Republic Oil Sales Company was founded on May 13, 1926, in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

by Herbert D. McCracken. In 1929 the Republic Oil Refining Company was founded in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

at the Benedum-Trees Building with Ovid D. Robinson as president. Republic Oil Refining Company's vice president was James Carne and William H. Moreland as the secretary-treasurer. Republic Oil Refining Company had a field office 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 in ...

, that moved to

Texas City, Texas Texas City is a city in Galveston County, Texas, Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and pe ...

in 1935. Texas City is the location of the refinery. At its peak in 1931, the Texas City refinery had a capacity of 35,000 barrels daily and 1,250,000 barrels of tank storage. The company dissolved on April 1, 1957.

Texas City disaster

Some of Republic Oil property was damaged and five employees killed in the Texas City disaster on April 16, 1947, at the

Port of Texas City The Port of Texas City is a major deepwater port in Texas City, Texas at Galveston Bay, United States. Its location on the bay, which is used by the Port of Houston and the Port of Galveston, puts Texas City in the heart of one of the world's mo ...

Galveston Bay Galveston Bay ( ) is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of ...

. Republic Oil Refining Company's firefighting team help put out the fire. The fire was caused by the French ship SS ''Grandcamp'' exploding her cargo of about 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate.

Ships

Some of Republic Oil Refining ships: *Gold Creek, 10,000 ton tanker

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 ...

(T2-SE-A1) ran aground south of

Gay Head Aquinnah ( wam, Âhqunah) is a town located on the western end of Martha's Vineyard island, Massachusetts. From 1870 to 1997, the town was incorporated as Gay Head. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 439. Aquinnah is known for its beaut ...

. *Minneapolis Husky, 16,000 barrels tanker built at Ingalls Decatur in 1941. renamed ''Republic'' in 1944, ''Clark'' in 1954, ''Limni'' in 1964, and scrapped 1973 *Kawanee 1919 tanker, scrapped in 1945.
*Tug Republic No. 1

Tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

*Tug Republic No. 2. Built in 1943, by the Platzer Iron Works Company of Houston as the R.J. Gough. *Oil

Barges Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by Pusher (boat) ...

: ROR 104, Barge ROR 105, Barge ROR 106

World War II

Republic Oil Refining fleet of ships that were used to help 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 opposin ...

effort. During World War II Republic Oil Refining 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 Republic Oil Refining 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 Co ...

. The ship was run by its Republic Oil Refining 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 of ...

supplied United States Navy Armed Guards 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>

References

{{WWII US ships Defunct shipping companies of the United States American companies established in 1926

Texas City disaster

Ships

World War II

See also

References