In the 1950s I shipped out as an Ordinary Seaman on T-2 tankers of Standard Oil of California. Runs included Wake Island, Honolulu, San Pedro, and British Columbia. Any shipmates out there?
Tom Lowry
Greetings Tom and a warm welcome to SN from across the pond. T2 tankers good ships to sail on. Bon voyage.
As I mentioned in another post, always wanted to ship out on a T-2 but never got the chance,good ships to sail on I was told by many a shipmate.
First tanker I ever visited was the T.E.S Trochurus in 1958 at the Shell Jetty at Teesport.....she was a T2 wasn't she??
geoff
geoff
Sailed on a T2 tanker of Caltex.
Caltex Saigon and they might have been good in there day but in 1962 it was a heap of cr@p. Learned a great deal about "Thistlebond" as I am certain that is what kept it afloat. The navigation equipment must have been the original fitting as it was forever giving problems. Accommodation was basic and the A/C non operational. Took forever to load in Bahrain as the cargo kept going off spec (as it was mixing) We were loading different grades and eventually got it sorted out. Loaded tanks at the same level .
Sailing up the Red sea the pump man was asked to transfer some bunkers and came running to the wheelhouse saying pump room full up. It was filled with oil.
Looked over the side and saw cargo jetting out of a crack in the shell plating.(Av gas) which was scary
Eventually got to port and the pilot was first on the dock followed by the customs and them myself.
Nightmare from start to finish
Caltex Saigon and they might have been good in there day but in 1962 it was a heap of cr@p. Learned a great deal about "Thistlebond" as I am certain that is what kept it afloat. The navigation equipment must have been the original fitting as it was forever giving problems. Accommodation was basic and the A/C non operational. Took forever to load in Bahrain as the cargo kept going off spec (as it was mixing) We were loading different grades and eventually got it sorted out. Loaded tanks at the same level .
Sailing up the Red sea the pump man was asked to transfer some bunkers and came running to the wheelhouse saying pump room full up. It was filled with oil.
Looked over the side and saw cargo jetting out of a crack in the shell plating.(Av gas) which was scary
Eventually got to port and the pilot was first on the dock followed by the customs and them myself.
Nightmare from start to finish
but in 1962 it was a heap of cr@p.
Like everything else it depends upon the various owners, and perhaps the crew? I sailed with companies that never questioned anything ships crew ordered. Other companies sent a bean counter down on arrival to go over your lists line by line and were quick to tell you, you really did not need that.
There were some crew who seemed to think that they were on a paid drunken world tour, who got together daily to lift a few, and to fill out their fraudulent OT sheets so that they jibed.
Most crew knew what they were there for and did their jobs with elan.
But all the drunks were a part of my decision to quit the sea in 1976.
Greg Hayden
Like everything else it depends upon the various owners, and perhaps the crew? I sailed with companies that never questioned anything ships crew ordered. Other companies sent a bean counter down on arrival to go over your lists line by line and were quick to tell you, you really did not need that.
There were some crew who seemed to think that they were on a paid drunken world tour, who got together daily to lift a few, and to fill out their fraudulent OT sheets so that they jibed.
Most crew knew what they were there for and did their jobs with elan.
But all the drunks were a part of my decision to quit the sea in 1976.
Greg Hayden
Caltex Saigon was jumboised and became the Texaco Saigon. New 22,000 ton hull, midships accomodation and bridge stuck on the aft end. Mates couldn't complete the deck log on the bridge due to vibration. I joined her as 5th Engineer, an hour makee learn on departure stand by and I was on watch on my own with Lascar Oilman and Donkeyman. Such an easy engine room to run that I managed. Biggest luxury was cold drinking water in the workshop area - circulated through the veg room. Can't think of anything else good about the ship. My biggest problem was the 4th Engineer who seemed to think that the time to relieve the 20.00 to 24.00 was between 01.00 and 02.00!
Split
I don't recall that but looking at my old discharge book (better than the longest memory) I left the Caltex Saigon in Avonmouth on January 21 1963.
Got a letter from the "office" thanking me for my services and asking if I would reconsider going back with them. No chance as I had seen enough and they intended to reduce the mates to three (there were four one their ships at that time, Chief officer, 1st mate, second mate and third mate)
I don't recall that but looking at my old discharge book (better than the longest memory) I left the Caltex Saigon in Avonmouth on January 21 1963.
