Marine Sulphur Queen Coast Guard Report of 23 Aug. 1963

Above is an official U.S. Coast Guard photo of items found from the Marine Sulphur Queen, including a ripped life jacket, part of a name board, and a shirt tied to a life ring. Some of these items are discussed below.

Here are excerpts from the United States Coast Guard's 23 Aug. 1963 report from the Marine Board of Investigation to the Commandant (MVI). The Marine Board's report was titled "SS MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN; disappearance of at sea on or about 4 February 1963." It was signed by Rear Admiral James D. Craik, chairman of the board; Captain Benjamin D. Shoemaker, member of the board; and Commander Albert S. Frevola, member and recorder of the board.

I jumped from item 12 to item 39 because later items discuss less technical aspects of the investigation, and reveal articles that were found. You can find a complete copy of this report in The Riddle of the Bermuda Triangle, ed. by Martin Ebon, 1975. Text from the report immediately follows.

1. At about 1830, CST, 2 February 1963, the SS MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN, with a crew of 39 and a full cargo of approximately 15,260 long tons of molten sulphur, took departure from Sabine Sea Buoy on a voyage from Beaumont, Texas to Norfolk, Virginia and subsequently disappeared at sea without the transmission of a radio distress message.

2. The SS MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN, O.N. 245295 (Ex-Esso NEW HAVEN) was an all-welded T2-SE-Al, tankship; of 7240 gross tons and 4057 net tons; length 504 ft., breadth 68.2 ft., and depth 39.2 ft.; built at Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Chester, Pa. in 1944 and converted to a molten sulphur carrier at Bethlehem Steel Co. Shipyard, Baltimore, Md., during the latter part of 1960. The vessel was single screw, powered by a 7240 shaft horsepower turbo-electric drive manufactured by Westinghouse Elec. & Mfg. Co. The vessel was owned by Marine Sulphur Transport Corporation and operated under a bareboat charter by Marine Transport Lines, Inc., both companies being located at 11 Broadway, New York, N.Y. The conversion to a molten sulphur carrier was accomplished in accordance with plans approved by the U. S. Coast Guard and the American Bureau of Shipping.

3. The vessel was certificated by the U. S. Coast Guard at Baltimore, Md. on 18 January 1961 for the carriage of "Grade E liquids at elevated temperatures" and classed by the American Bureau of Shipping as to hull and machinery. The vessel was recertificated by the U. S. Coast Guard at Beaumont, Texas on 17 January 1963 and retained in class by the American Bureau of Shipping at the same time. The vessel had valid load line certificates, both International and Coastwise, issued by the American Bureau of Shipping and valid radio certificates issued by the Beaumont, Texas office of the Federal Communications Commission covering both the installed radio equipment and the lifeboat portable radio.

4. In general, the conversion to a molten sulphur carrier consisted of the removal of all the transverse bulkheads in the way of the original T-2 centerline tanks and the installation of an independent tank 306 ft. long, 30 ft. 6 in. wide and 33 ft. high, internally divided by sulphur-tight transverse bulkheads into four tanks with No. 1 being 83 ft. long; No. 2 being 73 ft. long; No. 3 being 73 ft. long; and No. 4 being 77 ft. long. To accommodate the sulphur cargo tank it was necessary to cut away part of the original No. 1 cargo tanks, port and starboard, as well as part of the original forward bulkhead of the after pump room. The existing structure of No. 1 tanks was cut away from frame 71 forward to frame 72 1/2 including the centerline bulkhead and the transverse bulkhead for a distance of 17 ft. 6 in. on either side of the centerline. The remaining portions of the No. 1 tanks were changed to void spaces by enclosing them with non-watertight longitudinal wing tank bulkheads. The after pump room forward bulkhead at frame 47 was cut out to permit the tank to extend into the pump room to frame 46 1/2 and thus, in essence, the pump room became a part of the void space surrounding the tank. The original wing tanks, 2 through 9 inclusive, were left intact and fitted as water ballast tanks. As the cargo tanks were loaded, the wing tanks were deballasted and the reverse procedure was followed when offloading, thus minimizing the change in draft during these operations.

