Design and construction
The vessel was laid down at C.S. Swan & Hunter Co. shipyard in Wallsend and launched on 10 August 1899 (yard number 246), with Miss M.C. Bowring of Liverpool being the sponsor. [3] [2] [4]
After successful completion of sea trials on 16 September, during which the ship attained maximum speed of 11.0 knots (12.7 mph; 20.4 km/h) and made a mean speed of 10.0 knots (11.5 mph; 18.5 km/h) over a measured mile, she was transferred to her owners and immediately departed for Philadelphia. [5] [6]
As built, the ship was 344 feet 4 inches (104.95 m) long (between perpendiculars) and 47 feet 1 inch (14.35 m) abeam, a mean draft of 20 feet 9 inches (6.32 m). [1] Lucifer was assessed at 3,823 GRT and 2,473 NRT and had deadweight of approximately 5,000. [1] The vessel had a steel hull, and a single 310 nhp triple-expansion steam engine, with cylinders of 24-inch (61 cm), 39-inch (99 cm) and 66-inch (170 cm) diameter with a 45-inch (110 cm) stroke, that drove a single screw propeller, and moved the ship at up to 10.0 knots (11.5 mph; 18.5 km/h). [1]
Operational history
Upon delivery Lucifer departed from South Shields for Philadelphia in ballast on 16 September 1899 and arrived at her destination on 2 October. [7] [8] After spending two days in port she left Philadelphia on 5 October and reached Cuxhaven on 26 October. The vessel left there on 31 October and arrived at Newcastle the next day, thus completing her maiden voyage.
The vessel immediately departed for her second voyage from Newcastle and arrived at Batoum on 21 November. After loading her cargo of oil, she sailed back two days later and arrived at Hamburg on 13 December. The vessel continued sailing between Hamburg and English ports and Batoum and Novorossiysk until the end of May 1900. For example, she arrived at Novorossiysk on 17 March 1900, loaded 221,103 poods (967,840 gallons) of refined illuminating oil, left on 21 March and arrived at Cardiff on 17 April. [9] During her next trip she anchored at Batoum on 5 May, loaded 317,605 poods of kerosene, left on 7 May and arrived at Hamburg at the end of May. [10] She then left Hamburg on 1 June and reached Baltimore on 21 June. There she loaded 1,750,464 gallons of petroleum and left on 23 June for Antwerp. [11] She continued sailing between United States ports of Baltimore, New York and Philadelphia and Europe until the end of 1901. On 26 January 1901 she arrived at Antwerp with a lifeboat smashed and several deck fittings damaged due to rough weather the ship encountered on her trip. [12]
In 1902 the tanker continued her oil trade between Philadelphia and United Kingdom and Europe but also made a couple of trips to Russia. For example, during her June trip to Batoum she brought back 320,366 poods (1,409,600 gallons) of kerosene to Bristol and Cardiff on 2 July 1902. [13] Lucifer also returned to Manchester with 5,306 tons of kerosene on 1 January 1903, following her December trip to Novorossisk.
Following that trip Lucifer was briefly laid up until March 1903 when she resumed her trade. The vessel spent 1903 transporting oil and petroleum products from both Russia and Philadelphia. The ship spent 1904 carrying petroleum products exclusively from Russian Black Sea ports. For example, she brought in 1,006,400 gallons of lamp oil from Novorossisk to Cardiff on 22 December 1904. During the same trip she also had her hull plates bent, possibly through collision. [14]
From 1905, for the rest of her career, Lucifer continued her service on the United States to Europe route. In addition to British and northern European ports, she started occasionally carrying her cargo to ports in Italy. During her November 1905 trip from Philadelphia to Rouen she lost three blades of her propeller and had to call at Portland for repairs. [15] In 1906, for example, she delivered from Philadelphia 1,418,310 gallons of kerosene on 24 August and 1,419,550 gallons on 11 October for consignment of The Bowring Petroleum Co. [16]
Sinking
Lucifer arrived at New York at 01:00 on 26 March 1907 from Manchester in ballast to load another cargo of kerosene for delivery to the United Kingdom. [17] After loading approximately 25,000 barrels of oil, the ship departed from New York on 5 April and took course to Dublin and Belfast. The tanker was under command of captain Wilson and had a crew of 34 men. On 8 April a leak was discovered in stokehold and the pumps were employed, but the water kept rising until it reached the fires extinguishing them. The vessel continued drifting while the captain ordered to stock all lifeboats with provision good for about 12 days and made them ready for immediate use. The weather was rough with wind and heavy seas which exacerbated the situation. About three days later, the lights of two passing ships were spotted and distress calls were made but they apparently were not noticed. Some of the oil cargo was pumped out to lighten the ship and keep her afloat. Finally, on the night of 15 April, another steamer, SS