Got a letter from the "office" thanking me for my services and asking if I would reconsider going back with them. No chance as I had seen enough and they intended to reduce the mates to three (there were four one their ships at that time, Chief officer, 1st mate, second mate and third mate)
The Texaco Saigon was renamed the Texaco Singapore after the fall of Vietnam and the end of the Vietnamese war. I sailed on her in 1980 and don't remember anything more unusual than the regular problems with the jumboised T2s that Texaco were running. The biggest thing I think was boiler problems and can recall several occasions when we would be down to just one boiler and doing about 7 or 8 knots max while the retubing or plugging was going on. The cargo system worked well and electric cargo pumps were a dream to operate compared with steam pumps. As was usual with ships that were a bit of a struggle to keep going, the atmosphere on board was nearly always great. Maybe thats just time dimming the bad memories!!
I too served on the Caltex and then Texaco Saigon after jumboisation as well as the Adelaide.Dublin , Colombo and Rome so I knew all their foibles having served as 2nd Mate to Master on them.
Caltex certainly got their money out of these vessels and the bulkheads and cargo lines were pretty shot by the time they came to jumboisation. They were subjected to excessive tank cleaning with hot butterworth due to inexperienced mates and the current practise at the time.
I agree with Merv though the cargo system and electric pumps were superb and of course the manoeuvring with the astern power second to none.
In 1960 the accommodation was pretty hot up the Gulf but I found Caltex and Texaco good employers and I am enjoying a good pension and have happy memories of sailing on all those T2s years ago.
JC
Caltex certainly got their money out of these vessels and the bulkheads and cargo lines were pretty shot by the time they came to jumboisation. They were subjected to excessive tank cleaning with hot butterworth due to inexperienced mates and the current practise at the time.
I agree with Merv though the cargo system and electric pumps were superb and of course the manoeuvring with the astern power second to none.
In 1960 the accommodation was pretty hot up the Gulf but I found Caltex and Texaco good employers and I am enjoying a good pension and have happy memories of sailing on all those T2s years ago.
JC
Texaco had a number of jumboized T2 tankers that called regularly in San Francisco for many years. They included the Texaco New Jersey, Minnesota, and Mississippi. The captain on the New Jersey had an arrangement with Texaco wherein if the ship docked or undocked without the aid of a tug, he received $50. As a result, she rarely used tugs. It was great training for we young pilots to be able to do some very difficult work without tugs. The New Jersey was known up and down the west coast for her shiny anchors.
A couple of the more difficult jobs done regularly included turning in the channel off Avon Martinez on strong flood current of about 3 knots with a loaded vessel in a 700 foot channel with a 570 foot ship. You'd back the ship full, let go the starboard anchor with about two in the water, and swing 180 degrees on the anchor with the bow close to the dock to insure room astern. After swinging with the current, you'd heave up to one shackle in the water and steam the ship alongside.
The most difficult job was an ebb tide approach to Exxon Benicia Product Dock. The ebb current runs about 3 knots at about a 45 degree angle on the dock. You'd approach the berth very high, walk both anchors out to one shackle in the water, and approach the berth at about a 35+ degree angle for a portside too landing. You'd have to drive the bow towards the dock very strongly, holding the stern up with the rudder and engine with hard left rudder. It was not uncommon to have to go half and often full ahead with hard left rudder at the last moment to land the stern.
The T2's were wonderful maneuvering ships as John points out. You could roll them Half Ahead to Half Astern and watch the tach go from 60 rpm ahead to 60 rpm astern almost instantaneously. Even after being jumboized with much more deadweight and length than their engines and rudder were designed for, almost all of them were excellent handling ships.
Besides Texaco, Keystone, Chevron, and several other companies operated jumboized T2's for many years, some of them up into the early 1980's. While I never sailed on them, I piloted many, and they were amazingly fine handling ships with their turbo electric plants.
I recall piloting a British crewed Texaco T2 into the Richmond Long Wharf many years ago, and it could have well been the Texaco Saigon. As I recall, the ship had the accommodation and wheelhouse aft. Perhaps we met many years ago!
A couple of the more difficult jobs done regularly included turning in the channel off Avon Martinez on strong flood current of about 3 knots with a loaded vessel in a 700 foot channel with a 570 foot ship. You'd back the ship full, let go the starboard anchor with about two in the water, and swing 180 degrees on the anchor with the bow close to the dock to insure room astern. After swinging with the current, you'd heave up to one shackle in the water and steam the ship alongside.
The most difficult job was an ebb tide approach to Exxon Benicia Product Dock. The ebb current runs about 3 knots at about a 45 degree angle on the dock. You'd approach the berth very high, walk both anchors out to one shackle in the water, and approach the berth at about a 35+ degree angle for a portside too landing. You'd have to drive the bow towards the dock very strongly, holding the stern up with the rudder and engine with hard left rudder. It was not uncommon to have to go half and often full ahead with hard left rudder at the last moment to land the stern.
