History of The Oil Tanker - World War I and Interbellum

World War I and Interbellum

The fleet oiler USS Maumee, launched on April 17, 1915, pioneered the technique of underway replenishment. A large ship at the time, with a capacity of 14,500 long tons of deadweight, Maumee began refuelling destroyers en route to Britain at the outset of World War I. This technique enabled the Navy to keep its fleets at sea for extended periods, with a far greater range independent of the availability of a friendly port. This independence proved crucial to victory in World War II by the ships commanded by Fleet Admiral Nimitz who, as Maumee’s executive officer, had played a key role in developing underway replenishment.

Underway replenishment was quickly adopted by other navies. One example of this is the Australian fleet oiler HMAS Kurumba which provided underway replenishment services in the United Kingdom's Royal Navy from 1917 to 1919.

During World War I, unrestricted submarine warfare caused a shortage of tankers. The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom, Walter Hines Page, wrote "The submarines are sinking freight ships faster than freight ships are being built by the whole world. In this way, too, then, the Germans are succeeding. Now if this goes on long enough, the Allies' game is up. For instance, they have lately sunk so many fuel oil ships, that this country may very soon be in a perilous condition — even the Grand Fleet may not have enough fuel". Georges Clemenceau wrote to US president Wilson "Gasoline is as vital as blood in the coming battles…a failure in the supply of gasoline would cause the immediate paralysis of our armies". Wilson reacted strongly. The War Shipping Board commandeered all ships in the United States and also took over all yards. An unprecedented budget of $US1.3 billion was used for this end. At Hog Island, the largest shipyard in the world was built, known for the Hog Islander.

Between 1916 and 1921, 316 tankers were built with a total capacity of 3.2 million long tons of deadweight, where the entire world fleet before World War I was just above 2 million tons. In 1923 about 800,000 long tons were laid up, which gave enormous opportunities for speculators, such as Daniel Keith Ludwig. In 1925 he had bought the freighter Phoenix and put tanks in the holds. These riveted tanks leaked, which resulted in an explosive mixture. The resulting explosion killed two crew members and badly injured Ludwig. After this, he was a strong believer in welding.

The bunkering of ships with oil instead of coal, mass-production of automobiles and increasing aviation, all increased demand for oil and thus oil transport.

In 1928 the World's largest oil tanker was the 16,436 gross register tons (GRT) C.O. Stillman, completed that year for Canadian owners by Bremer Vulkan in Germany.

With the right connections at the Shipping Board, ships could be bought cheaply, which caused a lot of fraud. This system was too complicated for the oil companies however, so when World War II started, independents owned 39 percent of the world tanker fleet. This was especially because oil companies needed capital to invest in the growing oil market. By not buying the ships, but chartering, the bond rating of the oil companies was not affected, because the charter hire was not recognized as debt in that time. In 1934 H.T. Schierwater founded the International Tanker Owners’ Association — later International Association of Independent Tanker Owners or INTERTANKO — to protect the interests of thes companies in a strongly fluctuating market.