Larry La Rue, former captain of the S/S Gulfstag, said it was “one hell of a wakening” when an explosion started a fire and caused the ship to sink in the early morning hours 50 years ago.

La Rue, age 88, of Port Arthur, said he wakened at 3 a.m. in the Gulf of Mexico on October 24, 1966.

“I was in my PJs and they were striped that looked like a prison uniform. The chief mate and myself went to the wheelhouse first. We looked aft (back) and we saw flames.”

“We went to the chartroom and gave our position to the radio operator who sent out an SOS. We immediately got a reply from an Atlantic ship that came to us. They took the rest of our personnel.”

Unfortunately, seven crewmen out of 42 on board lost their lives.

The Port Arthur Seafarers’ Center, consequently, will honor the 50^th anniversary of the explosion, fire and sinking of the S/S Gulfstag with a seminar from 3 to 6 p.m., a reception from 6 to 6:30 p.m. and dinner from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24 at the center, 401 Houston Ave. in Port Arthur.

La Rue said the fire engulfed the after quarters of the tanker. The fire never came midship. All of the casualties were in the after quarters.

“I think about it every other day. You never forget it,” he said. “I hope I don’t wake up dreaming about it. You learn to live with it. You keep thinking what you could had done to prevent it.”

An explosive product, gasoline, got into the engine room and it exploded. The entire aft quarters was full of smoke and carried through the quarters.

“They didn’t have a chance to get out,” La Rue said. “That was the first fire at sea I was in.”

Before that, he was second mate on the S/S Gulf Oil that had a collision in Rhode Island that caught fire and led to many losses of life. Fortunately for La Rue, he missed that trip.

There were two possible sequences for the fire, according to the Department of Transportation Marine Board of Investigation of the S/S Gulfstag fire. The report was released on May 29, 1968.

The first sequence was the initial explosion occurred in after pump room by an accumulation of gasoline in the bilge. The power ventilation to the pump room was out of order and the explosion in the pump room ruptured the engine room bulkhead (wall) and also the bulkhead of #11 center cargo tank resulting in gasoline flowing into the engine room where many sources of ignition existed to trigger secondary explosions and intense fire.

The initial explosion occurred in the engine room caused by:

• Gasoline accumulated in after pump room from leakage at pumps, valves, piping or fractured or deteriorated area of #11 cargo tank bulkhead.
• Pump room bilge alarm failed to operate or was not heard.
• Liquid level rose to height of four feet and leaked into engine room through fractured or deteriorated area of engine room bulkhead, or
• Liquid level rose to height of seven feet and leaked into engine room through pump drive shaft vapor seals at engine room bulkhead penetrations.
• Undetected low lying vapors accumulated in engine room and were ignited from an electrical source.

“Concerning the first alternative, the record does not indicate any known source of ignition, and in accordance with present regulations, no sources of ignition are permitted in pump rooms,” it read. “The most probable source appears to be a spark caused by a falling tool or other metallic object due to normal vibration of the vessel.”

The second alternative read there were many electrical sources of ignition in the engine room in close proximity to the engine room-pump room bulkhead.

“However, it appears unlikely that a leak in the pump room of such proportion to create the head of gasoline required, would have gone unnoticed by the chief mate and the two pump men who inspected and secured the space following cargo operations. In addition, it appears highly improbable that all the other necessary elements were present,” the report stated.

The board concluded the probable cause of the accident was the explosion of gasoline vapors in the after pump room. The source of ignition was unknown.

Looking back on his career, La Rue started off as a 17 year old farm boy in Missouri. He father was leasing a 600-acre farm. One day, he went to the movies where he saw a recruiting poster that read, “We Need You.”

He asked his father if he could join the Merchant Marines. His father was hesitant at first because his son helped him on the farm. After a while, though, he let La Rue join up.

He completed his basic training at the New York Maritime Training School on Long Island. His first assignment was in Norfolk, Va. on a small tanker.

He spent his entire 37-year career with Gulf Oil, from Nov. 27, 1944 until he retired in 1983.

He started toward the end of World War II and he’s still considered a veteran because of the war. In fact, his driver’s license allows him to state that he’s a veteran.

He worked his way through the ranks from ordinary seaman, to an officer, and captain of a merchant vessel.

Most of his time was spent on the east coast in tankers, from Port Arthur to Maine. They would visit every port on the coast, receiving and delivering oil products. He also met his wife in Port Arthur.

Since retiring, he has never been back to sea. He lives on Lakeshore Drive and enjoys watching the ships sail by, seeing what the name of the vessel is, which company owns it, and whose nation’s flag is flying on the stern (the back of the ship).

“When I started there were 13 ships in Gulf Oil. Now there are none. They’re all foreign-flagged now,” he said. “I’m happy to hear they will be recognizing the Gulfstag (at the ceremony on Oct. 24) and from many in the maritime industry so they will know what happened.”

David Ball: 409-721-2427