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FINE TRANSPORTATION RECORD
SS Esso New Orleans (II)
The Esso New Orleans (second vessel so named) was delivered to the Company on November 23, 1942-the day on which United States troops entered Gona, New Guinea. Between then and V-J Day the new tanker established a splendid trans-portation record. In two years, eight months, and twenty-two days she made 84 voyages and delivered, without mishap, 367,000,242 gallons of oil. In the two years 1943 and 1944, running on Caribbean-east coast service, she steamed 179,910 sea miles.
Under the command of Captain William R. Stewart, with Chief Engineer John Folk in charge of her engineroom, the Esso New Orleans began her first voyage when she left Chester, Penna., on November 27, 1942, bound for Aruba. Her first cargo, 79,742 barrels of kerosene and gasoline, was delivered at Cristobal, Canal Zone, where she arrived December 17. Returning to Aruba on the 28th, she loaded 101,083 barrels of fuel oil for discharge at New York.
In 1943 the tanker reached Aruba again on January 16 and lifted the first of the thirty-two cargoes she was to transport that year. Her tanks were filled twenty-five times at Aruba, once at Curacao, and six times at Cartagena. Deliveries, which totaled 3,415,405 barrels, were made mainly at New York and the Canal Zone.
In an interview for this history. Ship's Clerk Walter S. Skopak (now in the Personnel Section, Port of New York Office) made a statement that brings to mind the speed and efficiency of operation of the Esso New Orleans:
"We left New York on February 12, 1943 and returned on March 13. During these thirty days our tanker carried three Cargoes-324,481 barrels of fuel, Diesel, and bunker 'C' fuel oils. Loading was done at Aruba twice and once at Curacao, with discharge at the Canal Zone twice and once at New York.
"In the Path of the Moon"
"An incident occurred while the vessel was under the command of Captain Eric R. Blomquist. It happened early on the mor-
ning of May 26, 1943 as we were approaching Mona Passage while en route to Aruba. The sky had been quite cloudy, but, at approximately 3:45 a.m. the heavy clouds parted and the full moon broke out brilliantly. The lookouts spotted two submarines on our starboard side in the path of the moon. These U-boats were seen to crash dive and the Esso New Orleans was put through a series of circles and zigzags, thus escaping the enemy.
U-Boat Warning
"On Tuesday, June 22, 1943, at 10 a.m.. Radio Operator David Hess received a submarine warning. The U-boat's position was given as being within ten to twenty miles of us. Guns were manned and a sharp lookout posted for the rest of the day, but nothing was seen and we continued our passage through a rough sea."
In 1944 the Esso tanker made twenty-nine voyages between Caribbean, Canal Zone, and U. S. east coast ports. On her runs in the Caribbean she sailed through waters that were still endangered by enemy submarines, although in 1944 only one Company ship, the Esso Harrisburg, was sunk in that area. The Caribbean Sea was then protected by escort craft, planes, and blimps.
Heard From Torpedoed Esso Ship
Concerning the sinking of the Esso Harrisburg, Mr. Skopak said:
"On July 6, 1944, we were three days out of New York, bound for Aruba, when Radio Operator Lorie B. Grissom received a submarine attack message from the Esso Harrisburg. Upon arrival at Aruba on July 9 we saw the survivors in her Nos. 1 and 3 lifeboats landed on the island. We also heard that the men in No. 4 boat had arrived the previous day."
The last year of the war was another one of highspeed operation for the Esso New Orleans. Between January 7 and Sep-tember 2, 1945, on 21 voyages, the vessel delivered 2,164,448 barrels of oil. She loaded at Aruba, Caripito, and Las Piedras, and discharged at New York and the Panama Canal Zone.
The transportation record of the Esso New Orleans f from the loading of her first cargo on December 12, 1942 until Septem-ber 2, 1945, was in summary as follows:
The SS Esso New Orleans (second vessel so named) was built in 1942 by the Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company at Chester, Penna. She and her sister-ship, the second Esso Raleigh, were specially constructed for the Aruba supply service.
A single-screw vessel of 16,585 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 30 feet, li/g inches, the Esso New Orleans has an overall length of 520 feet, a length between perpendiculars of 500 feet, a moulded breadth of 68 feet, and a depth moulded of 37 feet. With a cargo carrying capacity of 130,774 barrels, she has an assigned pumping rate-of 7,000 barrels an hour.
Her turbine engine, supplied with steam by two water-tube boilers, develops 9,900 shaft horsepower and gives her a classi-fication certified speed of 16.2 knots.
The masters of the Esso New Orleans from the time she was delivered until September 2, 1945 were Captains William R. Stewart, August Bosch, Eric R. Blom-quist, Edward V. Peters, Nels Poulsen, and John B. Petterson.
Her chief engineers during the same period were John Folk, Laughton D. Angel, Sigurd Steffensen, Gregor 0. W. Collins, and Reginald E. Harris.
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