Oil tankers
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Oil tankers
Does anyone know what was the world's largest oil tanker in the 1930s?
The upper limit for ship size in this period seems to be the 80000+ tons of Queen Mary and Normandie...
The upper limit for ship size in this period seems to be the 80000+ tons of Queen Mary and Normandie...
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The Ohio, rated at 9,263 tons according to the Wiki article, is often named as the largest tanker in the world at the time of her launching in 1940. This ship earned fame from the 1942 PEDESTAL convoy to resupply Malta, where she was seriously damaged.
Later tankers were larger. The T-2 tankers, built by US shipyards by the hundreds from 1942 and on, weighed in at about 16,000 deadweight tons.
Technically, it was 'easy' enough to build larger tankers. The limiting factor was the size of oil terminals and dockside space and port depth.
Later tankers were larger. The T-2 tankers, built by US shipyards by the hundreds from 1942 and on, weighed in at about 16,000 deadweight tons.
Technically, it was 'easy' enough to build larger tankers. The limiting factor was the size of oil terminals and dockside space and port depth.
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http://iancoombe.tripod.com/id8.htmlcame into service in 1937 as did the first of a new class of 11,500 dwt tankers which eventually became the 'Dale' class (ABBEYDALE, BISHOPDALE etc.) There were 8 vessels in this class at the outbreak of WW2.
The eight in being at the wars outbreak were:-
Abbeydale
Aldersdale
Arndale
Bishopsdale
Boardale
Broomdale
Cairndale
Cedardale
A further 11 'Dale' were constructed during the war.
The British had several Mercantile conversions in the 10,000ton region aswell.
Regards
Andy H
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from http://www.naval-history.net/WW2British ... upport.htm
Andy H
Regards
Entries are from the original and uncorrected "British Vessels Lost at Sea, 1935-45", published by HMSO 1947.
R-Indicates a Requisitioned for Royal Navy service; tonnage is either standard displacement or gross registered
Tankers/Oilers
ALBERT L ELLSWORTH (8,309t, 1937), sunk by U-boat off W Africa. Date approximate, January 8, 1943
ALCIDES (R, 7,634t, 1930), sunk by Japanese Raider, Indian Ocean. Date approximate, August 2, 1943
ALDERSDALE (8,402t, 1937), sunk, cause unknown, Barents Sea, Arctic, May 26, 1942
ANDREA BROVIG (R, 10,173t, 1940), sunk by U-boat, West Indies, June 23, 1942
BELITA (R, 6,323t, 1933), sunk by U-boat, off Socotra, Arabian Sea, December 3, 1942
BETH (R, 6,852t, 1930), sunk by U-boat off Barbados, West Indies, May 18, 1942
BIRCHOL (1,115t, 1917), wrecked off Hebrides, W of Scotland, November 29, 1939
BOARDALE (8,400t, 1937), grounded at Narvik, Norway and sunk, April 30, 1939
CAIRNDALE (8,129t, 1939), sunk by U-boat torpedo, W of Gibraltar Straits, May 30, 1941
CIRCLE SHELL (R, 8,207t, 1931), sunk by U-boat off Venezuela, February 21, 1942
DARKDALE (8,145t, 15/11/40), sunk by explosion, believed torpedoed by U-boat, St Helena, South Atlantic, October 22, 1941
DINSDALE (8,250t, 11th April 1942), sunk by U-boat torpedo, South Atlantic, May 31, 1942
FINNANGER (R, 9,551t, 1928), sunk by U-boat, North Atlantic, February 24, 1942
FRANCOL (2,623t, 1917), sunk by gunfire of Japanese surface craft, S of Java, March 3, 1942
HALLANGER (R, 9,551, 1928), sunk by U-boat, W Mediterranean, March 30, 1943
HAVSTEN (R, 6,161t, 1930), sunk by U-boat, West Atlantic, August 3, 1942
