Eagle Oil and Shipping Company
Encyclopedia
Eagle Oil and Shipping Company was a United Kingdom
merchant shipping company that operated oil tankers
between the Gulf of Mexico
and the UK. Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray
founded it as the Eagle Oil Transport Company in 1912 and sold it to Royal Dutch Shell
in 1919. It was renamed Eagle Oil and Shipping Company in about 1930, and remained a separate company within the Royal Dutch Shell group until it was absorbed in 1959.
(ennobled as Viscount Cowdray
in 1910) headed a successful civil engineering contractor, S. Pearson and Sons
, that had contracts in Mexico from 1889. He initiated oil prospecting there in 1901 and founded the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company
in 1909, which had its first major oil strike in 1910 (near Tampico on the Gulf of Mexico
coast).
Before Pearson struck oil, he started to order oil tankers to carry the oil that he hoped to produce. Armstrong Whitworth
on the River Tyne
launched SS San Cristobal (2,041 tons) in 1906 and Swan Hunter
, also on Tyneside, launched SS San Antonio (5,251 tons) in 1909. Pearson also bought SS James Brand (3,907 tons), which had been built by Armstrong Whitworth in 1893, and renamed her San Bernardo.
Eagle Oil Transport immediately ordered 20 modern steam tankers at a cost of £
3 million. The company gave all the ships the Spanish names of Christian
saint
s, most of them ending in "o". Swan Hunter launched (6,238 tons) and (6,225 tons) in 1912, (11,929 tons) SS San Silvestre (6,223 tons), SS San Tirso (6,236 tons) and SS San Gregorio (12,093 tons) in 1913 and SS San Lorenzo (12,097 tons) in 1914. Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
, also on the Tyne, launched (10,157 tons) and SS San Valerio (6,493 tons) in 1913 and (12,286 tons) in 1914. William Doxford & Sons
launched SS San Jeronimo (12,398 tons), SS San Nazario (12,029 tons) and SS San Zeferino (6,433 tons) in 1914. Armstrong Whitworth launched SS San Ricardo (6,465 tons) and (6,458 tons) in 1913, (6,458 tons), SS San Isidoro
(9,718 tons) and (9,717 tons) in 1914 and SS San Patricio (12,092 tons) in 1915.
Eagle Oil Transport suffered significant war losses in the First World War. In August 1914 San Wilfrido struck a mine
and sank. German submarines torpedoed and sank San Hilario in April 1917 and San Urbano and San Onofre in May 1917, all in the North Atlantic to the west of Ireland. In 1915 the company had bought a dry cargo steamer
, SS Drumlanrig, which was renamed . In December 1917 the German submarine SM U-19 torpedoed and sank Santa Amalia in the North Atlantic to the west of Islay
, with the loss of 43 officers and crew. San Zeferino was damaged by enemy action during the war.
Eagle Oil Transport had at least one motor tanker by the end of the War; the (1,137 tons), which had been launched in 1918 by Short Brothers of Sunderland
. The company continued to buy new steam tankers until at least 1928, when J.L. Thompson and Sons
launched SS San Casto (2,446 tons) on the River Wear
and Armstrong Whitworth launched SS San Claudio (2,712 tons).
In 1919 Viscount Cowdray sold his group of oil companies to Royal Dutch Shell
. Eagle Oil Transport renewed and expanded its fleet, and some of the new ships were very large by the standards of the day. Armstrong Whitworth launched (13,056 tons) in 1919, SS San Felix (13,037 tons) in 1921 and (13,013 tons) in 1922. Swan Hunter launched (12,842 tons) in 1919 and Palmers launched SS San Gaspar (12,910 tons) in 1921 and (12,915 tons) in 1922.
