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ALVA CAPE
JUNE 16, 1966
A Coast Guard helicopter hovers over New York Harbor's Kill Van Kull Channel searching for possible survivors of the collision
between the 546-foot British tanker M.V. ALVA CAPE and the 604-foot American tanker S.S. TEXACO MASSACHUSETTS. Coast Guard
tugs and New York City fireboats can be seen battling the naphtha fed flames aboard the two ships.
Thirty-three lives were lost in the collision. (USCG)
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ALVA CAPE
JUNE 16, 1966
Flames and smoke continue to spread over the 13-year old Britsh tanker M.V. ALVA CAPE as she burns in New Yorks Harbor's
Kill Van Kull Channel. The danger of a posible explosion from the vessel's cargo of naphtha existed throughout the fire fighting
efforts. Coast Guard, Navy and New York City fireboats worked together during the rescue efforts.
Thirty-three crewmen died in the disaster which involved the ALVA CAPE, American tanker S.S. TEXACO MASSACHUSETTS, and
their escorting tugs, the ESSO VERMONT and LATIN AMERICA. (USCG)
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ALVA CAPE
JUNE 16, 1966
New York City firemen move cautiously aboad the British tanker M.V. ALVA CAPE after bringing under control a fire which
swept the entire ship. Coast Guard and Navy vessels play water on the starboard side to give added protection to the boarding
party. Meanwhile, Coast Guard rescue boat CG-40451 searches for victims of the disaster which took 33 lives and injured 71.
The 546-foot naphtha-laden vessel collided in New York Harbor with the 604-foot American tanker S.S. TEXACO MASSACHUSETTS.
(USCG)
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BM3 (then SN/BM) Bob Youngblood was coxswain of this boat and received the Coast Guard Medal for saving two men when the tanker
exploded again. Click on the citation below for readable version.
ALVA CAPE
JULY 3, 1966
Two commercial tugs prepare to release the British tanker M.V. ALVA CAPE on July 3, 1966, 110 miles southeast of New York
Harbor where the tanker was sentenced to be sunk. After a collision with the American tanker S.S. TEXACO MASSACHUSETTS on
June 16, 1966 in the Kill VanKull Channel between Bayonne, N.J. and Staten Island, N.Y., and an explosion on June 28, 1966
in Gravesend Bay in New York Harbor, 37 men were counted dead. Thirty-seven five-inch shells from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter
Spencer sank the tanker following her release by the tugs. (USCG)
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USCGC SPENCER
JULY 3, 1966
Smoke drifts away from the bow of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter SPENCER after her five-inch gun sent one of 57 rounds into
the hulk of the British tanker M.V. ALVA CAPE on July 3, 1966, 110 miles southeast of New York Harbor. The 546-foot Britsh
vessel was ordered sunk after 33 men died following a collision on June 16, 1966 with an American tanker in New York Harbor.
Another four men were killed when the ALVA CAPE exploded 12 days later during off-loading of her highly volatile cargo of
naphtha. (USCG)
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USCGC SPENCER
JULY 3, 1966
Boom! The five-inch gun of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter SPENCER fired round after round (see spent shell casings at right
foreground) at the naphtha-laden British tanker M.V. ALVA CAPE 110 miles southeast of New York Harbor on July 3, 1966. Fifty-seven
shells were fired at the doomed ship. The ALVA CAPE collided with the American tanker S.S. TEXACO MASSACHUSETTS while en
route to Newark Bay from India with a cargo of naphtha on June 16, 1966. The 546-foot tanker exploded again during tank cleaning
operations 12 days later. A total of 37 men were killed during the two incidents. (USCG)
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