Ship Model, Tanker Type T2-SE-A1
date: label: date made
content: early 1940s
name: label: built tankers typical to this model
content: Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
label: purchased tankers typical to this model
content: Standard Oil
notes: label: Description
content: Although dry cargo freighters like the Liberty and Victory ships are probably the best-known emergency vessels of World War II, oil tankers were also mass produced in American shipyards and played an important role in the Allied victory. This model represents the most common type of tanker, T2-SE-A1, a commercial design that before the war started was already being constructed by the Sun Shipbuilding Company for Standard Oil. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Maritime Commission recognized that wet cargo like oil and machine lubricants would be just as necessary as guns and ammunition. The commission ordered this design to be built, in addition to the dry cargo designs.
label: Description
content: Like the Victory ship, the T2 tanker was outfitted with a steam turbine engine that gave the vessel a speed of over 14 knots. Tankers were also built at some of the same shipyards as the other merchant vessels, and experienced a similar construction time average of about 70 days. But unlike the Victory or Liberty ships, no T2 tankers have survived to become museum ships, and only one remains afloat in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, mothballed in Beaumont, Texas.
topic: label: related event
content: World War II
label: related event
content: The Great Depression and World War II
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: Transportation
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content: On the Water exhibit
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Maritime Commission (through J. M. Winston)
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.313036
label: catalog number
content: 313036
label: accession number
content: 173712
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Ship, Single-screw tanker
label: Object Name
content: ship model, single-screw tanker
label: Object Name
content: model, ship
label: Other Terms
content: Ship, Single-screw tanker; Ship, Single Crew; Maritime; Tanker
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: maroon (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brown (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: approx: 14 1/2 in x 65 in x 8 1/2 in; 36.83 cm x 165.1 cm x 21.59 cm