5. The sulphur tank was of rectangular cross section, constructed of mild steel meeting American Bureau of Shipping requirements for steel to be welded. A longitudinal swash bulkhead ran the full length of the major tank and each of the four individual tanks were fitted with a transverse swash bulkhead at approximately their mid-length. At normal temperatures the transverse sulphur-tight bulkheads and the transverse swash bulkheads coincided with the original center tank transverse bulkheads.

6. In the construction of the tank, the sides, ends, and sulphur-tight transverse bulkheads were constructed of steel plate 7/16 in. at the top increasing to 11/16 in. plate at the bottom, all having 10 in. X 3/4 in. web frames fitted as stiffeners. The top was made of 3/8 in. plate with 8 in. X 7/16 in. web frames fitted as stiffeners. The bottom was 11/16 in. plate with 9 in. X 5/8 in. web frames fitted on the exterior thereof as stiffeners. The centerline and transverse swash bulkheads were 7/16 in. plate throughout with 8 in. X 7/16 in. web frames fitted as stiffeners. All the above stiffeners were fitted at approximate 2 ft. 6 in. frame spacing. To support the sides, ends and sulphur-tight transverse bulkheads there were installed two horizontal web plate stringers 5 ft. X 1/2 in. plate faced with a 21 in. X 1 in. plate and bracketed by a 1/2 in. plate with 3 in. flange at the 9 ft. and 18 ft. 6 in. levels. These stringers were bracketed on 7 ft. 6 in. centers, and at the normal ship frame spacing of 12 ft. 2 in., a tie beam, 12 in. X 12 in. X 1-1/4 in. web frame, was fitted from the upper stringer to the centerline swash bulkhead. At the after end of each tank there was fitted a port and starboard sump of the same thickness as the tank bottom, 2 ft. 6 in. in width and 18 in. deep near the centerline and sloping up to 5 in. near the sides. Additionally, each tank top was fitted at the after end with a port and starboard expansion trunk approximately 5 ft. square and 4 ft. in height of 1/2 in. plate which extended through the weather deck into a watertight pump house. The inboard sides of both the sumps and trunks were approximately 2 ft. 7 in. off the centerline of the ship. At the forward centerline of each tank there was fitted a 6 in. vent leading to the weather deck and extending approximately 3 ft. above with a U-bend. The vents were steam jacketed and were fitted with stainless steel flexible piping between the tank tops and the weather deck. In each of the expansion trunks there was a 4 in. vent which terminated in a U-bend approximately 2 ft. above the top of the pump house. These vents were also steam jacketed and fitted with stainless steel flexible piping between the trunk tops and the overhead of the pump house. At the top of each expansion trunk, which was closed with 1/2 in. plate, there was fitted a 2 ft. diameter entrance scuttle and a I in. thick annular ring 25 in. inner diameter and 32 in. outer diameter serving as a foundation for a deep well pump electric motor.

7. In effecting the installation of the major tank, the height of the center vertical keel from frames 461 1/2 to 72 1/2, was cut down from 7 ft. 6 in. to a constant height of 3 ft. 4 in. and a 17 in. X 1 in. flange plate was welded to the top thereof. To accommodate the cargo tank the transverse web frames, or floors, in the bottom of the ship were cut down to a constant horizontal plane of 3 ft. 4 in. above the flat keel plate and were fitted with 15 in. X 1 in. flange plates welded to the top thereof. On either side of the centerline vertical keel the bottom longitudinals, 7 ft. 6 in. and 15 ft. off the centerline port and starboard, were extended up to this same 3 ft. 4 in. horizontal plane by the addition of 1/2 in. plate with an 8 in. X 1 in. flange plate welded to the top. The bottom of the sulphur tank was fitted with 5 longitudinal stringers of 1/2 in. plate faced with 8 in. X 1 in. flanges. The longitudinals fitted to the bottom of the tank and the flange plates of the ship's bottom longitudinals were bolted together, except between frames 58 and 60, with a 1/2 in. thick 8 in. wide phenolite laminated plastic installed between the flanges as a heat isolator. To permit free expansion and contraction of the tank, these bolts, 1 in. in diameter, were mounted in 1-1/16 in. holes in the tank longitudinals passing through 1-1/16 in. X 3-1/2 in. slots in the plastic heat isolator and the flanges in the ship's bottom longitudinals. Because of the increased expansion at either end of the tank, the slots were increased in length to 4 in. for the last 10 ft.; this increase in length of the slots was not reflected in the vessel's plans. Nuts were screwed onto the bolts hand-tight, tightened 1/4 turn and spot welded to the bolt body. All bolt holes were drilled with 10 in. centers, a single row on each of the outboard longitudinals and a double row on the centerline longitudinal. The bolts and nuts were mild steel except for the centerline rows which were ASTM A-235, high strength material. Between frames 58 and 60, a distance of 24 ft. 4 in., the five longitudinals fitted to the bottom of the tank were welded to the five ship's bottom longitudinals after a 1/2 in. thick plate was inserted to compensate for the absence of the heat isolating material in these areas. After the conversion was completed heat was applied to the tanks, utilizing the heating coils hereinafter discussed. The air temperature within the tanks at this time was determined to be between 240° F to 252° F. While no precise measurements of the actual expansion of the tank were made at this time, one witness recalled the ends of the tank had expanded so that the bolts were within 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch from the ends of the 4" slots. During this test and later at various times during the actual operation of the vessel, loud noises were heard throughout the vessel. These noises were caused by the expansion and contraction of the tank.

