SS Montebello facts for kids
SS Montebello in Vancouver, 1930s. Photograph by Walter E. Frost
|
|
Quick facts for kids History |
|
|---|---|
 United States |
|
| Name | Montebello |
| Namesake | Montebello |
| Owner | Union Oil Company |
| Builder | Southwestern Shipbuilding Co., San Pedro |
| Cost | US$2,500,000 |
| Yard number | 21 |
| Laid down | 20 April 1920 |
| Launched | 24 January 1921 |
| Sponsored by | Miss Adelaide Stewart |
| Commissioned | 9 March 1921 |
| Homeport | Los Angeles |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sunk, 23 December 1941 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Tanker |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | 440.4 ft (134.2 m) |
| Beam | 58.2 ft (17.7 m) |
| Depth | 32.8 ft (10.0 m) |
| Installed power | 402 Nhp, 3,300 ihp |
| Propulsion | Llewellyn Iron Works 4-cylinder quadruple expansion |
| Speed | 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h) |
The Montebello was a large ship called an oil tanker. It was built in California between 1920 and 1921 for the Union Oil Company. Its job was to carry oil and gasoline along the West Coast of North America and to countries like Chile. Sadly, in December 1941, the Montebello was sunk by a Japanese submarine called I-21 during one of its regular trips.
Contents
Building the Montebello
In early 1920, the Union Oil Company of California wanted to grow its business in South America. They ordered two very large tankers from Southwestern Shipbuilding Company. These ships were designed to carry about 12,000 tons of cargo. At that time, they were the biggest ships of their kind ever built in California.
Work began on both ships, the Montebello and the La Placentia, on April 20, 1920. Many people from Union Oil were there for the special ceremony. The Montebello was the first of these ships to be finished. It was launched on January 24, 1921. Miss Adelaide Stewart, whose father was the president of Union Oil, officially named the ship. The tanker was named after the Montebello oil fields. These fields were a very important source of oil for the Union Oil Company.
The ship was built using a special method called the Isherwood principle. This method used longitudinal framing to make the ship's body extra strong. The Montebello had two main decks. Its cargo area was divided into eighteen main tanks and ten smaller tanks. This allowed it to carry up to 94,000 barrels of oil. The tanker had a special pump room in the middle of the ship. The pumps were designed to unload all the oil in about twenty hours. The ship also had steam-powered winches to quickly load and unload cargo. It was equipped with a radio and a submarine signal system. Electric lights were installed along the decks and in the crew cabins.
The Montebello was about 440 feet (134 meters) long. It was about 58 feet (17.7 meters) wide and 32.8 feet (10 meters) deep. It weighed 8,272 gross tons and could carry about 12,500 tons of cargo. The ship had a strong steel hull with a double bottom. It was powered by a single steam engine that produced 3,300 horsepower. This engine turned a single propeller, moving the ship at speeds up to 11 knots (about 12.7 miles per hour or 20.4 kilometers per hour). Three large boilers supplied the steam for the engine, using oil as fuel.
The ship was tested at sea on March 2, 1921, and everything worked well. After these successful tests, the Montebello was given to its owners on March 4. It officially began its service on March 9.
The Montebello's Journeys
After it was ready, the Montebello left Los Angeles for Port San Luis. This was a big oil storage and shipping place for Union Oil. It arrived there on March 10, 1921. The ship loaded 81,000 barrels of oil and then sailed to San Francisco. It arrived on March 12, finishing its first trip successfully. After unloading, the tanker left San Francisco on March 14. It was headed for Vancouver in Canada, stopping at Port San Luis first.
At Port San Luis, the ship took on 41,000 barrels of fuel oil and 40,000 barrels of diesel fuel. It left Port San Luis on March 17 and reached Vancouver five days later. On its third trip, the ship traveled to Puerto Lobos, a major oil port in Mexico. It returned to San Pedro on May 14, 1921, carrying 11,000 tons of oil. The tanker then stayed in the harbor until late August. After that, it went back to its regular trips along the coast.
