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{{short description|U,K. shipping company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
'''Eagle Oil and Shipping Company''' was a [[United Kingdom]] merchant shipping company that operated [[Tanker (ship)|oil tankers]] between the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and the UK. [[Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray]] founded it as the '''Eagle Oil Transport Company''' in 1912 and sold it to [[Royal Dutch Shell]] in 1919. It was renamed Eagle Oil and Shipping Company in about 1930, and remained a separate company within the Royal Dutch Shell group until it was absorbed in 1959.
[[File:House flag of Eagle Oil Shipping Co. Ltd.svg|right|thumb|[[House flag]] of Eagle Oil Shipping Co. Ltd.]]

==Pearson oil interests in Mexico==
[[File:1st Viscount Cowdray.jpg|thumb|upright|Weetman Pearson, Viscount Cowdray]]
Sir Weetman Pearson, [[Baronet|Bart.]] (ennobled as [[Viscount Cowdray]] in 1910) headed a successful civil engineering contractor, [[Pearson PLC|S. Pearson and Sons]], that had contracts in Mexico from 1889. He initiated oil prospecting there in 1901 and founded the [[Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company]] in 1909, which had its first major oil strike in 1910 (near [[Tampico, Tamaulipas|Tampico]] on the [[Gulf of Mexico]] coast).

Before Pearson struck oil, he started to order [[History of the oil tanker#Breaking the Standard Oil monopoly|oil tankers]] to carry the oil that he hoped to produce. [[Armstrong Whitworth]] on the [[River Tyne]] launched ''San Cristobal'' (2,041 tons) in 1906 and [[Swan Hunter]], also on Tyneside, launched ''San Antonio'' (5,251 tons) in 1909. Pearson also bought ''James Brand'' (3,907 tons), which had been built by Armstrong Whitworth in 1893, and renamed her ''San Bernardo''.

==Eagle Oil Transport Company==
In 1912 Pearson founded the Eagle Oil Transport Company in the UK to take over his ships and carry Mexican Eagle's products.<ref>{{cite news |author= Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph |date=1912-02-29 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |title= Form $5,000,000 Line.; Cowdray Interests to Build Fleet to Carry Mexican Oil Products |url= https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0CE1DB123BE633A2575AC2A9649C946396D6CF |author-link=Marconi Company }}</ref> He also founded the '''Anglo-Mexican Petroleum Company''' in the UK to sell Mexican Eagle's products outside Mexico.{{sfn|Godley|2007|pp=15, 16}}

Eagle Oil Transport immediately ordered 20 modern steam tankers{{sfn|Godley|2007|p=15}} at a cost of [[Pound sterling|£]]3 million.{{sfn|Godley|2007|p=18}} The company gave all the ships the Spanish names of [[Christianity|Christian]] [[saint]]s, most of them ending in ''"o"''.{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=460}} Swan Hunter launched {{SS|San Dunstano||2}} (6,238 tons)<ref name=WreckSiteDunstano>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?113247 |title=SS San Dunstano [+1929] |last1=Lettens |first1=Jan |last2=Allen |first2=Tony |date=2011-10-13 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> and {{SS|San Eduardo||2}} (6,225 tons) in 1912,<ref name=Lloyds1930>{{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |year=1930 |publisher=[[Lloyd's of London]] |location=London }}</ref> {{SS|San Fraterno||2}} (11,929 tons)<ref name=WreckSiteFraterno>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?136089 |title=SS San Fraterno [+1927] |last=Allen |first=Tony |date=2011-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> ''San Silvestre'' (6,223 tons), ''San Tirso'' (6,236 tons) and ''San Gregorio'' (12,093 tons) in 1913 and ''San Lorenzo'' (12,097 tons) in 1914. [[Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company]], also on the Tyne, launched {{SS|San Hilario||2}} (10,157 tons) and ''San Valerio'' (6,493 tons) in 1913 and {{SS|San Melito||2}} (12,286 tons) in 1914.<ref name=Lloyds1930/> [[William Doxford & Sons]] launched [[SS Southern Empress|''San Jeronimo'']] (12,398 tons), ''San Nazario'' (12,029 tons) and ''San Zeferino'' (6,433 tons) in 1914. Armstrong Whitworth launched ''San Ricardo'' (6,465 tons) and {{SS|San Urbano||2}} (6,458 tons) in 1913, {{SS|San Wilfrido|1914|2}} (6,458 tons), [[SS Dordogne|''San Isidoro'']] (9,718 tons) and {{SS|San Onofre||2}} (9,717 tons) in 1914 and [[SS Southern Princess|''San Patricio'']] (12,092 tons) in 1915.<ref name=Lloyds1930/>

