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Explosion and Fire—Dutch Tanker Silvanus After Collision 40 Miles Below New Orleans, April 8, 1926 Rebuild Wrecked Tanker in Gulf Coast Shipyard N May 31, the Petroleum Navi- gation Co.’s tanker, PAPOOSE, for- merly the Dutch tanker SILVANUS, was christened at the plant of the Penn- sylvania Shipyards, Inc., on the Neches river, Beaumont, Texas, where a half million dollar repair job on the vessel had just been completed. Her virtual rebuilding was the largest ship re- construction job ever undertaken on the Gulf coast, and a number of of- ficials of the Petroleum Navigation Co. as well as prominent Beaumont citizens, were invited to the christen- ing ceremonies. It was hardly more than a year ago—April 8, 1926—that the SILVANUs, forty miles below New Orleans, travel- ing at full speed and loaded with a cargo of benzine and fuel oil, collided with the Standard Oil tanker THOMAS H. WHEELER. The steel plates on the port bow of the SILVANUS' were buckled, generating sparks which ig- “aha author, Ben Sykes Woodhead, is pub- licity director of the Beaumont, Texas, Cham- ber of Commerce. By Ben Sykes Woodhead nited the benzine, and a terrible ex- plosion followed. Twenty-six members of the crew of the SILVANUS lost their lives. In addition to the direct damage caused by the collision, the SILVANUS suffered severely from the fire which swept over her decks at the time of the explosion. All the super-structure was burned away, while most of the decking and the deck beams were par- tially destroyed. It looked as if the tanker’s days were numbered, and many marine authorities were of the opinion that the vessel might be regarded as a total loss. She passed into the hands of her underwriters, but there were a num- ber of claims against her, and finally, after reconstruction bids had _ been asked for, she was sold to the Petro- leum Navigation Co. On Oct. 29 she was towed up the Neches river to the island on which the plant of the Pennsylvania Shipyards, Ince., is lo- cated. MARINE REVIEW—July, 1927 Shortly afterward. three hundred + workmen were assigned to the task of rehabilitating the wrecked SILVANUS, and. by working steadily for six months, according to a program of specifications in which no expense was spared, they succeeded in making the mangled vessel—now the PAPOOSE —one of the finest tankers afloat. There are other similar ships that may boast greater length or tonnage but there are none that are more handsomely furnished, none that can reveal more modern equipment in the officers’ or crew’s quarters. The PAPOOSE is 427 feet long over- all, or 412 feet long between perpen- diculars, and the beam, molded, is 53 feet 1 inch. Her loaded draft is 24 feet 7 inches and she has a speed of 11 knots. The capacity of the main tanks is 7478 tons, or 60,000 barrels, and of the wing tanks 874 tons or 7000 barrels. Four lifeboats, each capable of accommodating 31 persons, (Continued on Page 50) 21