JOHN P PEDERSEN (R, 6,128t, 1930), sunk by U-boat, N Atlantic, May 20, 1941
LEIV EIRIKSSON (R, 9,952t, 1936), sunk by U-boat, West Indies, June 27, 1942
LITIOPA (R, 5,356, 1917), sunk by U-boat off W Africa, October 22, 1943
MALMANGER (R, 7,078t, 1920), sunk by U-boat off West Africa, August 9, 1942
MARIT (R, 5,542t, 1918), sunk by U-boat off Benghazi, Libya, October 4, 1943
MINISTER WEDEL (R, 6,833t, 1930), sunk by U-boat off W Africa, January 9, 1943
MIRLO (R, 7,455t, 1922), sunk by U-boat, off West Africa, August 11, 1942
MONTENOL (2,646t, 1917), torpedoed by U-boat, North Atlantic. Sunk by own forces, May 21, 1942
NYHOLT (R, 8,087t, 1931), sunk by U-boat, West Atlantic, January 17, 1942
OLEANDER (7,048t), damaged and beached on 26th May; sunk in Harstad Bay, Norway, June 8, 1939
OLNA (12,667t, 1921), bombed and set on fire, Crete, May 18, 1941
PERICLES (R, 8,324, 1936), lost in heavy weather on passage to Alexandria, Egypt, April 14, 1941
PLUMLEAF (5,916t, 1917), sunk by aircraft bombs, Malta, April 4, 1942
ROSEWOOD (R, 5,989t, 1931), torpedoed and presumed sunk, March 9, 1943
SANDAR (R, 7,624t, 1928), sunk by U-boat off Tobago, West Indies, May 2, 1942
SILDRA (R, 7,313t, 1927), sunk by U-boat off W. Africa, August 19, 1941
SLAVOL (2,623t, 1917), sunk by U-boat torpedo sailing for Tobruk, Libya, March 26, 1942
SLEMDAL (R, 7,374t, 1931), sunk by U-boat, North Atlantic, June 15, 1942
SVENOR (R, 7,616t, 1931), sunk by U-boat, West Atlantic, March 27, 1942
SVEVE (R, 6,313t, 1930), sunk by U-boat, North Atlantic, September 10, 1942
TANKEXPRESS (R, 10, 95t, 1937), sunk by U-boat off West Africa, July 25, 1942
THELMA (R, 8,297t, 1937), cause and place unknown, August 26, 1942
THORSHAVET (R, 11,015t, 1938), sunk by U-boat, Caribbean Sea, November 3, 1942
THORSHOVDI (R, 9,944t, 1937), war cause, August 4, 1943
VARDAAS (R, 8,176t, 1931), sunk by U-boat, off Tobago, West Indies, August 30, 1942
WAR DIWAN (5,550t, 1919), sunk by mine, River Schelde, Holland, December 16, 1944
WAR MEHTAR (5,502, 1920), torpedoed off Yarmouth, November 20, 1941
WAR SEPOY (5,574t, 1919), damaged by aircraft off Dover. Constructive total loss, July 19, 1939
WAR SIRDAR (5,518t, 1920), lost on reef, NW Batavia, March 1, 1942
Andy H
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If memory serves me right, the largest oilt tanker sunk during the war was the EMPIRE HERITAGE. She was a converted whale factory ship. She was carrying 16,000 of fuel and also a large deck cargo which included tanks. She was sunk in Spetember 1944 and is one of the many large ships that met there final fate around Irelands coast during the war.
Mark
Mark
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Some info on the Empire Heritage, including pictures from a dive on her (showing a lot of tanks)
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/3351.html
http://www.deepimage.co.uk/wrecks/empir ... rticle.htm
http://deepimage.co.uk/wrecks/empire_he ... images.htm#
All the best
Andreas
http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/3351.html
http://www.deepimage.co.uk/wrecks/empir ... rticle.htm
http://deepimage.co.uk/wrecks/empire_he ... images.htm#
All the best
Andreas
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Re: Oil tankers
Eni/Agip had a few 10,500 ton (14,770 dwt) tankers that may have been larger than Ohio, and had been launched in the late 30s. In 42 they launched a 16,500 ton purpose-built tanker with the same deadweight. I am guessing that the higher carriage capacity meant that she had only one tank? The earlier ones seemed to be able to take multiple fuels.
