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THIRTY-TWO YEARS
SS. C.A. Canfield
At the outbreak of World War II the Esso Oil tanker C.A. Canfield, veteran of the first World War, was 26 years of age. When Japan surrendered, the ship was 32 years old. Between September 3, 1939 and the day when she was sold to War Emergency Tankers, Inc., April 7, 1944, she made 74 voyages and transported petroleum products amounting to a total of more than 5,240,000 barrels.
Many of these voyages were coastwise, but by no means all. In addition to carrying cargoes from the Gulf of Mexico to United States east coast ports from Florida to Maine, she made 4 runs to Caripito, 16 to Aruba, 8 to Curacao, 3 to Rio de Janeiro, 5 to Trinidad, 6 to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and a trip each to Halifax, N.S., and Tela in Honduras. She also made a voyage in the Pacific, taking an Aruba cargo through the Panama Canal and going to Golfito and Quepos Point in Costa Rica.
During her wartime service as a Standard Oil Company of New Jersey tanker the C.A. Canfield was in the Patuxent tied-up fleet from August 22 to October 17, 1940. Notwithstanding this time out, as well as delays to which most ships were subject due to war conditions, she traveled 220,378 sea miles in a total steaming time of 940 days.
The SS C.A. Canfield was built in 1913 by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Company, Ltd., at Newcastle, England.
A single-screw vessel of 10,320 deadweight tons capacity on international summer draft of 27 feet, 1/4 inch, the C.A. Canfield has an overall length of 418 feet, a length between perpendiculars of 405 feet, a moulded breadth of 54 feet, 9 inches, and a depth moulded of 32 feet, 10 inches. With a cargo carrying capacity of 71,881 barrels, she has an assigned pumping rate of 4,000 barrels an hour.
Her triple expansion engine, supplied with steam by two Scotch boilers, develops 2,650 indicated horsepower and gives her a classification certified speed of 10 knots.
The wartime transportation record of the C.A. Canfield, while she was owned by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, was in summary as follows:
In the war years, while the C.A. Canfield was an Esso tanker, she was commanded by Captains Felix W. Kretchmer, Cyril C. Eden, Peder Nielsen, Andrew Weiler, Gustave A. Ekiund, Eric R. Blomquist, William Mello, Karl S. Johans-en, and Kenneth Wing.
During the same period her engineroom was in charge of Chief Engineers Carl Jakobsen, George A. Proctor, Emoor S. Bordelon, William F. Hundertmark, and Rudolph Fenslau.
After the vessel was sold to War Emergency Tankers, Inc., her masters were Captains Aage Petersen and William G. Barker. Chief Engineer Rudolph Fenslau, who was assigned to the ship at the time of the sale, remained in char-ge of her engine department until he was relieved by Chief Engineer Charles L. Bell.
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