Eagle Oil Transport suffered significant war losses in the First World War. On 3 August 1914 ''San Wilfrido'' struck a [[Naval mine|mine]] and sank off Cuxhaven in the North Sea, making her the first merchant ship sunk in the [[World War I|First World War]]. German submarines torpedoed and sank ''San Hilario'' in April 1917 and ''San Urbano'' and ''San Onofre'' in May 1917, all in the [[North Atlantic]] to the west of Ireland. In 1915 the company had bought a [[Cargo ship|dry cargo]] [[steamship]], ''Drumlanrig'', which was renamed {{SS|Santa Amalia||2}}.<ref name=WreckSiteAmalia>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?63352 |title=SS Santa Amalia [+1917] |last=Lettens |first=Jan |date=2011-09-19 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> In December 1917 the German submarine  {{SMU|U-19|Germany|6}} torpedoed and sank ''Santa Amalia'' in the North Atlantic to the west of [[Islay]], with the loss of 43 officers and crew.<ref name=WreckSiteAmalia/> ''San Zeferino'' was damaged by enemy action during the war.

Eagle Oil Transport had at least one motor tanker by the end of the War; {{MV|San Dario||2}} (1,137 tons), which had been launched in 1918 by [[Short Brothers of Sunderland]].<ref name=Lloyds1930/> The company continued to buy new steam tankers until at least 1928, when [[J.L. Thompson and Sons]] launched ''San Casto'' (2,446 tons) on the [[River Wear]] and Armstrong Whitworth launched ''San Claudio'' (2,712 tons).<ref name=Lloyds1930/>

In 1919 Viscount Cowdray sold his group of oil companies to [[Royal Dutch Shell]].{{sfn|Godley|2007|p=1}} Eagle Oil Transport renewed and expanded its fleet, and some of the new ships were very large by the standards of the day. Armstrong Whitworth launched {{SS|San Fernando||2}} (13,056 tons) in 1919, ''San Felix'' (13,037 tons) in 1921 and {{SS|San Fabian||2}} (13,013 tons) in 1922.<ref name=Lloyds1930/> Swan Hunter launched {{SS|San Florentino||2}} (12,842 tons) in 1919 and Palmers launched ''San Gaspar'' (12,910 tons) in 1921 and {{SS|San Gerardo||2}} (12,915 tons) in 1922.<ref name=Lloyds1930/>

Eagle Oil also bought new medium-sized tankers. Swan Hunter built the War Standard Type Z tanker ''War Kookri'' (5,582 tons) for the UK [[Shipping Controller]], but when she was launched in 1919 Cowdray bought her and renamed her ''San Zotico''.<ref name=Lloyds1930/> Cowdray then turned to the US for new ships of this size. Standard Shipbuilding Company of [[Shooters Island#Shipyard|Shooters Island]], New York launched ''San Teodoro'' (6,137 tons), {{SS|San Tiburcio||2}} (5,995 tons)<ref name=WreckSiteTiburcio>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?10342 |title=MV San Tiburcio [+1940] |last1=Lettens |first1=Jan |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2010-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> and ''San Ubaldo'' (5,999 tons) in 1921.<ref name=Lloyds1930/>

After 1921 Cowdray reverted to UK shipyards. Armstrong Whitworth launched ''San Roberto'' (5,890 tons) and ''San Rosendo'' (5,891 tons) in 1922, ''San Quirino'' (5,843 tons) in 1923 and ''San Salvador'' (5,805 tons) in 1924.<ref name=Lloyds1930/>

In 1927 ''San Fraterno'' was wrecked on a rock at Bonet Island in the [[Strait of Magellan]]<ref name=WreckSiteFraterno/> and in 1929 ''San Dunstano'' was wrecked at the entrance to Tampico harbour.<ref name=WreckSiteDunstano/>

In about 1930 the Eagle Oil Transport Company was renamed the Eagle Oil and Shipping Company.<ref name=Lloyds1930/> In about 1935 the company started adding a new generation of motor tankers including ''San Adolfo'' (7,365 tons) launched by the [[Furness Shipbuilding Company]] on the [[River Tees]], {{MV|San Alberto||2}} (7,397 tons) launched by [[Lithgows]] on the [[River Clyde]], {{MV|San Alvaro||2}} (7,385 tons) launched by Swan Hunter, ''San Amado'' (7,316 tons) launched by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company on the Clyde, ''San Ambrosio'' (7,410 tons) launched by [[Hawthorn Leslie and Company#Shipbuilding|Hawthorn Leslie and Company]] on the Tyne and {{MV|San Arcadio||2}} (7,419 tons) launched by [[Harland and Wolff]] in [[Belfast]], Northern Ireland.<ref name=Lloyds1935>{{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |year=1935 |publisher=[[Lloyd's of London]] |location=London }}</ref> New additions continued until 1939, when Lithgows launched ''San Eliseo'' (8,042 tons), Harland and Wolff launched {{MV|San Emiliano||2}} (8,071 tons) and Furness Shipbuilding launched {{MV|San Ernesto||2}} (8,078 tons).<ref name=Lloyds1940>{{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |year=1940 |publisher=[[Lloyd's of London]] |location=London }}</ref>

