The T2 tanker, or T2, was a class of oil tanker constructed and produced in large numbers in the United States during World War II. Only the T3 tankers were larger "navy oilers" of the period. Some 533 T2s were built between 1940 and the end of 1945. They were used to transport fuel oil, diesel fuel, gasoline and sometimes black oil-crude oil. Post war many T2s remained in use; like other hastily built World War II ships pressed into peacetime service, there were safety concerns. As was found during the war, the United States Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation in 1952 stated that in cold weather the ships were prone to metal fatigue cracking, so were "belted" with steel straps. This occurred after two T2s, Pendleton and Fort Mercer, split in two off Cape Cod within hours of each other. Pendleton's sinking is memorialized in the 2016 film The Finest Hours. Engineering inquiries into the problem suggested the cause was poor welding techniques. It was found the steel was not well suited for the new wartime welding construction. The high sulfur content made the steel brittle and prone to metal fatigue at lower temperatures.
Joseph Stephen Cullinan was a U.S. oil industrialist. Although he was a native of Pennsylvania, his lifetime business endeavors would help shape the early phase of the oil industry in Texas. He founded The Texas Company, which would eventually be known as Texaco Incorporated.
Torkild Rieber was a Norwegian immigrant to the United States who became chairman of the Texas Company (Texaco).
National Bulk Carriers was a shipping company which owned and operated oil tanker ships and bulk carriers. Some of them were among the largest in the world at that time. It was one of the largest multinational corporations in the world.
James L. Autry House is located at 5 Courtlandt Place in Houston, Texas, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Design is credited to Alfred C. Finn, when he worked for the Fort Worth architecture firm of Sanguinet & Staats, and was executed in 1912. Autry was a general counsel and director for Texaco.
General Steamship Company was founded in 1920 in Houston, Texas, as a Private Company, and now goes by Gensteam since 1996. General Steamship Company has a fleet of cargo ships that operate worldwide. Gensteam has a Gensteam Operations Desk website that tracks all shipping logistics. Gensteam headquarters is now in San Francisco, California. General Steamship Company was part owner of American Pacific Steamship Company in New York state and Los Angeles during and post World War II. American Pacific Steamship Company was founded in 1942 in New York City, and was previously called Los Angeles Tanker Operators Inc. which operated T2 tanker ships. During World War II the General Steamship Company and American Pacific Steamship Company were active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.
Pacific Tankers, Inc. of San Francisco, California, was founded in 1943 as a division of Joshua Hendy Corporation to operate fleet oilers for the United States Navy to support World War II efforts. Pacific Tankers, Inc. operated Mission Buenaventura-class oiler, a T2 tanker (T2-SE-A2). Each Pacific Tankers, Inc. tanker had a merchant crew of about 9 officers and 39 men. Pacific Tankers Inc. was a major tanker operator for the war with a fleet of over 60 tankers. Pacific Tankers, Inc. continued operations after the war.
Keystone Shipping Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is a major shipping and transportation company. Keystone Shipping Company operates a fleet of ships for both dry bulk cargo and tankers. Since World War I, the Keystone Shipping Company has been active in the worldwide support of the United States Armed Forces. Keystone Shipping Company is part of the Ready Reserve Fleet program. Keystone Shipping Company was founded by Charles Kurz. Before Keystone Shipping Company, Charles Kurz was a shipping agent, commodities trader, and ship owner. Keystone Shipping Company headquarters is in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Sabine Transportation Company is a shipping company with headquarters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sabine Transportation Company ships products worldwide. Sabine Transportation Company was founded in 1908 in Port Arthur, Texas. In 1998 Sabine Transportation Company was purchased by Stickle Enterprises in Cedar Rapids. Sabine Transportation Company operates dry bulk and tanker ships Sabine Transportation Company has operated under United States contracts with United States Agency for International Developmentto Sabine ship good for relief efforts to: Afghanistan, India, North Korea, Russia and Africa. Sabine Transportation Company tanker fleet transports, gasoline, and MTBE. Sabine Transportation Company ships are staff with a crew of about 25. Sabine Transportation Company has been active on the Mississippi river, Missouri river and Gulf of Mexico. Sabine Transportation Company has a fleet of tugboats and barges on the river system. In 1967 Sabine Transportation Company merged with Chromalloy American Corp. of St. Louis. Sequa Corp. of New York purchased Chromalloy in 1982. In 1992 Sabine was purchased by Kirby Corporation of Houston. With the 1998 purchase of Sabine Transportation Company by Stickle Enterprise, Sabine Transportation Company has been company the brand name of the shipping company. The fleet of ships becoming aged have been retired by 2005, Stickle Enterprises not longer is in the shipping industry.
Cosmopolitan Shipping Company, also called the Cosmopolitan Line, was founded in 1916 in New York City. Cosmopolitan Shipping Company operated cargo and passenger service from New York City to Le Havre France and Antwerp. From 1919 to 1939 operated United States Shipping Board ships under a United States contract, called the America-France Line. Later Cosmopolitan Shipping Company also operated the Southern Cross Line that served the east coast of South America. Southern Cross Line operated cargo ship with some passenger accommodations.
