Esso Gettysburg HAER No. CA-354 Page 2 Names: Esso Gettysburg (to Jan. 1, 1973) Exxon Gettysburg (Jan. 1, 1973 to Oct. 22, 1987) Gettysburg (Oct. 22, 1987 to present) Disposition: Scrapped Significance: The Esso Gettysburg was a typical mid-1950s American-flag tanker built for the coastal shipment of petroleum pro-ducts. Although hailed as the American registry’s biggest and fastest tanker when new, the ship was but one step in the broader trend toward ever larger oil tankers that world petroleum consumption encouraged in the decades after World War II. The ship’s three-decade-long work-a-day career was marred by a January 1971 grounding when 385,000 gallons of heating oil spilled into Long Island Sound. Historian: Michael R. Harrison, 2010 Project Information: This project is part of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), a long-range program to document histo-rically significant engineering and industrial works in the United States. The Heritage Documentation Programs of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, administers the HAER program. The project was prepared under the direction of Todd Croteau (HAER Maritime Program Coordinator). Jet Lowe (HAER Photographer) created large format photographs, and Michael R. Harrison (Historian) wrote the historical report.

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