Eagle Oil also bought new medium-sized tankers. Swan Hunter built the War Standard tanker SS War Kookri (5,582 tons) for the War Shipping Controller, but when she was launched in 1919 Cowdray bought her and renamed her San Zotico. Cowdray then turned to the USA for new ships of this size. Standard Shipbuilding Company of Shooters Island, New York launched SS San Teodoro (6,137 tons), (5,995 tons) and SS San Ubaldo (5,999 tons) in 1921.
After 1921 Cowdray reverted to UK shipyards. Armstrong Whitworth launched SS San Roberto (5,890 tons) and SS San Rosendo (5,891 tons) in 1922, SS San Quirino (5,843 tons) in 1923 and SS San Salvador (5,805 tons) in 1924.
In 1927 San Fraterno was wrecked on a rock at Bonet Island in the Strait of Magellan
and in 1929 San Dunstano was wrecked at the entrance to Tampico harbour.
, (7,397 tons) launched by Lithgows
on the River Clyde
, (7,385 tons) launched by Swan Hunter, MV San Amado (7,316 tons) launched by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company on the Clyde, MV San Ambrosio (7,410 tons) launched by Hawthorn Leslie and Company on the Tyne and (7,419 tons) launched by Harland and Wolff
in Belfast
, Northern Ireland. New additions continued until 1939, when Lithgows launched MV San Eliseo (8,042 tons), Harland and Wolff launched (8,071 tons) and Furness Shipbuilding launched (8,078 tons).
Eagle Oil and Shipping was registered in the United Kingdom. Therefore after 1938 although the Mexican government had nationalised Mexican Eagle Petroleum, Eagle Oil and Shipping remained a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. After 1938 the fleet continued to carry oil from the Gulf of Mexico
to the UK. During the Second World War
the company played an important role in supplying petroleum and petroleum products to the United Kingdom. Oil tankers were a particular target in Germany's economic warfare against the Allies. Enemy action sank 17 Eagle Oil ships, killing at least 206 officers, men and DEMS gunners.
(8,018 tons) was launched by Lithgows on the Clyde in 1937. On 2 December 1939 she struck a mine off the Tongue Lightship in the Thames Estuary
and sank with the loss of six men. On 4 May 1940 San Tiburcio struck a mine and sank in the North Sea
off the Moray Firth
.
(8,045 tons) and (7,982 tons) were sister ships launched by Blythswood at Scotstoun
in 1936. San Casimiro was captured off Cape Race
, Newfoundland
by the German battleship Gneisenau
on 15 March 1941 and scuttled off the Azores
five days later. San Conrado was bombed and sunk by enemy aircraft off The Smalls
on the coast of west Wales
on 1 April 1941.
(8,073 tons), which Blythswood had launched at Port Glasgow
in 1938, became famous for surviving a naval bombardment by the German heavy cruiser
Admiral Scheer in 1940. San Demetrios crew succeeded in extinguishing the resultant fire and bringing the ship and her cargo of aviation spirit to Glasgow
, Scotland. San Demetrio was repaired and returned to service, but the U-boat
U-404 torpedoed and sank her in the western Atlantic off Virginia
on 17 March 1942 with the loss of 19 lives.
On 2 October 1941 U-98 torpedoed and sank SS San Florentino north of the Azores with the loss of 22 lives. On 31 March 1942 U-71
torpedoed and sank SS San Gerardo off the eastern coast of the USA with the loss of 51 lives. On 9 April 1942 U-503 torpedoed and sank (8,072 tons) in the North Atlantic off Cape Hatteras, USA with the loss of 28 lives. On 17 May 1942 U-155 torpedoed and sank San Demetrios sister ship in the eastern Caribbean southwest of Grenada
with the loss of 52 lives. On 27 August 1942 U-511 torpedoed and sank SS San Fabian between Jamaica
and the Dominican Republic
in the Caribbean
with the loss of 26 lives.
In 1942 the Ministry of War Transport placed the Empire ships , and under Eagle Oil and Shipping's management. In 1943 two U-boats torpedoed and sank Empire Norseman (9,811 tons) in the Atlantic south of the Azores. After the Second World War the company bought Empire Airman and Empire Cobbett from the ministry, renamed them San Wenceslao and San Wilfrido respectively and kept them in service until 1959.