The T2's were wonderful maneuvering ships as John points out. You could roll them Half Ahead to Half Astern and watch the tach go from 60 rpm ahead to 60 rpm astern almost instantaneously. Even after being jumboized with much more deadweight and length than their engines and rudder were designed for, almost all of them were excellent handling ships.
Besides Texaco, Keystone, Chevron, and several other companies operated jumboized T2's for many years, some of them up into the early 1980's. While I never sailed on them, I piloted many, and they were amazingly fine handling ships with their turbo electric plants.
I recall piloting a British crewed Texaco T2 into the Richmond Long Wharf many years ago, and it could have well been the Texaco Saigon. As I recall, the ship had the accommodation and wheelhouse aft. Perhaps we met many years ago!
Merv is right, the electric cargo pumps were a dream. I transferred to the Texaco Glasgow from the Saigon and we were on the same jetty in Bahrain later. The Saigon engine room was 15 F lower and the atmosphere much drier, due to not having to have lots of gland steam pressure on the cargo pumps to keep the main condenser vacuum up. Control of the pumps was a bit of a problem because orders for starting came down a voice pipe and I could never understand what was said. I came to an agreement with the mates that I'd start the lot and they would stop what they didn't want!
The switchboard had a door with a sign prohibiting entry at sea. A colleague wanted to know what would happen if the door was opened and found that the main generator tripped!
The switchboard had a door with a sign prohibiting entry at sea. A colleague wanted to know what would happen if the door was opened and found that the main generator tripped!
Hi Split
I joined her in Cardiff as she had just been in dry dock doing what I don't know as she sailed just after I joined. That was in December 1962.
I had been on Caltex Newcastle before and it was a shock to me when I went on board.
Left after one voyage to Bahrain in Avonmouth.
The master was A. Anderson but I don't recall any of the other crew members as you try to forget bad experiences. I know that there were some who sailed with them for a long time but I could not envisage having a career there and moved on. Total time with them four months and two ships.
I might have stayed longer if I had not been transferred but that was a experience and one I remember with horror
I joined her in Cardiff as she had just been in dry dock doing what I don't know as she sailed just after I joined. That was in December 1962.
I had been on Caltex Newcastle before and it was a shock to me when I went on board.
Left after one voyage to Bahrain in Avonmouth.
The master was A. Anderson but I don't recall any of the other crew members as you try to forget bad experiences. I know that there were some who sailed with them for a long time but I could not envisage having a career there and moved on. Total time with them four months and two ships.
I might have stayed longer if I had not been transferred but that was a experience and one I remember with horror
T-2
I shipped out on the S/S Transeastern..A T-2 tanker..loaded grain for Bangladesh and backloaded oil in Rastanoora ..last american ship to leave the persian gulf before Arab-Israeli war..took 43 days to get to Texas and had to wait and unload because of all the tankers in front of us and also a tug hit a bridge..
I shipped out on the S/S Transeastern..A T-2 tanker..loaded grain for Bangladesh and backloaded oil in Rastanoora ..last american ship to leave the persian gulf before Arab-Israeli war..took 43 days to get to Texas and had to wait and unload because of all the tankers in front of us and also a tug hit a bridge..
I signed on the S/S Chevron Genoa august 9. 1976 in Papeete, French Polynesia and signed off 6 months later in Freeport Bahamas.
I now recall the old T2-tanker and her turbo-elektric machinery and the places I went with her: Papeete, Honolulu, Pago Pago (American Samoa), Panama City, Freeport (Bahamas). I realized that the Pacific Ocean is big, but I had a good time..
I now recall the old T2-tanker and her turbo-elektric machinery and the places I went with her: Papeete, Honolulu, Pago Pago (American Samoa), Panama City, Freeport (Bahamas). I realized that the Pacific Ocean is big, but I had a good time..
Extract from previous post on T2 experiences.
In July through to December1957 I sailed on the T2 Smoky Hill as a deck apprentice. It was my second vessel with BP Tankers and we 2 deck cadets had been transfered from the "benign" British Piper after 5 months sea time on her.
Joined her in Llandarcy Refinery (Swansea) discharging. Sailed for Mena (Kuwait) via Suez where we loaded full cargo of crude for La Plata and Montevideo, bunkered at Capetown there and back. Returning to Abadan and Fao where we loaded full cargo for Europe via the Suez canal. Eventually orders to proceed to Hamburg for full discharge.
