American Republics Corporation was a Texas oil company that was founded by Joseph S. Cullinan in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

in 1916. Joseph S. Cullinan owned Farmers Oil Company and other companies. Cullinan consolidated with twenty subsidiary companies into the American Republics Corporation. American Republics Corporation became the holding company for all the subsidiary. By 1927 American Republics Corporation owned two million acres of oil land, refineries, rail tankers and tanker ships. Cullinan resigned as president of American Republics Corporation in 1928. During the Great Depression American Republics Corporation was forced into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

. In 1936 Cullinan returned and became president again. American Republics Corporation was active in supporting the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

efforts with oil supply and tanker ships.

History

The

Texas Oil Company Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company un ...

(now Texaco), was founded by Cullinan in 1913. But when the Texas Oil Company moved its headquarters to New York City, Cullinan, James L. Autry (1860-1920), and Will Hogg stayed in Texas and founded the Farmers Oil Company in 1915. Farmers Oil Company purchased an abandoned oil field dig deeper

oil wells An oil well is a drillhole boring in Earth that is designed to bring petroleum oil hydrocarbons to the surface. Usually some natural gas is released as associated petroleum gas along with the oil. A well that is designed to produce only gas may ...

and found new oil. James L. Autry and Will Hogg were Cullinan attorneys and stockholders at Texas Oil Company. Due to the success of Farmers Oil Company Cullinan founded the Republic Production Company at Spindletop. Republic Production Company was founded for Cullinan

oil exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration methods Vis ...

and oil production. Cullinan also founded at the same time the American Petroleum Company at

Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45, 56 miles northeast of Waco, Texas. The population was 23,770 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and an important Agri-busines ...

. American Petroleum Company operated Cullinan a pipeline and refining plant. Also founded at the same time was American Republics Corporation a holding company for the stock of the new subsidiary companies. New subsidiaries were added: the Papoose Oil Company of Oklahoma; the Federal Petroleum Company of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

and the Petroleum Iron Works of

Sharon, Pennsylvania Sharon is a city in western Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city, located along the banks of the Shenango River on the state border with Ohio, is about northeast of Youngstown, about southeast of Cleveland and about northwest ...

(already owned by Cullinan). Some of the companies Cullinan invested in were:

Hughes Tool Company Hughes Tool Company was an American manufacturer of drill bits. Founded in 1908, it was merged into Baker Hughes Incorporated in 1987. History The company was established in December 1908 as Sharp-Hughes Tool Company when Howard R. Hughes Sr. ...

, Paraffin Oil Company, Texas Fuel Company (now Texaco) and the Hogg-Swain Syndicate. Houston Oil Company and American Republics Corporation entered in a partnership and American Republics Corporation found a new oilfield, called the Hull Field in Liberty County. Cullinan was active in the development of the

Humble, Texas Humble ( ) is a city located in the Houston metropolitan area. Humble became an oil boomtown in the early 20th century when oil was first discovered there in 1904. By 1905, the Humble oilfield was the largest producing oilfield in Texas. Humble ...

and

East Texas Oil Field The East Texas Oil Field is a large oil and gas field in east Texas. Covering and parts of five counties, and having 30,340 historic and active oil wells, it is the second-largest oil field in the United States outside Alaska, and first in tot ...

. In 1956 American Republics Corporation, American Republics and the subsidiaries were all sold to Sinclair Oil Corporation $108 million. Cullinan started in the

oil industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...

in 1898 with the J.S. Cullinan Company, that later became the Magnolia Petroleum Company. J.S. Cullinan Company founded a refinery on the Corsicana oilfield. Corsicana oilfield was found by accident in 1894 by the American Well and Prospecting Company while drilling for water. Cullinan founded Petroleum Iron Works in 1895 after departing Standard Oil. Petroleum Iron Works manufactured steel storage tanks. Cullinan next founded J. S. Cullinan Company in Corsicana, which later became

Magnolia Petroleum Company The Magnolia Petroleum Company was an early twentieth century petroleum company in Texas. The company was established in 1911, being later acquired by the Standard Oil of New York, which operated it as a wholly-owned subsidiary until its demis ...

. Cullinan next founded the Texas Company in 1902, that later became Texaco.

World War II

American Republics Corporation ships were used to help the World War II effort. During World War II American Republics Corporation operated Merchant navy ships for the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

. During World War II American Republics Corporation was active with charter shipping with the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

. Sword Line, Inc. operated tankers and

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

s for the merchant navy. The ship was run by its American Republics Corporation crew and the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

supplied

United States Navy Armed Guard United States Navy Armed Guard units were established during World War II and headquartered in New Orleans.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 2 ...

s to man the deck guns and radio.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, M

/ref>

Ships

*Some ships owned *Republic (1), tanker, built in 1920 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Wilmington, DE, was Weweantic and Liberty Minquas. purchased in 1923 and renamed Republic. Sank on February 22, 1942 hit by two torpedoes from

German submarine U-504 German submarine ''U-504'' was a Type IXC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. The submarine was laid down on 29 April 1940 at the Deutsche Werft yard in Hamburg as yard number 294, launched on 24 April 1941 and c ...

off

Jupiter Island, Florida The town of Jupiter Island is located on the barrier island called Jupiter Island, in Martin County, Florida, United States; the town is part of Florida's Treasure Coast. The town is located next to the unincorporated community of Hobe Sound. ...

. *Norsworthy, built in 1916 as Twilite, acquired in 1925, sold in 1927.
**World War II operated ships: **Liberty Ships, Armadillo-class tanker: * George W. Kendall, tanker built in 1943 * Andrew Marschalk, tanker built in 1943 * Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, tanker buit in 1943 * Josiah G. Holland, tanker buit in 1943
Type T2-SE-A1 tanker Hat Creek underway at sea on 16 August 1943

Type T2-SE-A1 tanker Hat Creek underway at sea on 16 August 1943

T2 tanker The T2 tanker, or T2, was a class of oil tanker constructed and produced in large quantities in the United States during World War II. Only the T3 tankers were larger "navy oilers" of the period. Some 533 T2s were built between 1940 and the end of ...

ship: *Republic (2), tanker, was El Caney, built in 1944 at Alabama Dry Dock, post war work 1948- *Beecher Island, tanker T2-SE-A1, operated in 1946.dot.gov Beecher Island, tanker
/ref>

External links

The T2 Tanker page

References

{{Type T2-SE-A1 tankers Petroleum in Texas Defunct shipping companies of the United States American companies established in 1916

History

World War II

Ships

See also

External links

References