During the war Eagle Oil and Shipping bought several new tankers to replace war losses. Harland and Wolff launched San Veronico (8,198 tons) and San Vulframo (8,167 tons) in 1942 and San Vito (8,163 tons) in 1943. Hawthorn Leslie launched San Venancio (8,152 tons) in 1942 and San Velino (8,210 tons) in 1944. After the War, Eagle Oil bought two US-built T2 tanker
s: SS Bryce Canyon in 1948 and SS Laurel Hill in 1949. The company renamed them SS San Leonardo and SS San Leopoldo respectively and kept them in service until 1961.
Between 1950 and 1960 Eagle Oil acquired at least 16 new tankers. Two of the earliest were a second San Salvador (10,802 tons) and a second San Silvestre (10,953 tons), both launched by Furness Shipbuilding in 1950. Later ships included (12,278 tons) and MV San Fortunato (12,257 tons), both launched in 1956 by Cammell Laird
on the River Mersey
.
In April 1958 an unmarked Douglas A-26 Invader bomber aircraft bombed and sank San Flaviano in Balikpapan
Harbour, Borneo
. Royal Dutch Shell suspended its tanker service to the port and evacuated shore-based wives and families to Singapore
. Both the Indonesian and UK governments assumed that the aircraft had been flown by Indonesian insurgents.
Several new ships delivered in the later 1950s were in the order of 18,000 to 19,500 tons. One of the last new ships to be delivered for the fleet was also one of the largest; the second (34,750 tons), launched by Furness Shipbuilding in 1960. By then Royal Dutch Shell had absorbed Eagle Oil and Shipping, which ceased to be a separate member of the group in 1959.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
merchant shipping company that operated oil tankers
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
between the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
and the UK. Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray
Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray
Weetman Dickinson Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray GCVO, PC , known as Sir Weetman Pearson, Bt, between 1894 and 1910 and as The Lord Cowdray between 1910 and 1917, was a British engineer, oil industrialist, benefactor and Liberal politician...
founded it as the Eagle Oil Transport Company in 1912 and sold it to Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
in 1919. It was renamed Eagle Oil and Shipping Company in about 1930, and remained a separate company within the Royal Dutch Shell group until it was absorbed in 1959.
Pearson oil interests in Mexico
Sir Weetman Pearson, Bart.Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
(ennobled as Viscount Cowdray
Viscount Cowdray
Viscount Cowdray, of Cowdray in the County of West Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1917 for the industrialist Weetman Pearson, 1st Baron Cowdray, head of the Pearson conglomerate...
in 1910) headed a successful civil engineering contractor, S. Pearson and Sons
Pearson PLC
Pearson plc is a global media and education company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is both the largest education company and the largest book publisher in the world, with consumer imprints including Penguin, Dorling Kindersley and Ladybird...
, that had contracts in Mexico from 1889. He initiated oil prospecting there in 1901 and founded the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company
Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company
Compañía Mexicana de Petróleo El Aguila SA, , called in English the Mexican Eagle Oil Company or Mexican Eagle Petroleum Corporation, was a Mexican oil company in the 20th century.-History:Sir Weetman Pearson, Bart...
in 1909, which had its first major oil strike in 1910 (near Tampico on the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
coast).
Before Pearson struck oil, he started to order oil tankers to carry the oil that he hoped to produce. Armstrong Whitworth
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
on the River Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
launched SS San Cristobal (2,041 tons) in 1906 and Swan Hunter
Swan Hunter
Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...
, also on Tyneside, launched SS San Antonio (5,251 tons) in 1909. Pearson also bought SS James Brand (3,907 tons), which had been built by Armstrong Whitworth in 1893, and renamed her San Bernardo.
