From the archives of the Canal Society of New York, it’s a set of photos taken along the Hudson showing some unidentified cargo vessels of yore. The large building just off the bow of the T-2 tanker is unmistakably the West Point Gillis Field House. I can’t quite make out the tanker’s name, however.
Ditto here, as to the name of this cargo ship heading upriver at the Bear Mountain Bridge. Is that type called a Victory ship?
Heading downstream, it’s another T-2 tanker. Note the stack is differently marked from the one above. The location is off Iona Island and heading for Jones Point.
And finally, this may be the same T-2 as above. I can’t place the location of read the name.
South of Jones Point between 1946 and 1971, there was this presence. Here‘s a tugster blog post on this gathering.
At its peak in the mid-1960s, almost 200 ships were anchored here.
That’s it here. Maybe a reader can read more out of these images used with permission from Canal Society of New York archives.
Many thanks to Bob Mattsson for doing his best to lighten these photos. Check out his book and models here.
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March 29, 2022 at 12:21 pm
Lou Carreras
As a child I passed and repassed the fleet many times. My dad had served on vessels in the anchorage, and it was as close to “looking for a ship” as my mother would allow.
March 29, 2022 at 1:02 pm
Rob G
Photo 1 looks too me like Tydol Flying A. https://www.ebay.com/itm/353807973706
Also, could the second photo have been taken from the deck. of the Peter Stuyvesant?
March 29, 2022 at 1:16 pm
tugster
I think they were all taken on a single northbound trip. I can see Tyrol Flying A there, which would make this between 1948 and 1959, about the right time frame. http://www.aukevisser.nl/t2tanker/t-tankers-2/id668.htm The Stuyvesant ran from 1927 until 1962: https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/haal/id/290/
March 29, 2022 at 1:57 pm
ws
Nice blast from the past!
Today, LNG tankers, Navy nuclear aircraft carriers, & submarines and Wasp class amphibious assault ships still run on steam..
Note there are no vertical support cables on the Bear Mountain bridge on the ramps between the shore, and the towers..Phew, it’s designed that way
March 29, 2022 at 2:20 pm
ws
The fourth T2 Esso on the stack?
March 29, 2022 at 4:04 pm
William Lafferty
That is a Liberty ship, flying the Panamanian flag (which many, many did). The clearest distinction between a Liberty and a Victory is that the latter has a prominent forecastle, the former none. I’ll try to identify it, but no promises.
The larger tanker is the Esso Bethlehem, launched 2 August 1941 at Chester, Pennsylvania, by the Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company as Esso Albany. It is not a T-2 but of the basic design upon which T-2s arose. Requisitioned by the Navy in January 1942 it became the fleet oiler Housatonic AO-35. Standard Oil of New Jersey got it back in 1947 and it ran from then until 1961 as Esso Bethlehem (when converted to a container ship, renamed Ls Angeles). It carried crude primarily from Aruba for Esso. Its bow and stern were scrapped at Kobe in 1978 and its midbody used for the Sea-Land Pioneer built by Mitsubishi.
March 29, 2022 at 5:07 pm
tugster
William– Thanks for pointing all that out.
March 29, 2022 at 7:32 pm
Bill Ewen
The second image from the top, of the Liberty ship, was taken from the Day Line steamer Peter Stuyvesant. In the last photo, the large ship with two stacks is likely either the Manhattan or Washington, former United States Liners.
March 29, 2022 at 10:46 pm
William Lafferty
I overlooked the other tanker, third from the top. It is undoubtedly Fruitvale Hills, a T2-SE-A1 launched 25 August 1945 at Sausalito by Marinship for Marad. Trinidad Corporation, a division of the Barber Asphalt Company that imported asphalt from Trinidad, obtained it 1947 and it operated as such 1947-1965 when widened and lengthened and renamed San Antonio. As Bordeaux, it arrived at Brownsville for demolition on 13 April 1984. The funnel livery was a yellow funnel with black top and a black band, as we see here.
March 30, 2022 at 6:26 am
tugster
Again, William, thanks for the identification. The image looks right: http://www.aukevisser.nl/t2tanker/id212.htm
March 31, 2022 at 10:11 am
George Schneider
The first photo, TYDOL FLYING A, is smaller than a T2. She originally carried the designation T1-M-BT2. Did anybody notice the water skier at the bow of the tanker William identifies as ESSO BETHLEHEM?
Of the vessels at the reserve fleet, the first photos shows mostly Liberty Ships but the outermost one, with the split house, is one of the British Fort/Park class the U.S. obtained under “Reverse Lend-Lease” during the War. In the second photo, the outermost one that looks like a small passenger ship is a USS ARTEMIS class attack cargo ship (designation S4-SE2-BE1), while the bigger 2-stacker hidden behind her is the passenger ship SS WASHINGTON. Between them is one of the troopships American President Lines operated briefly after WWII, designation C4-S-A3.
April 24, 2022 at 11:06 pm
Bob
Tyrol Flying A became Getty Providence and sailed into the 80s in the US then was sold foreign.