Sagami, was sighted and this time she noticed the flares and rockets fired by the troubled tanker and came by to enquire. As the gale was still in full force, the rescue was postponed until the daylight. At about 03:30 the next morning the rescue operation started, continued for almost five hours. About an hour after captain Wilson, who was the last person to leave the doomed ship, boarded Sagami, Lucifer foundered. All 35 men from Lucifer were safely landed at Falmouth on 28 April. The Dutch steamer SS Ryndam which arrived at Rotterdam a few days earlier, claimed to have spoken to Lucifer on 12 April but was informed that while her stokehold was filled with water and pump was out of order, the tanker did not require assistance. [18] [19] [20]
Hammac was a steam tank ship built in 1920–1921 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Alameda for the United States Shipping Board as part of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to restore the nation's Merchant Marine. Early in 1923 the vessel together with two other tankers was sold to General Petroleum Corporation and renamed Emidio. The tanker spent the vast majority of her career carrying oil along the West Coast of the United States as well as between West and East coast. In December 1941 she was shelled and damaged by the Japanese submarine I-17 and eventually wrecked with a loss of five crewmen.
Silvanus was a steam tanker built in 1920–1921 by the Southwestern Shipbuilding & Drydock Company of San Pedro for the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company with the intention of transporting oil and petroleum products between Dutch East Indies and various destinations in Europe and the Far East. The tanker was employed in this capacity through the first part of 1926. In April 1926 Silvanus collided with the tanker Thomas H. Wheeler in the Mississippi River, resulting in the explosion and death of 26 seamen. Silvanus was declared a total loss and sold at auction to the newly formed Petroleum Navigation Company of Texas. The tanker was rebuilt and renamed Papoose and started operating in March 1927. In March 1942, she was attacked by German U-boat U-124 off the coast of North Carolina. The ship drifted for several days and eventually sank in 200 feet (61 m) of water off Oregon Inlet.
W. L. Steed was a steam tanker built in 1917–1918 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Quincy for Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company, with intention of transporting oil and petroleum products between Mexican and Gulf ports and the Northeast of the United States. The ship was briefly requisitioned by the US Government during World War I but returned to commercial service in early 1919. The ship was named after William L. Steed, superintendent of the Mexican Petroleum Company of California.
Montebello was a steam oil tanker built in 1920–1921 by the Southwestern Shipbuilding Co. of San Pedro for Union Oil Company with the intention of carrying oil and petroleum products along the West Coast of the United States and Canada as well as between the United States and Chile. In December 1941 the tanker was sunk on one of her regular trips by the Japanese submarine I-21.
Sylvan Arrow was a steam tanker built in 1917–1918 by New York Shipbuilding Co. of Camden for Standard Oil Company, with intention of transporting oil and petroleum products between United States and ports in the Far East. The ship was briefly requisitioned by the US Government during World War I but returned to commercial service in early 1919.
MV Wotan was a 5,703 GRT tanker that was built in 1913 by Reiherstieg Schiffswerft & Maschinenfabrik, Hamburg, Germany. Requisitioned by the Imperial German Navy in 1914, she served until 1915 as SMS A and was then returned to her owners. Ceded to the United States in 1919, she was operated until 1920 then laid up following an engine failure.
Methven Castle was a steam iron passenger cargo ship built in 1882–1883 by Barclay, Curle & Company of Glasgow for Donald Currie & Co. with intention of serving as cargo, passenger and mail carrier on their existing route from England to South Africa. The vessel was later sold to the North American Mail Steamship Co. of Tacoma to work on their Oriental trade routes and renamed Columbia. In 1899 the ship was chartered by the United States Army to transport troops and supplies to various overseas destinations. In 1900 the Army bought out the ship placing it in service as the United States Army Transport Rosecrans but sold it two years later to Matson Navigation Company. The vessel was then converted into an oil tanker to carry oil from the West Coast to Alaska and Hawaii. Subsequently she was sold in 1905 to Associated Oil Co. to carry oil from California to various ports along the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. In January 1913 while on one of her regular trips, the ship was wrecked off the mouth of the Columbia River with the loss of almost her entire crew.