The Montebello often carried oil from Port San Luis to Union Oil's refinery in Oleum. It also went from San Pedro to storage places in Martinez. Sometimes, it made trips along the Pacific coast to cities like Vancouver, Portland, or Seattle. It even carried cargo to Honolulu in Hawaii. By 1924, the tanker started making more trips to Hawaii and Canada. It also began traveling to Balboa near the Panama Canal and to Chilean ports like Antofagasta, Iquique, and Taltal. For example, on July 8, 1924, it delivered 10,000 tons of fuel oil to Balboa. On January 6, 1925, it left San Pedro with 76,801 barrels of oil for Antofagasta. By 1926, trips to the Panama Canal and Chile became the ship's main routes. The Montebello continued these long journeys for five years. Then, over the next two years, it slowly returned to serving the West Coast and Hawaii.
On October 5, 1930, while the tanker was being repaired in Los Angeles, an incident occurred. A person boarded the ship and stole nearly $3,000 in cash from the captain's safe and crew lockers. Police later arrested someone in connection with the robbery, but they were released because there wasn't enough evidence.
In late 1939, the Montebello made three trips to the East Coast of the United States. Each time, it carried almost 11,000 tons of crude oil to Baltimore and fuel oil to Boston. In November 1940, the tanker was hired for one trip by Imperial Oil Shipping Co. to carry oil from Peru to Vancouver. After this trip, it went back to its usual duties.
The Sinking of the Montebello
The Montebello was supposed to leave Port San Luis just before midnight on December 21, 1941. However, the crew asked for more money for war risk insurance. This delayed the departure until a new crew could arrive from Los Angeles. The replacement crew arrived late on December 22. Then, they learned that the ship's acting captain was suddenly sick and needed to be replaced too. After finding a new captain, updating paperwork, and making final preparations, the Montebello finally sailed from Port San Luis around 2:00 AM on December 23.
Captain Olof Walfrid Eckstrom was in command. The ship had a crew of thirty-eight people. It was carrying 75,346 barrels of crude oil to Vancouver. The weather was cloudy with light rain, but visibility was good. Around 5:30 AM, about four miles west of Cambria, the captain saw what looked like a submarine. It was on the ship's right side, about half a mile away. The submarine, which was later identified as the I-21, could be seen clearly in the dark. Its conning tower (the top part) and a deck gun were easy to spot.
The captain immediately ordered the ship to go full speed ahead and to move in a zigzag pattern. He also told the Navy about the submarine. About ten minutes later, the I-21 fired two torpedoes at the tanker. One torpedo did not explode. But the second one hit the Montebello near its second cargo hold. Luckily for the crew, this hold was empty and did not contain any oil. However, the explosion blew away the deck house and the radio room. It also knocked down the front mast.
An order was given to abandon the ship, and four lifeboats were launched. The submarine saw that the ship was not sinking. So, it fired eight or nine shots at the tanker's hull. One shot hit the front of the ship and blew it away, making the tanker sink faster. Around 6:30 AM, the ship began to sink quickly. By 6:45 AM, it was completely underwater. The submarine then fired what seemed to be rifle shots at the lifeboats, but no one was hurt.
Three of the lifeboats, carrying thirty-three survivors, were picked up by tugboats and taken to Cayucos. One lifeboat, with the captain in it, reached the shore near San Simeon. This lifeboat was damaged, but everyone was saved by people watching from the shore.
The Wreck and Its Cargo
On November 7, 1996, a small submarine called Delta went down to explore the wreck. It found the Montebello sitting upright on the ocean floor at a depth of 880 feet (268 meters). The experts believed that one torpedo hit the Montebello just in front of the pump room. The front of the ship was broken from hitting the seafloor. However, the rest of the wreck seemed to be in good condition. This made people worry that it might still hold its oil cargo. When it sank, the Montebello was carrying 73,571 barrels of crude oil. It also had 104,034 US gallons (393,800 liters) of fuel oil for its engines.
In August 2010, a robot submarine from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute examined the wreck. Its goal was to find out if the oil was still on board and if it could harm the environment. The expedition used sonar to create 3D images of the ship. These images were then studied on land. Jack Hunter, an archaeologist who had examined the wreck in 1996, compared the new images. He was concerned that the wreck had gotten worse over 14 years. He thought it could be a risk if the oil leaked.
More explorations of the wreck were planned for 2011. These were expected to cost $2.3 million. The money came from a special fund that oil companies pay into for such situations. After two weeks of detailed testing in October 2011, researchers found that no crude oil remained in the tanker. They believed the oil likely leaked out shortly after the sinking and spread throughout the area.
The shipwreck was added to the US National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