Eagle Oil Transport Company
In 1912 Pearson founded the Eagle Oil Transport Company in the UK to take over his ships and carry Mexican Eagle's products. He also founded the Anglo-Mexican Petroleum Company in the UK to sell Mexican Eagle's products outside Mexico.Eagle Oil Transport immediately ordered 20 modern steam tankers at a cost of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
3 million. The company gave all the ships the Spanish names of Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s, most of them ending in "o". Swan Hunter launched (6,238 tons) and (6,225 tons) in 1912, (11,929 tons) SS San Silvestre (6,223 tons), SS San Tirso (6,236 tons) and SS San Gregorio (12,093 tons) in 1913 and SS San Lorenzo (12,097 tons) in 1914. Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as Palmers, was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, in Northeast England and also had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne....
, also on the Tyne, launched (10,157 tons) and SS San Valerio (6,493 tons) in 1913 and (12,286 tons) in 1914. William Doxford & Sons
William Doxford & Sons
William Doxford & Sons Ltd, often referred to simply as Doxford, was a British shipbuilding company.-History:The Company was established by William Doxford in 1840. From 1870 it was based in Pallion, Sunderland, on the River Wear in Northeast England. The Company was managed by William Doxford's...
launched SS San Jeronimo (12,398 tons), SS San Nazario (12,029 tons) and SS San Zeferino (6,433 tons) in 1914. Armstrong Whitworth launched SS San Ricardo (6,465 tons) and (6,458 tons) in 1913, (6,458 tons), SS San Isidoro
SS Dordogne
The SS Dordogne was a steam tanker that served the French Navy. She was formerly a British merchant ship, the SS San Isidoro of the Eagle Oil Transport Company.-History:...
(9,718 tons) and (9,717 tons) in 1914 and SS San Patricio (12,092 tons) in 1915.
Eagle Oil Transport suffered significant war losses in the First World War. In August 1914 San Wilfrido struck a mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
and sank. German submarines torpedoed and sank San Hilario in April 1917 and San Urbano and San Onofre in May 1917, all in the North Atlantic to the west of Ireland. In 1915 the company had bought a dry cargo steamer
Bulk carrier
A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...
, SS Drumlanrig, which was renamed . In December 1917 the German submarine SM U-19 torpedoed and sank Santa Amalia in the North Atlantic to the west of Islay
Islay
-Prehistory:The earliest settlers on Islay were nomadic hunter-gatherers who arrived during the Mesolithic period after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice caps. In 1993 a flint arrowhead was found in a field near Bridgend dating from 10,800 BC, the earliest evidence of a human presence found so far...
, with the loss of 43 officers and crew. San Zeferino was damaged by enemy action during the war.
Eagle Oil Transport had at least one motor tanker by the end of the War; the (1,137 tons), which had been launched in 1918 by Short Brothers of Sunderland
Short Brothers of Sunderland
Short Brothers Limited was a British shipbuilding company formed in 1850 and based at Pallion, Sunderland since 1869. The company closed in 1964 when it failed to invest to build bigger ships.-19th century:...
. The company continued to buy new steam tankers until at least 1928, when J.L. Thompson and Sons
J.L. Thompson and Sons
J.L. Thompson and Sons was a shipyard on the River Wear, Sunderland, which produced ships from the mid-18th century until the 1980s. The world-famous Liberty Ship was among the designs to be created, produced and manufactured at the yard's base at North Sands....
launched SS San Casto (2,446 tons) on the River Wear
River Wear
The River Wear is located in North East England, rising in the Pennines and flowing eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea at Sunderland.-Geology and history:...
and Armstrong Whitworth launched SS San Claudio (2,712 tons).
In 1919 Viscount Cowdray sold his group of oil companies to Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
. Eagle Oil Transport renewed and expanded its fleet, and some of the new ships were very large by the standards of the day. Armstrong Whitworth launched (13,056 tons) in 1919, SS San Felix (13,037 tons) in 1921 and (13,013 tons) in 1922. Swan Hunter launched (12,842 tons) in 1919 and Palmers launched SS San Gaspar (12,910 tons) in 1921 and (12,915 tons) in 1922.