American Trading & Production Corporation was an American shipping company founded in New York City. It operated tanker ships and a few cargo ships.
The Barber Asphalt Company, founded in 1883 by Amzi L. Barber, initially started in Washington, D.C. and later moved its headquarters to New York City. The company leased the largest known asphalt deposit at Pitch Lake, Trinidad in 1888 and expanded its operations with various offices and subsidiaries. After several mergers and name changes, including a joint venture with Standard Oil in 1946, the company played a significant role in paving millions of miles of roads. The Barber Asphalt Company also operated a fleet of tankers and coal ships which were used to contribute to the US Merchant Navy during World War II. The company closed in 1981, selling its assets to various corporations.
Republic Oil Sales Company was founded on May 13, 1926, in Fort Worth, Texas by Herbert D. McCracken. In 1929 the Republic Oil Refining Company was founded in Pittsburgh at the Benedum-Trees Building with Ovid D. Robinson as president. Republic Oil Refining Company's vice president was James Carne and William H. Moreland as the secretary-treasurer. Republic Oil Refining Company had a field office in Houston, that moved to Texas City, Texas in 1935. Texas City is the location of the refinery. At its peak in 1931, the Texas City refinery had a capacity of 35,000 barrels daily and 1,250,000 barrels of tank storage. The company dissolved on April 1, 1957.
American Foreign Steamship Corporation was founded in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1932 by Ira L. Rosenson, Sophia Pruss and Elias Katz. Rosenson was an attorney and the major shareholder in the firm. American Foreign Steamship Corporation purchased a 5,570-ton cargo ship SS Eastern Glen from the American South African Line in 1933. American Foreign Steamship Corporation named the ship the SS American Oriole. The ship was built by Kabushiki Kaisha Uchida Zosengo company of Yokohama, Japan, in 1920. The ship was a United States Shipping Board ship. The next two ships purchased was the SS Liberty Glo and SS Wildwood, these were Hog Islanders type ships. The two ships were purchased from the South Atlantic Steamship Company. In 1938 another Hog Islanders ship was purchased the, SS Magmeric, renamed the SS American Robin. The American Oriole was sold to England in 1940 to help with the World War II efforts. She was renamed the SS Barberrys, but on November 26, 1942, she was sunk by a torpedoed from German submarine U-663 off of St. John's, Newfoundland.
Prudential Steamship Corporation was a shipping company founded in 1933 in New York City by Stephan Stephanidis. Prudential Steamship Corporation operated the Prudential Lines. Prudential Lines main routes was from the United States to Mediterranean ports. The Prudential Lines was never successful and was always near bankruptcy. Prudential Lines was active in supporting the World War II efforts. At its peak in the 1960s Prudential Lines owned and operated two tankers, and five cargo ships. In 1960 the Prudential Steamship Corporation was sold to Spyros Skouras and his family. In 1969 the Prudential Lines merged with Grace Lines, which continued to operate the fleet as the Prudential Grace Line.
Sword Line Inc. was a steamship company founded by Charilaos "Charles" G. Poulacos and Abbott Abercrombie in New York City in 1933. Sword Line Inc. had shipping routes from Atlantic ports to and Gulf of Mexico ports. Charilaos "Charles" G. Poulacos and Abbott Abercrombie purchased the ship Eastern Sword in 1932. The Eastern Sword was a 3,785-ton cargo ship built in 1920 at the Uraga Dry Dock Co. Ltd, at Uraga, Japan. The ship sank after being hit by a torpedo from German submarine U-162 on May 4, 1942 twelve miles (19 km) off the coast of Georgetown, Guyana. The Eastern Sword had a crew of 38 and only 13 survived the attack. Sword Line Inc. was active in supporting the World War II effort.
American Petroleum Transport Corporation was an oil shipping company founded in New York City in 1936. Daniel K. Ludwig was President of American Petroleum Transport Corporation. In 1939 American Petroleum Transport Corporation operated eight tanker ships from the Gulf of Mexico to Hatteras, North Carolina. American Petroleum Transport Corporation was active in supporting the World War II efforts. Some tanker ships American Petroleum Transport Corporation operated were sunk by German U-boat submarines. Daniel K. Ludwig founded in 1936 the company National Bulk Carriers.
Bernuth-Lembcke Company was a tanker ship transportation company founded in 1918 in New York City by Oscar Max von Bernuth and Carlos Eduardo Lembcke. Earlier Oscar Max von Bernuth founded his own company, Bernuth Corporation, on December 20, 1907, in at Suffolk, New York. Carlos Eduardo Lembcke. Earlier founded his own company, C. Lembeke & Company, in 1889. Bernuth-Lembcke Company were active in supporting the World War II effort, shipping fuel oil.
Sieling & Jarvis Inc. was a shipping company that operated tanker ships and some cargo ships. Sieling & Jarvis was started by David B. Jarvis and Dick Sieling in New York City. Later David B. Jarvis was the company president and later became the sole owner of Sieling & Jarvis Inc. Mr. Sieling was the vice president and a partner in Sieling & Jarvis. Sieling & Jarvis supported the World War II effort by operating United States owned ships.