The bulk of the cargo was sent ashore in a day or so but the stripping and final remnants of the cargo took us 19 days to fully discharge the cargo...!!due to the leaks in the internal pipework which meant we could not maintain suction. In desperation the C/E and 2/E along with the 2 deck apprentices in rotation were fitted with Siebe Gorman air helmets (fed via foot pump from the deck), harnesses and phospherer bronze tools and lowered into the tanks to knock in vulcanised rubber plugs on the pipeline. I kid you not!!!! This went on for days and each day end we would strip down and be scrubbed with Byprox solution to remove the oil. I can't believe that we remained on the oil facility for all that time as I recall we were working daywork only and could go ashore in the evening!
During the return trip from Montevideo we were in the South Atlantic when the German sail training ship Pamir was lost due to bad weather and probable cargo shift as she had loaded grain in Montevideo some time before our arrival.
The thing that amazed me at the time was the way that the T2s bent and flexed in bad weather. At the stern and midship ends of the flying bridge were 21" elongated bolt holes and did they move!
One of the worst jobs we had while on board was the cement washing of the 2 mild steel fresh water tanks in the midship housing. Crawl through the mud hatch with bucket and bag of cement, mix to coarse paste and apply to bulkheads, decks and deckheads until all signs of rust disappear. No ventilation and with temperatures in the Gulf well over the 100 degree mark. Happy Days!!
Ron
In July through to December1957 I sailed on the T2 Smoky Hill as a deck apprentice. It was my second vessel with BP Tankers and we 2 deck cadets had been transfered from the "benign" British Piper after 5 months sea time on her.
Joined her in Llandarcy Refinery (Swansea) discharging. Sailed for Mena (Kuwait) via Suez where we loaded full cargo of crude for La Plata and Montevideo, bunkered at Capetown there and back. Returning to Abadan and Fao where we loaded full cargo for Europe via the Suez canal. Eventually orders to proceed to Hamburg for full discharge.
The bulk of the cargo was sent ashore in a day or so but the stripping and final remnants of the cargo took us 19 days to fully discharge the cargo...!!due to the leaks in the internal pipework which meant we could not maintain suction. In desperation the C/E and 2/E along with the 2 deck apprentices in rotation were fitted with Siebe Gorman air helmets (fed via foot pump from the deck), harnesses and phospherer bronze tools and lowered into the tanks to knock in vulcanised rubber plugs on the pipeline. I kid you not!!!! This went on for days and each day end we would strip down and be scrubbed with Byprox solution to remove the oil. I can't believe that we remained on the oil facility for all that time as I recall we were working daywork only and could go ashore in the evening!
During the return trip from Montevideo we were in the South Atlantic when the German sail training ship Pamir was lost due to bad weather and probable cargo shift as she had loaded grain in Montevideo some time before our arrival.
The thing that amazed me at the time was the way that the T2s bent and flexed in bad weather. At the stern and midship ends of the flying bridge were 21" elongated bolt holes and did they move!
One of the worst jobs we had while on board was the cement washing of the 2 mild steel fresh water tanks in the midship housing. Crawl through the mud hatch with bucket and bag of cement, mix to coarse paste and apply to bulkheads, decks and deckheads until all signs of rust disappear. No ventilation and with temperatures in the Gulf well over the 100 degree mark. Happy Days!!
Ron
In 1952 I sailed AB on a T2 Shell tanker, "Theobaldius" Captained by a right B*stard. Well known amongst seamen and officers alike for his bastardness. 7 months of misery for the whole crew, cadets and Officers. His wife terrorised the stewards too.
As for the ship itself, I can't remember anything special about her. Just another tanker for me. I was also AB on Esso's "Esso Buffalo", a 10 month voyage, Better grub and **** at 50c a carton! Esso Buffalo was a wartime built tanker, but not a T2. Can't find much written about her anywhere.
As for the ship itself, I can't remember anything special about her. Just another tanker for me. I was also AB on Esso's "Esso Buffalo", a 10 month voyage, Better grub and **** at 50c a carton! Esso Buffalo was a wartime built tanker, but not a T2. Can't find much written about her anywhere.
Esso Buffalo
If you go to to 'The old ship picture galleries' website there are two photos of 'Esso Buffalo' one in wartime colours and another under Esso colours
Regards
If you go to to 'The old ship picture galleries' website there are two photos of 'Esso Buffalo' one in wartime colours and another under Esso colours
Regards
www.shipsnostalgia.tv/members/action/viewvideo/1725/Pedestal_Convoy_11/As a pilot I best remember the wonderful manouvrability of those tankers but above all this one,"OHIO" must be remembered in Pedestal Convoy to Malta.
The other T.2, in an earlier Malta convoy, was sunk. Click on the tiny red arrow, top right on the video, for the next part.
The other T.2, in an earlier Malta convoy, was sunk. Click on the tiny red arrow, top right on the video, for the next part.
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