William Rockefeller (ship)

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The William Rockefeller was an American oil tanker that was sunk by a German submarine in 1942. It was one of the largest tankers of its time.

technology

The William Rockefeller was 174.6 meters long and 22.86 meters wide. The draft was 9.66 meters, the displacement was 22,390 tons. It was propelled by two piston steam engines that acted on two propellers. The power was 4100 hp, the top speed 10.3 knots .

history

The first tanker "William Rockefeller" (7157 GT - 15,500 tons displacement) was built in 1916 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was one of seven large tankers used by the American Navy from August 1917. As USS William Rockefeller (ID # 1581) it was integrated into the Naval Transportation Service Overseas when this organization was founded on January 9, 1918. At the time he was on a trip from Scotland to New York, where he arrived on February 12th. After picking up its cargo of oil in Philadelphia, the tanker drove to New York, which it left in a convoy on February 28, destined for Sheerness, England, where it arrived on March 18. Back in Philadelphia for a new shipment of heating oil, he left New York in a convoy on April 29th and arrived in Lamlash, Scotland on May 15th. Three days later they drove to Rosyth with an escort of two destroyers. On May 21, 1918, William Rockefeller was torpedoed by the German submarine UC-58 and sank in 13 minutes. They lost three of their 51-man team.

The second tanker of the same name was built by Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News , Virginia . It was named after business tycoon William Rockefeller and entered service with Standard Oil in 1921 . The sister ship was the "John D. Archbold".

In 1927 the ship became the property of Standard Shipping, in 1935 Standard Oil again became the owner of the tanker, which sailed under the Panamanian flag .

It was transporting 135,000 barrels of oil from Aruba to New York City when it was hit with a torpedo on June 28, 1942 at around 6:26 p.m. by the German submarine U 701 led by Horst Degen . The tanker, which was accompanied by the US Coast Guard's USS CG-460, drove a straight course at about 9.2 knots. The torpedo hit the pump room on the port side, tore a hole about 6 m in diameter in the outer skin amidships, flooding the pump room and tank no.5. The leaking oil ignited and enveloped the stern in flames, so that the crew of Bord fled. The nine officers, 35 crew members and six soldiers responsible for the cannon (?) (The ship was armed with a 3in cannon) left the ship in four lifeboats and were picked up by the escort after 20 minutes and at the Ocracoke Coast Guard that same afternoon Station set ashore. The submarine was unsuccessfully attacked by the US Coast Guard aircraft. The drifting, burning wreck was sunk with a "grace shot" at 35 ° 11N / 75 ° 07W at 05.25 on June 29th.

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