp. 89-92.

National Transportation Safety Board. Marine Accident Report. Collision SS Texaco Massachusetts (U.S. Registry) and MV Alva Cape (British Registry) June 16, 1966. NTSB, U.S. Department of Transportation, released 10-24-1967. Accessed 12-28-2014 at: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg545/docs/boards/texacomass.pdf

Syracuse Herald-Journal, NY. “New blast on tanker adds 4 to toll of 33.” 6-29-1966, p. 6. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=45391173&sterm=alva+cape

United States Coast Guard. Commandant’s Action on The Marine Board of Investigation convened to investigate the collision of the SS TEXACO MASSACHUSETTS and the British M/V ALVA CAPE with fire and loss of life on 16 June 1966. Washington, DC: DOT, Commandant, USCG, Aug 14, 1967. Accessed at: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/docs/boards/texacomass.pdf

United States Coast Guard, Marine Board of Investigation. Memorandum to USCG Commandant, subject: SS Texaco Massachusetts, O.N. 290306 and MV Alva Cape (British); collision and fire on 16 June 1966, with loss of life. NYC: Commander, Third Coast Guard District, Governors Island, NY, NY, 11-14-1966. [in NTSB report.]

[1] Thirty-three deaths on June 16 (tanker Alva Cape, 19; tug Esso Vermont, 8; tanker Texaco Massachusetts, 3; and tug Latin American, 3; four more on June 28 while the Alva Cape was being unloaded at Gravesend Bay.

[2] Not using as fatality estimate – have not been able to corroborate from other sources.

[3] This includes four deaths from explosions June 28 while the Alva Cape was being cleaned out at Gravesend Bay.

[4] Fatality number Includes the four June 28 explosion deaths at Gravesend Bay.

1966 — June 16, Collision/explosions/fire, Texaco Mass./Alva Cape, two tugs, off NY, NY[1]-33