SS Gulfwave

SS Gulfwave was a Gulf Oil Corporation tanker that operated from 1937 to 1956. She was torpedoed during World War II. but returned to service after repairs. From 1956 to 1959 she operated as the Liberian Michael J.

History
United States
Name	SS Gulfwave
Owner	Gulf Oil Corporation (Pennsylvania)
Yard number	4324
Launched	9 October 1937
Completed	1 December 1937 (delivery)
Identification	Official Number: 236882 Signal letters: WPPL
Fate	Sold 1956
Liberia
Name	SS Michael J.
Owner	Unknown
Acquired	1956
Fate	Scrapped 1959
General characteristics [1][2]
Tonnage	11,381 DWT[3] 7,140 GRT 4,381 net
Length	442 ft (134.7 m) LOA 426.4 ft (130.0 m) registered length
Beam	64.2 ft (19.6 m)
Draft	27 ft 6 in (8.4 m) design draft
Depth	34 ft (10.4 m)
Installed power	General Electric double reduction geared turbines, 3,000 shaft horsepower
Speed	12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h).
Capacity	83,836 barrels[3]
Crew	42

Construction

Bethlehem Steel Company at Sparrows Point, Maryland.^[4] She was launched on 9 October 1937 as the third of four tankers built at Sparrows Point for Gulf Oil. The construction made greater use of welding than in the previous two tankers of the series.^[5] She was delivered to Gulf Oil on 1 December 1937.^[4]

Characteristics

Gulfwave was 442 feet (134.7 m) in length overall, 426.4 feet (130 m) in registered length, 64.2 feet (19.6 m) in beam, and had a design draft of 27 feet 6 inches (8.4 m).^[2][5] Propulsion was by a set of General Electric double-reduction geared turbines, developing about 3,000 shaft horsepower (2,237 kW), driving a single 17-foot-6-inch (5.3 m) propeller for a maximum speed of about 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).^[5]

Service history

Gulfwave operated with the Gulf Oil fleet until taken by the War Shipping Administration for World War II service on 20 April 1942. Gulf Oil subsequently operated her under an agreement with the United States Army, revised to a time charter on 29 June 1944. After the war, the ship returned to company operations on 20 November 1945.^[3]

On 1 March 1943 the ship was torpedoed by the Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-10 under the command of Commander Kinzo Tonozuka^[6] in the New Hebrides south of Tonga at 20°30′S 174°45′E.^[7] Gulfwave suffered no casualties among her merchant mariners or United States Navy Armed Guard personnel, and she arrived at Suva in Fiji under her own power.^[7] After temporary repairs at Suva, Gulfwave arrived at Pago Pago in American Samoa on 29 March 1943 for further repairs. She departed Pago Pago on 13 May 1943 bound for Hawaii. Permanent repairs were made at Portland, Oregon.^[8][9]

Gulfwave was sold to Liberian interests in January 1956, renamed Michael J., and was scrapped in 1959.^[3][4]