Eagle Oil also bought new medium-sized tankers. Swan Hunter built the War Standard tanker SS War Kookri (5,582 tons) for the War Shipping Controller, but when she was launched in 1919 Cowdray bought her and renamed her San Zotico. Cowdray then turned to the USA for new ships of this size. Standard Shipbuilding Company of Shooters Island, New York launched SS San Teodoro (6,137 tons), (5,995 tons) and SS San Ubaldo (5,999 tons) in 1921.
After 1921 Cowdray reverted to UK shipyards. Armstrong Whitworth launched SS San Roberto (5,890 tons) and SS San Rosendo (5,891 tons) in 1922, SS San Quirino (5,843 tons) in 1923 and SS San Salvador (5,805 tons) in 1924.
In 1927 San Fraterno was wrecked on a rock at Bonet Island in the Strait of Magellan
Strait of Magellan
The Strait of Magellan comprises a navigable sea route immediately south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego...
and in 1929 San Dunstano was wrecked at the entrance to Tampico harbour.
Eagle Oil and Shipping Company
In about 1930 the Eagle Oil Transport Company was renamed the Eagle Oil and Shipping Company. In about 1935 the company started adding a new generation of motor tankers including the MV San Adolfo (7,365 tons) launched by the Furness Shipbuilding Company on the River TeesRiver Tees
The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...
, (7,397 tons) launched by Lithgows
Lithgows
Lithgows Limited, was a British shipbuilding company based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland.-Founding:The Company was established by Joseph Russell and his partners Anderson Rodger and William Lithgow who leased the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow from Cunliffe & Dunlop and...
on the River Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
, (7,385 tons) launched by Swan Hunter, MV San Amado (7,316 tons) launched by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company on the Clyde, MV San Ambrosio (7,410 tons) launched by Hawthorn Leslie and Company on the Tyne and (7,419 tons) launched by Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland. New additions continued until 1939, when Lithgows launched MV San Eliseo (8,042 tons), Harland and Wolff launched (8,071 tons) and Furness Shipbuilding launched (8,078 tons).
Eagle Oil and Shipping was registered in the United Kingdom. Therefore after 1938 although the Mexican government had nationalised Mexican Eagle Petroleum, Eagle Oil and Shipping remained a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. After 1938 the fleet continued to carry oil from the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
to the UK. During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the company played an important role in supplying petroleum and petroleum products to the United Kingdom. Oil tankers were a particular target in Germany's economic warfare against the Allies. Enemy action sank 17 Eagle Oil ships, killing at least 206 officers, men and DEMS gunners.
(8,018 tons) was launched by Lithgows on the Clyde in 1937. On 2 December 1939 she struck a mine off the Tongue Lightship in the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
and sank with the loss of six men. On 4 May 1940 San Tiburcio struck a mine and sank in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
off the Moray Firth
Moray Firth
The Moray Firth is a roughly triangular inlet of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotland...
.
(8,045 tons) and (7,982 tons) were sister ships launched by Blythswood at Scotstoun
Scotstoun
Scotstoun is a historic district of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Yoker and Knightswood to the west, Victoria Park, Broomhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde to the south...
in 1936. San Casimiro was captured off Cape Race
Cape Race
Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", or "bare"...
, Newfoundland
Newfoundland
Newfoundland usually refers to either:* Newfoundland, the former name of Newfoundland and Labrador, a Canadian province in the eastern part of Canada* Newfoundland , an island that forms part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador...
by the German battleship Gneisenau
German battleship Gneisenau
Gneisenau was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the second vessel of her class, which included one other ship, Scharnhorst. The ship was built at the Deutsche Werke dockyard in Kiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935...
on 15 March 1941 and scuttled off the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
five days later. San Conrado was bombed and sunk by enemy aircraft off The Smalls
Smalls Lighthouse
Smalls Lighthouse stands on a small rock approximately west of St David's Peninsula in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was erected in 1861 by engineer James Douglass to replace a previous lighthouse which had been erected in 1776 on the same rock...
on the coast of west Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
on 1 April 1941.