8. Similarly, the centerline deck longitudinal girder was cut from its 5 ft. original depth to 2 ft. 8 in. except in the way of frames 58 to 60 where the depth was 3 ft. 6 in. and where this girder was welded directly to the top of the tank. Where the girder was cut to a depth of 2 ft. 8 in., a 15 in. X 1 in. face flange was welded to the bottom thereof. On the tank top at the centerline, there were fitted at each frame between frames 47 to 71 inclusive, except for the welded portion between frames 58 to 60, bracketed webs 1/2 in. thick with face plates 8 in. X 1 in. X 12 in. long. Here, like the bottom connection, 1 in. bolts were mounted in 1-1/16 in. holes in the tank connections up through similar slotted holes in the 1/2 in. heat isolator material and the deck girder flange plate, each connection being made with two bolts and nuts of ASTM A-235 material staggered on either side of the centerline of the deck girder.

9. At frame 59 a complete watertight bulkhead surrounded the tank so that a void space then existed fore and aft of this bulkhead. This watertight bulkhead was made up of 1/2 in. steel plate. At frames 53 and 65 diaphragm plates, 3/8 in. thick, were fitted between the tank sides and the wing tank longitudinal bulkhead, both on the port and starboard sides. These diaphragm plates extended from 4 ft. 6 in. above the tank bottom to within 1 ft. 6 in. of the top of the tank. At about the 20 ft. level above the tank bottom, access holes, port and starboard, 15 in. X 36 in. were cut out of the diaphragm plates to permit access along a cat walk, which together with appropriate vertical ladders, permitted personnel to descend from the weather deck to the void space surrounding the tank.

10. To reduce thermal losses through the sulphur tank structure, the entire tank exterior was insulated with a blanket of Owens-Corning Armaglas PF-335, 4 in. thick on the bottom, sides, ends and around the expansion trunks and 6 in. thick on the top. The insulation was held in place with Nelson welding pins and covered with #18 gauge galvanized wire netting secured in place with clips over the Nelson pins. Prior to the installation of the insulation the entire tank exterior was painted with aluminum paint. The tank interior was not given any protective coating.

