Maritime archaeology of oil tanker shipwrecks from World War II

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Developing Standard Methods, Public Interpretation, and Management Strategies on Submerged Military Archaeology Sites" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

World War II awakened the industrial power of the United States. Supplying and waging war across two oceans, the US relied on tankers to move oil to its naval fleets and those of its allies. Carrying the fuel that drove the American war machine, these tankers became prime targets for Axis submarines seeking to disrupt the flow of oil to the European and Pacific fronts. Many oil tankers were sunk during Operation Drumbeat in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Today, these sites represent a national maritime cultural landscape reflecting wartime maritime commerce and expansion of American industry worldwide. However, many still contain their cargoes and represent pollution hazards as corrosion in the marine environment continues to weaken the hulls. Following NOAA’s 2013 Potentially Polluting Wrecks study, a handful of oil tanker wrecks have been assessed for pollution risk and others have been located in deep water, awaiting further documentation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• Developing Standard Methods, Public Interpretation, and Management Strategies on Submerged Military Archaeology Sites

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 241