Romany (tanker)

The increasing use of petroleum fuels was making its impact felt in the shipping industry. Anew Puget Sound port Point Wells, came into operation in mid -September with the arrival of the British tanker Romany to discharge 6,000 tons of bulk benzine for the Indian Refining Co. Most of the cargo of the Romany was loaded at Singapore and had its origin in the newly developed oil fields of Sumatra and Java. The Romany, first large vessel to moor at Point Wells, and the first of the countless tankers which have since docked at that important oU distribution center a few miles north of Seattle, was a steel screw steamship of 3,983 tons with engines aft and bridge amidships, built in 1902 at Newcastle by Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., having dimensions of 350 x 47 x 27.6. Until this time all petroleum products had been shipped to the Pacific Coast from refineries in the eastern states or overseas. Gordon Newell, Maritime Events of 1912, H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest., p. 200.

Citation: Tacoma Public Library