11. To maintain the desired temperatures within the tanks, steam beating coils made up of 2 in., schedule 80, ASTM A-53 steel pipe were fitted in the bottom, sumps, sides and ends of the tank. Tank No. 1 had 18 coils in all, 4 each in its forward end, two sides and bottom, with one coil for each of its two sumps. Tank No. 4 was similarly fitted, except the end coils were at its after end in lieu of its forward end. Tanks Nos. 2 and 3 each had 14 coils in all, since there were no end coils in these tanks. Each coil had its own individual steam supply line entering the tank at the top and leaving the tank at the bottom port side through a steam trap. The steam to these coils came from the desuperheater line from the main boilers reduced to a pressure of 35 to 40 pounds per square inch while in port; and from the 70 pounds per square inch bleed-off stage from the main turbine reduced to a pressure of 35 to 40 pounds per square inch while at sea. No thermometers were installed in either of these two steam supply lines. The steam condensate return line to the engine room terminated in an atmospheric tank where the condensate could be sighted visually for discoloration. The heating coils were made up for a working pressure of 60 pounds per square inch and were tested hydrostatically to a pressure of 200 pounds per square inch. All shop made coil joints were electric arc welded and x-rayed; all coil joints made on the ship were gas welded. Each of the four cargo tanks were fitted with thermocouples, on the port and starboard sides, located about half way up from the tank bottom. The temperatures were automatically recorded on a tape in the engine room. Testimony was received that this recorder was inoperative during the period October 1962 to January 1963; it was then repaired and placed back in operation. The temperature recorder was not considered to be essential for the safety of the vessel because the steam pressure and the resultant temperature to the heating coils could be carefully controlled. The ship was also provided with portable recording thermometers to ascertain the temperature of the cargo.

12. As noted before, the expansion trunks in each of the four individual sulphur cargo tanks extended through the weather deck. To permit expansion an opening in the weather deck was cut out, then adequately reinforced with a doubler plate and web frame stiffeners. This cut out was of such size that a 4 in. opening was allowed all around the periphery of the trunks. This 4 in. opening was, at normal atmospheric temperatures, filled with a 4 in. layer of Armaglas insulating material which surrounded the trunks. The trunk and deck were connected by means of a canvas boot, later changed to asbestos cloth, to insure a gas tight seal and to provide the necessary flexibility when the tank moved. To insure watertight integrity of the hull, a combination pump and controller house was constructed over the expansion trunks at the after end of each cargo tank. Each house was approximately 25 ft. x 12 ft. 10 in. x 8 ft. high with a 3 ft. wide controller house on the port side incorporated therein but separated from the pump house by a watertight bulkhead. The pump room and controller room were each fitted with a watertight door. At the after end of each controller house the weather deck had a 2 ft. x 3 ft. cut out for the purpose of ventilating the voids surrounding the cargo tanks. This cut out led into a space approximately 2 ft. x 3 ft. x 6 ft. high separated from the controller room by bulkheads, and the air was discharged therefrom through a louvered opening at the rear of the house. At the original conversion each pump house had two removable plates 4 ft. x 4 ft. bolted to the top of the house to give additional ventilation at the time of loading and discharging. In June 1961 these plates were replaced with hinged watertight scuttles at Bethlehem Steel Co. Shipyard, Beaumont, Texas.

39. The first information that the MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN was overdue was received by the Commander, Fifth Coast Guard District at 2100 EST, 7 February 1963. This information was immediately sent to the Rescue Coordination Center, U.S. Coast Guard Commander Eastern Area in New York via "hot line." At 2145 EST the Eastern Area Rescue Coordination Center was called by a representative of the Marine Transport Lines, New York office, reporting that the vessel was overdue, together with a description of the vessel. At 2218 EST, 7 February, the Commander Eastern Area initiated a communication check by an "All Ships Urgent Broadcast" which was repeated three times daily until 16 February 1963. At 2220 EST, 7 February, RCA Radio was contacted as to information on delivery of message to and from the vessel during the period 2 - 7 February, with the results previously stated.

40. Based on the above, a surface and air search was planned to commence at 0800 EST, 8 February providing that the communication check failed to locate the vessel. At 0138 EST, Coast Guard units in the 5th, 7th, and 8th Coast Guard Districts were alerted as to the search plan, and at 0800 EST when the communication check was negative, the search was commenced. The search comprised the following:

8 February - Day search - trackline from Beaumont through Florida Straits to Norfolk, a distance of 1630 miles. Seven aircraft were used in 72 flight hours, searching about 58,000 square miles. This trackline search covered 30 miles on either side of the vessel's estimated track.

8 - 9 February - Night search - three aircraft flew 23 flight hours and searched 22,000 square miles.

9 February - Day search - since vessel was not found along proposed track, a considerably expanded search plan was used. Nineteen aircraft flew 114 flight hours and searched 95,000 square miles.

9 - 10 February - Night search - two aircraft flew 12 flight hours and searched 8,300 square miles.

