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Abiqua
T2-SE-A1
Built November 1943 by Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company, Mobile,
Alabama as "Sweetwater" # 548, for U.M.S.C.
HISTORY :
ABIQUA - USA 1 Turbine Electric (aft)
10,172 GRT for U. S. War Shipping Administration, Mobile, Reg. leng. & breadth - 504.0 x 68.2
Tanker built by Alabama DD. & SB. Co., Mobile, Ala. month/year, completed - (10/1943)
Yard number - #264, official number - 244412
1946 - Cities Service Oil Co., New York
1955 - U. S. Dept. of Commerce - Maritime Administration, New York
1956 - U. S. Navy - (T-AO-158)
1957 - U. S. Dept. of Commerce - Maritime Administration, New York
Sold 1968 to Windsor Navigation Co., New York, dismantled and machinery sections exchanged with
bulk carrier WINDSOR ex- Wildura, machinery section of ABIQUA joined with bulk cargo forebody built
1963 by Soc. des Chantiers Réunis Loire Normandie, Grand Quevilly, resulting vessel 14,640 grt,
545.0 x 78.5' work completed by Alabama DD. & SB. Co., Nov. 1968.
Bow and tank cargo section from ABIQUA joined to machinery section from WINDSOR (built 1944 as
BEAR PAW) to become storage vessel BEAR PAW, machinery section removed and scrapped 1970,
forebody converted to 384' tank barge TIDE MAR XIX
1968 - ABIQUA Winco Tankers, Inc., New York [ Windsor Navigation Co. - John Hadges ]
1972 - Mercury SS. Co., Inc., New York [ John Hadges ]
1973 - ASSOS Assos Maritime Co., Ltd., Famagusta [ do. ] CY
1974 - ULRICA North Pacific Navigation Corp., Panama [ W. H. Eddie Hsu, Taipei ] PA
Broken up at Kaohsiung 1978 by Long Jong Industry Co., Ltd.,
arrived 17.04.1978, work began 22.11.1978.
( See photo below )
Additional notes:
Suamico Class Fleet Oiler:
Laid down, 18 June 1943, as a Maritime Administration type (T2-SE-A1) tanker hull, under a
Maritime Commission contract at Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Co., Mobile, AL.
Delivered to Cities Service Company for operation, 31 October 1943
Acquired by the US Navy from the Maritime Administration and placed in service by MSTS as
USNS Abiqua (T-AO-158), 21 December 1956, under contract to Matraliners with a civilian crew.
Placed out of service,
struck from the Naval Register and returned to the Maritime Administration, 30 September 1967
Final Disposition, cut into four sections, and joined to form SS Windsor, SS Bear Paw and the
tank barge Tex-Mar XIX
Specifications:
Displacement 10,536 t.
Length 504'
Beam 68' 2"
Draft 39' 2"
Speed 15.5 kts.
Complement unknown
Armament none
Cargo Capacity 140,000 barrels
Propulsion turbo-electric, single screw. 8,000hp.
View the Abiqua (T-AO-158) DANFS history entry located at Navsource.
"Abiqua", ex. "USNS Abiqua (T-AO-158)", ex. "Abiqua".
( Photo collection Morten Bjørndalen )