US tankers since WW2

[drkblram]

I found this site while searching for what happened to my first ship. A navy buddy of mine was telling me his first ship was just sunk as a target and it got me looking. Turns out my first ship (the ship I was a cadet on-I don't include the academy's ship) was scrapped in '03.

I learned some interesting things looking through this spreadsheet.

http://shipbuildinghistory.com/histo...ii/tankers.htm

[c.captain]

here's a few other sites with T2 info

http://www.t2tanker.org/

http://www.usmm.org/ww2.html

In their day a damn fine vessel and they set a world standard size for many years (16000dwt)

I don't know which T2 sailing as a tanker was but I suspect it was one of the ex Sabine Tankers vessels which I am pretty sure were all gone by the mid 90's after Stickell (sp?) bought Sabine

[drkblram]

c.captain,

Gotta agree with you, while a younger guy, I appreciate the importance of the T2 in the post war merchant marine. I have worked on an older tanker. the ROVER, ex-ZAPATA ROVER. She was virtually as hands on as the T2's. No gauging system, no remote valve control, no computer in the office (just a set of ullage tables). Working on her made me a) appreciate my predecessors, and b) learned to appreciate a Cargo Control Room as a luxury.

Not sure what you mean by your last sentence, if your asking which T2 was the last still in service. My guess, as far as being used for oil, would be the HMI TRADER (not to be confused with the SEABULK TRADER ex-DYNACHEM, which I also worked on). the HMI TRADER, I don't know what name she is listed under in that chart, was a jumboized T2 with the house moved aft. She was preparing for scrapping in 2000 when I saw her.

"New" Sabine was still operating some of the old ships as grain carriers at least as late as the late '90s. I know one of there ships was in East Africa when the two US embassies (Narobi and Dar Es Salaam) were bombed. What year was that? 1998?

[c.captain]

drkblram

ha! ha! one of my first jobs outta school (1986) was as third mate on the PATRIOT! We tramped her damned near around the world and I know exactly what you mean by a simple system which never failed but whoa betide the mate who stopped paying attention of the tanks he was loading! Some of those tanks would seeming reach the top only a few minutes after starting them.

When were you on the ROVER? Is she still around? I know the PAT had an engineroom fire and was scrapped rather than rebuilt.

[drkblram]

I was on the ROVER in '02 (graduated in 2000). Actually, was on her when the PATRIOT burnt. They only had a year or two of OPA90 life left, which is why they didn't rebuild. I believe the whole class was razor bladed in '03.

THe ROVER was just out of layup when I was on her, so she had no "permanents." As people signed off, they regulars from the PATRIOT were brought over. I got some pictures of the aftermath from them.

Basic story goes like this, the bolts that attached the fuel lines to the engine weren't secured with bailing wire. One backed out enough to cause the fuel line to fracture under vibration, sprayed F/O onto the exhaust manifold, which wasn't insulated. POOF. Duty engineer wakes up to the automation alarm. He realizes the E/R is on fire and phones the bridge. Smoke fills the house so fast the mate on watch only has time to hit the GMDSS buttons and leave. Some crew didn't have time to get their shoes on. They used the CO2 system to control the fire.

When we got back state side from our voyage, they had contractors onboard to insulate the M/E exhaust system and check the bailing wires on the fuel system.