10 February - Day search - nineteen aircraft flew 136 flight hours and searched 76,700 square miles.

11 February - Day search - fourteen aircraft flew 86 flight hours and searched 55,000 square miles.

12 February - Day search - ten aircraft flew 42 flight hours and searched 22,000 square miles.

13 February - Day search - two aircraft flew 16 flight hours and searched 11,000 square miles.

This concluded the initial search for the MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN. During the period 8 - 13 February 1963, Coast Guard, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force aircraft participated in 83 sorties, flying 499.6 hours and searched a total of 348,400 square miles with negative results. Further efforts to locate the MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN during this initial search utilized the Coast Guard Atlantic Merchant Vessel Reporting system which located 42 vessels that could possibly have sighted the MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN on 4 and 5 February. All of these vessels were checked out by Coast Guard personnel with negative results. Several telephone calls were received by Coast Guard units during this initial search phase with information that the ship would be found in Cuba or in Puerto Rico. These leads were checked out by other Federal agencies with negative results.

41. On 20 February, a U. S. Navy torpedo retriever boat operating about 12 miles southwest of Key West, Florida sighted and picked up a fog horn and life jacket stencilled with the vessel's name. The second phase of the search for the MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN was then instituted, confined primarily to the area just west of Dry Tortugas Island, thence through the Straits of Florida, along the axis of the Gulf Stream, including the Bahamas Islands, and the east coast of Florida to Cape Canaveral. This search with seven ships and 48 aircraft sorties flying 271.4 hours covered an additional 59,868 square miles. The probability of sighting during both search phases was computed to be 95% for a vessel, 70% for a metal lifeboat and 65% for a liferaft. The U. S. Navy conducted an underwater search for the vessel's hulk during the period of 20 February through 13 March in an area from the shoals to the 100 fathom curve between Key West and 24°35'N, 83°30'W, using six Navy vessels for 523 hours on the scene and 17 aircraft sorties flying 57 hours with possibility of detection of 80% for the hulk. During this period, additional debris was recovered and identified as coming from the MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN. At 1740 EST, 14 March 1963, having received negative reports from all participating units, the search for the vessel was discontinued.

42. The material recovered and identified as from the MARINE SULPHUR QUEEN consisted of 8 life jackets, 5 life rings, 2 name boards, 1 shirt, 1 piece of an oar, 1 storm oil can, 1 gasoline can, 1 cone buoy, and 1 fog horn. This material was deposited with the Coast Guard at Miami, Florida and later shipped to Washington, D. C. where it was examined by experts from the Bureau of Standards, the Coast Guard, and the Bureau of Fisheries. The consensus of opinion was that possibly two life jackets had been worn by persons and that the shirt tied to a life jacket had also been worn by a person. Numerous tears on the life jackets indicated attack by predatory fish. Further examination was made of certain of the debris by the Federal Bureau of Investigation who determined that the shirt bore no laundry marks, visible or invisible, and that no trace of sulphur particles was evident on any of the material. Visual examination of the material disclosed no trace of either explosion or fire.

43. On 29 April 1963, the Coast Guard Air Detachment, Corpus Christi was given a note that was reported to have been in a whiskey bottle found on or before that date by a spanish speaking man in Laguna Madre, near Corpus Christi at approximate position 27°39.5'N, 97°15.4'W. The bottle was broken to get the note out. A search for pieces of the bottle at that time were negative. However, the Board received the bottom of the purported bottle with no sealife attached thereto on 13 June 1963. This note written with ball point pen on a piece of manila paper, similar to a paper bag, was unsigned and referred to an explosion and two men hurt. The piece of paper also had a crude map of the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Straits and Cuba with a circle surrounding an "X", and the word "SHIP." This "X" was near the western approach to the Florida Straits. The note was turned over to a Federal examiner of questioned documents who stated in his opinion, based upon crew signatures and a letter from one crew member to his sister, that it was written by a particular crew member. The matter of this note in the bottle was also referred to the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C., and the Director of that agency stated that the bottle could not possibly have reached the Corpus Christi area if the bottle was dropped into the water at any place east of 85°W, unless a strong southeasterly wind had been blowing for several days before and after the dropping.

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References

Some locations in the report.

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