Oil Spills and "Old Timers"

[Otter]

Not trying to get into a poltitical discussion but i was wondering if there are any "old timers" that can remember old "oil spills".

I was thinking the other day about the recent "spill" off the coast of Spain and thought about the tonnage sunk in WWII.

More specifically I was thinking about the large number of oil-tankers sunk off the North American coast by U-boats in 1941. If I recall correctly there were a large number of oil-tankers sunk. Some according to documents were close enough for German crews to be able to sillouette them by shore lights so I assume they were close to shore.

Any "old timers" out there remember oil washing up? What were the (then) ramifications? What was done about it? and how long did it take things to get "back to normal"?

[Fitz]

I can't answer your question, but thought I would offer that oil continues to come to the surface from the Arizona in Hawaii.

[Hughman]

I'm not old enough to speak directly to the question at hand, but perhaps this will be of interest:
While working in the harbormasters’ office, I had an opportunity to observe, and converse with a Corps of Engineers contractor doing core samples of harbor sediments along the US East Coast. The sediments laid down during the early 40's are black with oil, and are thickest in major shipbuilding centers, as expected. However, the oil layers for this era exist in every ocean-facing harbor, to varying degrees.

[Eric Sea Frog]

Interesting quesstion, Herr Kaleunt!

Operation Paukenschlag was devastating because Roosevelt thought at the time he had to manage US public opinion very carefully pertaining the US commitment to world war ("I won't send your sons to make war on foreign soil", approx. quote).
So, quite amazingly, no steps were made to ensure the safety of freighters coming on and off the US East coasts.
The boats would keep their lights on, wouldn't sail in convoys or zigzag !
You may imagine the consequences.
More than that, some U boats would surface near the coast and quietly pound, practically at gunpoint, the oil refineries placed along the coast using the deck 88 or 120mm gun.
One of the second lieutenants in charge of the fire once forgot to remove the gun tampion and the gunners were killed in the ensueing explosion.
It took months for the US government to take a realistic attitude.
New-Yorkers would, yes, gather on the spots, and watch the eerie show from the shore, sitting with food and drinks on the top of the hills !
The black and red explosions indeed were spectacular, putting the sky on fire so to speak...
Those subs were of the ocean-faring IX type, instead of the well-known, coastal VII type. More costly and complicated to build, slower to dive.
One of them that had been captured in 1944 by a US destroyer can be seen in Chicago, I think.
Another, the U-510, taken over by the French at Saint-Nazaire in 1945, underwent thorough and longish transformations and saw active service in the French navy from 1955 to 1960 (with, incidentally, my own father serving aboard as a young officer).
Those subs were given fuel, ammo and food by type XIV "revictualler" special, fat subs, called the Milchkuhe.

Hope this helps.

GrueB von Eric

[nedL]

I dont remember those oil spills, but in the late 1960's the "water" on the Kill Van Kull (which is between New Jersey & Staten Island N.Y.) caught fire from all the oil in & on it. - Yep, the surface of the water was actually on fire. I do also remember the crude oild clumps that would wash up on the beaches, and having to pick your way through the oil slicks in N.Y. harbor (the floating garbage would collect at the edge of the slicks). Things have cleaned up a LOT!

[Donn]

http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/marling/60s/pages/richoux/LActualPicturefrom69.jpg

"At 11:56 am on June 22, 1969, an oil slick caught fire on the Cuyahoga River just southeast of downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Over thirty years later, Cleveland's image is still scarred as people recall how "the river caught fire." The 1969 fire is the most famous fire on the Cuyahoga River, even though a previous fire in 1952 on the Cuyahoga caused nearly thirty times the amount of damage. Yet the day after the 1969 river fire, the two major Cleveland papers both ran front page pictures showing the aftermath of the fire. Only The Plain Dealer ran a short story on the fire.
Not until a Time Magazine article on August 1, 1969 did the river fire begin to get national attention. Eventually the river fire, with its seemingly implausability, became a rallying point for the environmentalists in their fight for cleaner water. The Clean Water Act passed three years later in 1972, while clean-up of the Cuyahoga River continues to today."

LINK (http://www.cwru.edu/artsci/engl/marling/60s/pages/richoux/)

[gary porter]

When considering oil spills and the effect of them we need to realize that theres a big difference in crude oil and oil thats been somewhat refined. Refined oil disperses faster and can easily be burnt. If you spill a tanker of crude it will be with you and the environment for along time.
As far as Roosevelt, seems I recall that he actually wanted to get involved in the war and the people didn't. The story I heard was that he fabricated a sinking of a ship by a Uboat to convince Congress to go to war. Could be wrong on that. At any rate this old world doesn't need any more oil spills of any kind.
Gary :(

[TomRobb]

The boat (among others) sunk that convinced Congress was the Arizona.

[gary porter]

Yes, your right, I was one World war off and of course the wrong pres. as well. Sorry.

[Shang]

"...One of them that had been captured in 1944 by a US destroyer can be seen in Chicago, I think.." --Eric SF.

Ja, der U-505.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Just to comment on the Arizona... the drops of oil leaking from her hull has been known as her tears for the sailors who lie below.

She is also thought to be still holding about 300,000 gallons in her holds, with the hull degrading faster than was thought.

Please correct me if I am wrong..

May all of her fallen rest in peace with him on high.

[J. Dillon]

I don't consider myself an "old Timer" but I do remember oil coming ashore in Atlantic City NJ during the early years of the war. It was thick globules and get on everything. Ship Flotsom sometimes as well. My folks would vacation in NJ during those terrible years. I was only 12 at the time.

JD

[ACB]

The Tirpitz is still leaking.

I can certainly remember that oil on beaches was something that I expected to see, a regular everyday minor hazard, as a child in Britain in the 1960's. Not now.

I fancy that most WW2 tankers were carrying refined oils, and burned, if hit. They were, in any case, very much smaller ships - the T2, the tanker equivalent of the Liberty Ship (actually a much better ship, turbo-electric powered, and good for 16 knots when new, was 16,000 tons deadweight and was a big tanker for those days (a Liberty is around 10,000 dwt) The T2's lasted longer in commercial service than the Liberty's and Victories - there were T2's going strong in the early 1980's.

[Hugh Paterson]

Tirpitz, was a large part of her not scrapped? The Royal Oak is still dumping oil, one of my friends was involved in trying to plug the hull a couple of years ago, didnt work :(
Shug.