Sangstad was a steam cargo ship built in 1904 by the Robert Thompson & Sons of Sunderland for A. F. Klaveness & Co of Sandefjord. She was primarily employed as an ore carrier and collier doing tramp trade during her career.
Queen Cristina was a steam cargo ship built in 1901 by the Northumberland Shipbuilding Co of Newcastle for Thomas Dunlop & Sons of Glasgow. The ship was designed and built for general cargo trade and spent her career doing tramp trade. She was the second ship named Queen Cristina in service with the Queen Line.
Silverlip was a steam tanker built in 1902 by the W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Company of Walker for Sir Marcus Samuel owner and chairman of Shell Transport & Trading Company of London. The ship was designed and built to carry liquid cargo and spent her career carrying petroleum products from Borneo and Texas to United Kingdom and Europe.
Samuel Q. Brown was a steam tanker built in 1920–1921 by Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation of Chester for Tide Water Oil Co., a subsidiary of Standard Oil, with intention of operating between New York and the oil-producing ports of the southern United States and Mexico.
Queen Cristina was a steam cargo ship built in 1896 by Bartram & Sons of Sunderland for Thomas Dunlop & Sons of Glasgow. The ship was designed and built for general cargo trade and spent her career doing tramp trade. She was named after Queen Cristina of Spain, and was the first ship named Queen Cristina in service with the Queen Line.
Lightburne was a steam tanker built in 1918–1919 by Texas Steamship Company of Bath for The Texas Company, with intention of transporting oil and petroleum products between Mexican and Gulf ports and the Northeast of the United States. The ship was named after R. W. Lightburne, Jr., a Kansas City-based steamship agent who rendered valuable assistance to the United States Shipping Board during the war.
China Arrow was a steam tanker built in 1920 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Quincy for Standard Oil Co., with intention of transporting oil and petroleum products between United States and the Far East. During the first part of her career the tanker was used to carry oil and gasoline between United States and Asia, later becoming a coastal tanker serving the East Coast of the United States. The ship was torpedoed and sunk in February 1942 on one of her regular trips by German submarine U-103.
India Arrow was a steam tanker built in 1921 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Quincy for Standard Oil Co., with intention of transporting oil and petroleum products between the United States and the Far East. During the first eight years the tanker was chiefly employed in the Pacific trade, carrying cargo between Gulf ports and a variety of destinations in East Asia. In late 1920s the tanker was moved to serve intercoastal trade routes while still making occasional trips to Asia. In early 1930s she was permanently assigned to trade routes between the Gulf and the ports on the United States East Coast, where she remained for the rest of her career.
Lyman Stewart was a steam tanker built in 1914 by Union Iron Works Company of San Francisco for the Union Oil Company of California, with intention of transporting oil and petroleum products to ports along the West Coast of the United States and Canada. The ship was named after Lyman Stewart, the president of the Union Oil Co. In October 1922 the tanker collided with another steamer, SS Walter Luckenbach, and was beached to avoid sinking but was subsequently declared a total loss.
Oklahoma was a steam tanker built in 1907-1908 by New York Shipbuilding Co. of Camden for the J. M. Guffey Petroleum Company, with intention of transporting oil and petroleum products to ports along the East Coast of the United States and Europe. In January 1914 the tanker ran into a gale and broke in two and sank with a loss of twenty six men.
Mielero was a steam tank ship built in 1916–1917 by Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy for the Cuba Distilling Company of New York. The vessel was extensively employed on East Coast to Cuba route during her career and foundered on one of her regular trips in January 1920 with the loss of twenty two men.
Cubadist was a steam tank ship built in 1915–16 by Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy for the Cuba Distilling Company of New York. The vessel was extensively employed on East Coast to Cuba route during her career and disappeared without a trace on one of her regular trips in February 1920.
J. A. Moffett Jr. was an oil tanker built in 1920–1921 by the Federal Shipbuilding Company of Kearney for the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey with the purpose of carrying oil and petroleum products. Originally built as a steamship, the vessel had her engines changed in 1927 converting her into a motor vessel. She was torpedoed in 1942, killing the captain, before being abandoned, towed and sold for scrap.
United Kingdom 
