SS India Arrow

Early in 1919 Standard Oil Co. decided to add four more tankers of approximately 12,500 deadweight to its existing fleet, expanding their oil carrying business. A contract for these vessels was awarded to the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. India Arrow was the third of these four ships and was laid down at the Fore River shipyard in Quincy on 3 March 1920 (yard number 1387) and launched on 28 January 1921, with Mrs. Harry Dundas, wife of the general manager of the British India branch of the Standard Transportation Company, serving as the sponsor.[1][2] The ship was shelter-deck type, had two main decks and was built on the Isherwood principle of longitudinal framing providing extra strength to the body of the vessel. The ship was equipped with wireless of De Forest type and had electrical lights installed along the decks. The tanker had a cargo pump room located amidships, and had ten double main cargo tanks constructed throughout the vessel with a total capacity to carry 3,665,700 US gallons of oil.[1]

As built, the ship was 468 feet 3 inches (142.72 m) long (between perpendiculars) and 62 feet 7 inches (19.08 m) abeam, and had a depth of 32 feet 0 inches (9.75 m).[3] India Arrow was originally assessed at 8,327 GRT and 5,176 NRT and had deadweight of approximately 12,290.[3] The vessel had a steel hull, and a single 636 Nhp (3,200 ihp) vertical surface-condensing direct-acting reciprocating quadruple expansion steam engine, with cylinders of 24-inch (61 cm), 35-inch (89 cm), 51-inch (130 cm) and 75-inch (190 cm) diameter with a 51-inch (130 cm) stroke, that drove a single screw propeller and moved the ship at up to 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h).[4] The steam for the engine was supplied by three single-ended Scotch boilers fitted for oil fuel.[1]

The sea trials were held on 25 and 26 February 1921 in the Massachusetts Bay during which the vessel performed satisfactorily and was transferred to her owners upon their completion.[5]

After delivery to Standard Oil in March 1921, India Arrow remained berthed in Boston for the next six months due to overabundance of available tonnage and scarcity of cargo. She sailed from Boston to New York in mid-October for loading and sailed for Hong Kong on 21 October 1921 carrying 10,800 tons of kerosene.[6] After stopping at San Francisco for fuel in mid-November, the vessel reached her destination on December 17.[7] After unloading her cargo the tanker proceeded to Penang to load a cargo of oil and then continued on to Rotterdam which she reached on 17 February 1922 before returning to New York on March 14, thus successfully concluding her maiden voyage.[8] After conducting one more trip to the Far East and several trips between Texas Gulf ports and New York, India Arrow departed Sabine on 20 October 1922 bound for Colombo. After unloading her cargo there in December, the tanker returned to New York on 22 January 1923 completing another round-the-world journey. During 1923 the tanker alternated trips from Gulf ports to China and New York. From late 1923 and until 1927 the vessel was primarily employed to transport petroleum products from the refineries of Southern California to Chinese, and occasionally Japanese ports. In February 1925 India Arrow while on her regular trip to Shanghai ran into some rough weather and was hit by a huge wave which washed away both the forward and after wheel houses, caused other damage about the decks and injured several crew members. The tanker managed to safely reach her destination where she was repaired before resuming her normal service.[9] Starting in 1927 the tanker was mainly used on two intercoastal routes transporting either petroleum products from San Pedro to New York or oil from Texas Gulf ports to various East coast ports such as Baltimore, New York, Boston and Providence. At the same time, she continued to make occasional trips to the Orient and other foreign destinations. For example, India Arrow sailed from Beaumont in May 1928 carrying full cargo of gasoline to Colombo, Madras and Calcutta. On 18 April 1929 the tanker arrived at Colón from San Pedro with one of her summer tank leaking. After transferring her cargo into another tank, India Arrow was able to proceed to her destination next day.[10] In 1931 the vessel conducted another round-the-world trip departing Beaumont in April and returning to San Pedro in late August after first delivering oil to Colombo and then from Batum to Hong Kong.[11] In October 1934 she was chartered for one trip to carry oil from Tampico to Aruba[12][13] before returning to her usual trade carrying crude oil from the terminals of Magnolia Petroleum Company in Beaumont, Humble Oil in Corpus Christi, and Texas Company in Port Arthur and Port Neches to the refineries in the Northeast of the United States. In November 1938 India Arrow was one of the tankers chartered by the United States Navy to bring high octane gasoline from Beaumont to Yorktown.[14]

On 30 December 1927 India Arrow together with several other ships was berthed in Hoboken when a fire started in the plant of Union Ship Scaling Company and quickly spread along the pier. As the fire advanced steamers SS Seneca and SS Hendrik Hudson also caught fire, while several other vessels were pulled away from their berthing positions up the river to save them from spreading flames. At the time India Arrow was high and dry ready to go into drydock for repairs. She was let down the slipway immediately once the fire was noticed and then dragged away up-stream for safety. As the result of fire steamer Seneca completely burned down and was declared a total loss, and Hendrik Hudson had her bow charred but otherwise did not suffered any further damage.[15][16]