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It has not been possible to get clear, unambiguous information from Internet and other sources on the history of Overseas Tankship. What is known is that several Overseas Tankship companies were established by Caltex.
Caltex began in 1936 as a joint venture between the Texas Company (Texaco) and Standard Oil of California (now Chevron Corporation), under the name of the California Texas Oil Company to market oil from newly gained concessions in Saudi Arabia. Although it was generally known as Caltex, it was only renamed Caltex Petroleum Corporation in 1968. After the merger of the two parent companies in 2001 (known as ChevronTexaco until 2005, when it was renamed Chevron), Caltex remains one of its major international brand names, especially in Australia and New Zealand.
The ships in this collection have mostly been identified as Type T2 tankers, built in the US during WW2. They are all carrying their original US War Shipping Administration names. What can be seen from the photographs is that most of the ships have the Caltex five-pointed star logo in a white circle on the funnel and also have the letters O T C in the white circle. Based on information contained on the Miramar Ship Index, it seems likely that the photographs were taken after the ships had been bought (without name change) by the Caltex, US based, Overseas Tankship Corporation and registered in Panama. The exception is Kettle Creek, which seems to have been owned by Standard Oil of California and not Overseas Tankship.
In the early 1950s the Caltex fleet was divided amongst the following companies: -
The ships were all renamed with a Caltex prefix.
In 1967 Texaco took over the European responsibilities and assets of Caltex including Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd when they renamed the company Texaco Overseas Tankship Limited. Also in that year Regent Petroleum was absorbed into the Texaco organisation including their fleet of tankers.
With the worldwide downturn in the demand for oil to be transported over long distances by sea, came a reduction in the number of vessels operated by Texaco. In 1994 Texaco decided to completely withdraw from shipowning and sold its remaining tankers in 1995.
In the absence of further information the ships have been left exactly as classified by the collectors and the data reproduced as they recorded it. The flag shown on this page is Caltex. As we do not know when the photos were taken or their exact history this may be incorrect but this is our best shot.
| Vessel Name | Vessel Type | Launched/Completed | Tonnage | DWT | Builder |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amiens | No Info | ||||
| Boonesborough | No Info | ||||
| Camp Union | No Info | ||||
| Carlsbad | No Info | ||||
| Casa Grande | No Info | ||||
| Castles Woods | No Info | ||||
| Cedar Breaks | No Info | ||||
| Drapers Meadow | No Info | ||||
| Fort Stanwix | No Info | ||||
| Kettle Creek | No Info | ||||
| Pawnee Rock | Cargo 675,009 G. | 1945 | Gross: 10648 Net: 6233 | 16632 | Alabama D.D. & SB Co. |
| Pilot Butte | No Info | ||||
| Pine Bluff | No Info | ||||
| Pipe Spring | Cargo 774,676 G. | Aug 1944. | Gross: 10448 Net: 6301 | 16492 | Kaiser Co, Swan River, Portland, Oregon. |
| Quaker Hill | No Info | ||||
| Rum River | Cargo 774,676 G. | Dec 1944. Yard No: 402 | Gross: 10759 Net: 6192 | 16450 | Sun Shipbuilders & Drydock Ltd. Chester, Pennsilvania |
| Seneca Castle | No Info | ||||
| Tonto | No Info | ||||
| Victory Loan | No Info | ||||
| Wagon Mound | No Info | ||||
| Warrior Point | Cargo 792,544 G. | Oct 1944. Yard No: 95 | Gross: 10448 Net: 6301 | 76519 | Kaiser Co, Inc. Portland. Maine |
| Yellow Tavern | Cargo 774,676 G. | Nov 1944. Yard No: 425 | Gross: 10712 Net: 6261 | 16445 | Sun Shipbuilders & Drydock Ltd. Chester, Pennsilvania |
