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| Remains of the Sulphur Queen (Coast Guard) |
Long the stuff of Bermuda Triangle legend, the SS Marine
Sulphur Queen disappeared a few days after departing Beaumont, TX Feb. 2, 1963.
The 524-foot T2 tanker was headed for Norfolk, VA through a well-traveled shipping lane with 15,000
tons of molten sulphur. One routine communication came from the ship before it
was noticed missing Feb. 4. By Feb. 6, the Sulphur Queen and its crew of 39 officially
went missing. No distress calls had come from the tanker. As many as 15 planes
scanned the coast from Cape Hatteras, N.C. to the Florida Keys and as far west
as Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. No debris was found during the official search
that was called off 11 days later.
Theories abounded, including hijacking or drifting into
Cuban waters. All were disproved. By February 20, debris and two stenciled life
jackets with the name Sulphur Queen were found by a Navy torpedo retriever
boat. “A considerable amount of wreckage was found in the area,” reported the Miami News. The area of recovery was 14 miles southeast of Key West. More debris
was picked up weeks later on beaches near Fort Lauderdale, Miami and the Keys.
In May, the Miami News reported
authorities had received a call about a wooden name plate from the tanker in a dump in Boca
Chica in the Keys. The caller said it showed signs of being in an explosion.
Hearings about the Sulphur Queen’s disappearance revealed
the tanker’s shoddy construction (launched 1944) and frequent fires. The tanker was traveling on
a route beset with 40 mph winds and 14-foot seas. The biggest mysteries were the missing crew and no distress call. A sudden explosion may have accounted
for both puzzles. Final determination: the Sulphur Queen was lost near the
Florida Straits, and though the ship was judged unsafe, cause of disappearance could not be determined.
Notwithstanding the facts, the Sulphur Queen’s disappearance
became one of the popular ghosts of Bermuda Triangle theorists. The
first connection between the missing tanker and the Bermuda Triangle was made
less than a year later, in a story by Vincent Gaddis (Argosy Magazine, February, 1964) who dramatically wrote "the ship had sailed into the unknown."
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For Florida population in 1960, see: http://janesbits.blogspot.com/2012/05/florida-history-1960-population-and-wow.html
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Sources:
For Florida population in 1960, see: http://janesbits.blogspot.com/2012/05/florida-history-1960-population-and-wow.html
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Sources:
Miami News, Feb.
11, 1963
Miami News, Feb 17, 1963
Miami News, Feb
20, 1963
Miami News, Feb
21, 1963
Miami News, Mar.
22, 1963
Miami News, May
12, 1963
Tags: Bermuda Triangle, missing tanker off Florida 1963, Florida history, missing ships off Florida
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