(8,073 tons), which Blythswood had launched at Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow is the second largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16617 persons...
in 1938, became famous for surviving a naval bombardment by the German heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
Admiral Scheer in 1940. San Demetrios crew succeeded in extinguishing the resultant fire and bringing the ship and her cargo of aviation spirit to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland. San Demetrio was repaired and returned to service, but the U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
U-404 torpedoed and sank her in the western Atlantic off Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
on 17 March 1942 with the loss of 19 lives.
On 2 October 1941 U-98 torpedoed and sank SS San Florentino north of the Azores with the loss of 22 lives. On 31 March 1942 U-71
German submarine U-71 (1940)
German submarine U-71 was a type VII C submarine of the German Kriegsmarine during the Second World War.Ordered on 25 January 1939, her keel was laid down on 21 December that year. She was launched on 31 October 1940 and commissioned on 14 December the same year...
torpedoed and sank SS San Gerardo off the eastern coast of the USA with the loss of 51 lives. On 9 April 1942 U-503 torpedoed and sank (8,072 tons) in the North Atlantic off Cape Hatteras, USA with the loss of 28 lives. On 17 May 1942 U-155 torpedoed and sank San Demetrios sister ship in the eastern Caribbean southwest of Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
with the loss of 52 lives. On 27 August 1942 U-511 torpedoed and sank SS San Fabian between Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
and the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
with the loss of 26 lives.
In 1942 the Ministry of War Transport placed the Empire ships , and under Eagle Oil and Shipping's management. In 1943 two U-boats torpedoed and sank Empire Norseman (9,811 tons) in the Atlantic south of the Azores. After the Second World War the company bought Empire Airman and Empire Cobbett from the ministry, renamed them San Wenceslao and San Wilfrido respectively and kept them in service until 1959.
During the war Eagle Oil and Shipping bought several new tankers to replace war losses. Harland and Wolff launched San Veronico (8,198 tons) and San Vulframo (8,167 tons) in 1942 and San Vito (8,163 tons) in 1943. Hawthorn Leslie launched San Venancio (8,152 tons) in 1942 and San Velino (8,210 tons) in 1944. After the War, Eagle Oil bought two US-built T2 tanker
T2 tanker
The T2 tanker, or T2, was an oil tanker constructed and produced in large quantities in the United States during World War II. The largest "navy oilers" after the T3s at the time, nearly 500 of them were built between 1940 and the end of 1945....
s: SS Bryce Canyon in 1948 and SS Laurel Hill in 1949. The company renamed them SS San Leonardo and SS San Leopoldo respectively and kept them in service until 1961.
Between 1950 and 1960 Eagle Oil acquired at least 16 new tankers. Two of the earliest were a second San Salvador (10,802 tons) and a second San Silvestre (10,953 tons), both launched by Furness Shipbuilding in 1950. Later ships included (12,278 tons) and MV San Fortunato (12,257 tons), both launched in 1956 by Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
on the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
.
In April 1958 an unmarked Douglas A-26 Invader bomber aircraft bombed and sank San Flaviano in Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
Harbour, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. Royal Dutch Shell suspended its tanker service to the port and evacuated shore-based wives and families to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Both the Indonesian and UK governments assumed that the aircraft had been flown by Indonesian insurgents.
Several new ships delivered in the later 1950s were in the order of 18,000 to 19,500 tons. One of the last new ships to be delivered for the fleet was also one of the largest; the second (34,750 tons), launched by Furness Shipbuilding in 1960. By then Royal Dutch Shell had absorbed Eagle Oil and Shipping, which ceased to be a separate member of the group in 1959.