Eagle Oil and Shipping was registered in the United Kingdom. Therefore, after 1938 although the Mexican government had nationalised Mexican Eagle Petroleum, Eagle Oil and Shipping remained a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. After 1938 the fleet continued to carry oil from the [[Gulf of Mexico]] to the UK.{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=461}} During the [[World War II|Second World War]] the company played an important role in supplying petroleum and petroleum products to the United Kingdom. Oil tankers were a particular target in Germany's economic warfare against the Allies. Enemy action sank 17 Eagle Oil ships, killing at least 206 officers, men and [[Defensively equipped merchant ship#World War II|DEMS]] gunners.

{{MV|San Calisto||2}} (8,018 tons) was launched by Lithgows on the Clyde in 1937.<ref name=WreckSiteCalisto>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?73908 |title=MV San Calisto [+1939] |last1=Lettens |first1=Jan |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2010-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> On 2 December 1939 she struck a mine off the [[Tongue Lightship]] in the [[Thames Estuary]] and sank with the loss of six men.<ref name=WreckSiteCalisto/> On 4 May 1940 ''San Tiburcio'' struck a mine and sank in the [[North Sea]] off the [[Moray Firth]].<ref name=WreckSiteTiburcio/>

{{MV|San Casimiro||2}} (8,045 tons) and {{MV|San Conrado||2}} (7,982 tons) were sister ships launched by Blythswood at [[Scotstoun]] in 1936. ''San Casimiro'' was captured off [[Cape Race]], [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]  by the German battleship ''[[German battleship Gneisenau|Gneisenau]]'' on 15 March 1941 and scuttled off the [[Azores]] five days later.<ref name=WreckSiteCasimiro>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?31291 |title=MV San Casimiro [+1941] |last1=Allen |first1=Tony |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2010-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> ''San Conrado'' was bombed and sunk by enemy aircraft off [[Smalls Lighthouse|The Smalls]] on the coast of west [[Wales]] on 1 April 1941.<ref name=WreckSiteConrado>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?59067 |title=MV San Conrado [+1941] |last1=Allen |first1=Tony |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2010-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref>

[[File:MT SAN DEMETRIO.jpg|thumb|300px|{{MV|San Demetrio||2}} reached the Clyde in 1940 carrying a cargo of aviation spirit, despite having been damaged and set on fire by shelling from the ''[[German cruiser Admiral Scheer|Admiral Scheer]]'']]
{{MV|San Demetrio||2}} (8,073 tons), which Blythswood had launched at [[Port Glasgow]] in 1938, became famous for surviving a naval bombardment by the German [[heavy cruiser]] ''[[German cruiser Admiral Scheer|Admiral Scheer]]'' in 1940. ''San Demetrio''{{'}}s crew succeeded in extinguishing the resultant fire and bringing the ship and her cargo of aviation spirit to [[Glasgow]], Scotland. ''San Demetrio'' was repaired and returned to service, but the {{GS|U-404}} torpedoed and sank her in the western Atlantic off [[Virginia]] on 17 March 1942 with the loss of 19 lives.

On 2 October 1941 {{GS|U-98|1940|2}} torpedoed and sank ''San Florentino'' north of the Azores with the loss of 22 lives.<ref name=WreckSiteFlorentino>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?15167 |title= SS San Florentino [+1941] |last1=Allen |first1=Tony |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2011-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> On 31 January 1942 [[German submarine U-107 (1940)|''U-107'']] torpedoed and sank ''San Arcadio'' north of Bermuda with the loss of 41 lives.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=uboat.net|title=San Arcadio|url=https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1306.html|access-date=21 November 2021}}</ref> On 31 March 1942 {{GS|U-71|1940|2}} torpedoed and sank ''San Gerardo'' off the eastern coast of the US with the loss of 51 lives.<ref name=WreckSiteGerardo>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?136090 |title= SS San Gerardo [+1942] |last1=Allen |first1=Tony |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2011-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> On 9 April 1942 {{GS|U-203||2}} torpedoed and sank {{MV|San Delfino||2}} (8,072 tons) in the North Atlantic off Cape Hatteras, USA with the loss of 28 lives.<ref name=WreckSiteDelfino>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?15452 |title=MV San Delfino [+1942] |last1=Claes |first1=Johnny |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2010-12-08 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> On 17 May 1942 {{GS|U-155|1941|2}} torpedoed and sank ''San Demetrio''{{'}}s sister ship {{MV|San Victorio||2}} in the eastern Caribbean southwest of [[Grenada]] with the loss of 52 lives.<ref name=WreckSiteVictorio>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?58069|title=MV San Victorio [+1942] |last1=Claes |first1=Johnny |last2=Lettens |first2=Jan |date=2011-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> On 27 August 1942 {{GS|U-511||2}} torpedoed and sank ''San Fabian'' between [[Jamaica]] and the [[Dominican Republic]] in the [[Caribbean]] with the loss of 26 lives.<ref name=WreckSiteFabian>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?17610 |title= SS San Fabian [+1942] |last1=Allen |first1=Tony |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2011-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref>

