SS Ideal X

SS Ideal X, a converted World War II T-2 oil tanker, was the first commercially successful container ship.

Plan of the SS Ideal X
History
Name	Ideal X, ex-Potrero Hills, ex-Capt. John D.P., ex-Elemir[1]
Owner	Pan-Atlantic Steamship Company[2]
Port of registry	United States
Builder	Rebuilt as container ship at Bethlehem Steel, Baltimore, MD.[1]
Launched	30 December 1944
Completed	January 1945
Out of service	Sold for scrapping, 1965.[3]
Identification	Official number: 247155[4]
Fate	Scrapped in Japan, 1967.[3]
Notes	Former T2 tanker. Originally built by Marinship Corp. in Sausalito, California as yard number 158 in 1945.[4]
General characteristics
Class & type	T2-SE-A1
Tonnage	16,460 GRT[4]
Length	524 ft (160 m)[1]
Beam	30 ft (9.1 m)[1]
Height	68 ft (21 m)[1]
Propulsion	Elliot Company steam turbine, electric propulsion.[4]
Capacity	58 33-foot containers 10,572 DWT[4]
The Ideal X was originally constructed as a T2 tanker, similar to the Hat Creek shown here in August 1943.

Built by The Marinship Corporation during World War II as Potrero Hills, she was later purchased by Malcom McLean's Pan-Atlantic Steamship Company.^[5][6][7] In 1955, the ship was modified to carry shipping containers and rechristened Ideal X. During her first voyage in her new configuration, on 26 April 1956,^[8] the Ideal X carried 58 containers from Port Newark, New Jersey, to Port of Houston, Texas, where 58 trucks were waiting to be loaded with the containers.^[9] It was not the first purpose built container ship: the Clifford J. Rodgers, operated by the White Pass and Yukon Route, had made its debut in 1955.^[10]

In 1959, the vessel was acquired by Bulgarian owners, who rechristened her Elemir. The Elemir suffered extensive damage during heavy weather on 8 February 1964, and was sold in turn to Japanese breakers. She was finally scrapped on 20 October 1964, in Hirao, Japan.