All the best
Andreas
All the best
Andreas
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Re: Oil tankers
Here is a point of reference for world tanker fleets on the eve of war
Goralski & Freeburg also offer data for the war years. If interest is sufficient I'll post the numbers here.
Code: Select all
World Tanker Fleet as of June 30th 1938
Number GRT %of World Total
US 418 2,759,642 25.8
UK 410 2,672,219 24.9
Norway 262 1,972,469 18.4
Netherlands 112 561,946 5.2
Italy 78 380,488 3.5
Panama 49 450,261 4.2
France 40 241,896 2.3
Japan 39 345,849 3.2
Germany 31 202,221 1.9
Canada 28 124,727 1.2
USSR 27 123,209 1.1
Sweden 17 144,899 1.4
Spain 16 76,925 0.1
Denmark 14 106,786 0.1
Belgium 9 64,923 0.1
Others 105 487,220 4.5
From Lloyd's Register via Goralski & Freeburg Oil & War: How the Deadly Struggle for Fuel in WWII meant Victory or Defeat, p 339
Goralski & Freeburg also offer data for the war years. If interest is sufficient I'll post the numbers here.
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Re: Oil tankers
If we're talking about gross tonnage, don't forget the UK leased the Norwegian tanker fleet on the outbreak of war, and it was the continued leasing revenue from these that supported the Norwegian government-in-exile in Britain after the Fall of Norway.
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Re: Oil tankers
The largest Italian tanker in this registry (that is, the largest Italian tanker which was sunk) was the 10,540 ton Iridio Mantovani, which was sunk off Tripoli on December 1 1941.Andreas wrote:Eni/Agip had a few 10,500 ton (14,770 dwt) tankers that may have been larger than Ohio, and had been launched in the late 30s...
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Re: Oil tankers
That was the one that got me to look up whether Ohio was indeed the largest. Turns out that Iridio Mantovani had at least one sister of the same design, and both were in service before 1940.
All the best
Andreas
All the best
Andreas
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Re: Oil tankers
...some further digging brought up this basic information from the excellent Miramar ship index website:
IDNo: 5613950 Year: 1939
Name: IRIDIO MANTOVANI Launch Date: 22.12.38
Type: Tanker Date of completion: 5.39
Flag: ITA Keel:
Tons: 10540 Link: 1137
DWT: Yard No: 1204
Length overall: Ship Design:
LPP: 152.2 Country of build:
Beam: 20.9 Builder: Riuniti Adriatico
Material of build: Location of yard: Monfalcone
Number of
screws/Mchy/
Speed(kn): 1D-16
Owner as Completed: Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli, Genoa
IDNo: 5613950 Year: 1939
Name: IRIDIO MANTOVANI Launch Date: 22.12.38
Type: Tanker Date of completion: 5.39
Flag: ITA Keel:
Tons: 10540 Link: 1137
DWT: Yard No: 1204
Length overall: Ship Design:
LPP: 152.2 Country of build:
Beam: 20.9 Builder: Riuniti Adriatico
Material of build: Location of yard: Monfalcone
Number of
screws/Mchy/
Speed(kn): 1D-16
Owner as Completed: Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli, Genoa
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Re: Oil tankers
I like 'Disposal Data - gunfire 1.12.41'
Not sure that is correct though, according to the report by the commander of the escort she was sunk by bombs. He was sunk by gunfire.
All the best
Andreas
Not sure that is correct though, according to the report by the commander of the escort she was sunk by bombs. He was sunk by gunfire.
All the best
Andreas
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Re: Oil tankers
Apparently (but sources are a little unclear) she received the coup de grace from Force K destroyers after they had disposed of the escorting destroyer Da Mosto while she was picking up survivors. Earlier on that day, the Iridio Mantovani had been attacked by three Blenheims (of either 18 or 107 squadron) at 1300 which immobilized her, and a second air strike at 1650 caused the crew to abandon her.
The Iridio Mantovani was carrying 5,032 tons of fuel oil, 1,727 tons of diesel and 1,870 tons of gasoline when she was sunk 70 nm north of Tripoli.
The Iridio Mantovani was carrying 5,032 tons of fuel oil, 1,727 tons of diesel and 1,870 tons of gasoline when she was sunk 70 nm north of Tripoli.