[1] At 00:22 local time, Nebraska rammed Empress Bay amidships, triggering an explosion of gasoline aboard the tanker and spilling oil that ignited on the surface of the river.
[1] The spread of the gasoline slick led the Coast Guard to close the river in the area until the middle of the day, and smoking was banned on the waterfront until that evening.
[1] 37 sailors were injured,[1] and two Empress Bay crewmembers, engineer Thomas Erickson and cook Otto Ahrens, were killed.
[1] William Finn, a New York Journal-American photographer, died of a heart attack as he was taking pictures of the disaster.
[2] Nebraska remained afloat after the collision and was sailed to a Hudson River pier,[2] while Empress Bay was partially submerged and later sank during the early morning of June 26.