[[File:StateLibQld 1 172031 San Ernesco (ship).jpg|thumb|300px|The Japanese submarine {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-37||2}} torpedoed {{MV|San Ernesto||2}} in the Indian Ocean in 1943. The crew abandoned ship but the tanker stayed afloat and drifted 2,000 miles to [[Nias]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]], where occupying Japanese forces dismantled her.]]
In 1942 the [[Ministry of War Transport]] placed the [[Empire ship#Tankers|Empire ships]] {{SS|Empire Airman|1941|2}}, {{SS|Empire Cobbett||2}} and {{SS|Empire Norseman||2}}<ref name=WreckSiteNorseman>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?30614 |title=SS Empire Norseman [+1943] |last1=Claes |first1=Johnny |last2=Vleggeert |first2=Nico |date=2010-01-23 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> under Eagle Oil and Shipping's management. In 1943 two U-boats torpedoed and sank ''Empire Norseman'' (9,811 tons) in the Atlantic south of the Azores. After the Second World War the company bought ''Empire Airman'' and ''Empire Cobbett'' from the ministry, renamed them ''San Wenceslao'' and ''San Wilfrido'' respectively and kept them in service until 1959.

During the war Eagle Oil and Shipping bought several new tankers to replace war losses. Harland and Wolff launched ''San Veronico'' (8,198 tons) and ''San Vulframo'' (8,167 tons) in 1942 and ''San Vito'' (8,163 tons) in 1943.<ref name=Lloyds1945>{{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |year=1945 |publisher=[[Lloyd's of London]] |location=London }}</ref> Hawthorn Leslie launched ''San Venancio'' (8,152 tons) in 1942 and ''San Velino'' (8,210 tons) in 1944.<ref name=Lloyds1945/> After the War, Eagle Oil bought two US-built [[T2 tanker]]s: ''Bryce Canyon'' in 1948 and ''Laurel Hill'' in 1949. The company renamed them ''San Leonardo'' and ''San Leopoldo'' respectively and kept them in service until 1961.

Between 1950 and 1960 Eagle Oil acquired at least 16 new tankers. Two of the earliest were a second ''San Salvador'' (10,802 tons) and a second ''San Silvestre'' (10,953 tons), both launched by Furness Shipbuilding in 1950. Later ships included {{SS|San Flaviano||2}} (12,278 tons)<ref name=WreckSiteFlaviano>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?108400 |title=SS San Flaviano [+1958] |last=Lettens |first=Jan |date=2011-01-06 |work=The Wreck Site |accessdate=2011-11-20}}</ref> and ''San Fortunato'' (12,257 tons), both launched in 1956 by [[Cammell Laird]] on the [[River Mersey]].

In April 1958 a [[Douglas A-26 Invader|Douglas B-26 Invader]] bomber aircraft, painted black and with no markings,{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|p=88}} bombed and sank ''San Flaviano'' in [[Balikpapan]] Harbour, [[Borneo]], killing two of her crew.<ref name=WreckSiteFlaviano/>{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|p=116}}<ref name=Hansard>{{cite hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1958/jun/11/indonesia-british-vessels#S5CV0589P0_19580611_HOC_160 |title=Indonesia (British Vessels) |house=Commons |date=1958-06-11 |column_start=202 |column_end=203 |speaker= [[David Ormsby-Gore, 5th Baron Harlech|David Ormsby-Gore]] |position=Minister of State for Foreign Affairs |accessdate=2011-11-21}}</ref><ref name=Time>{{cite news|title=INDONESIA: The Mystery Pilots |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://search.time.com/results.html?N=55&Nty=1&Ns=p_date_range%7C1&Ntt=San+Flaviano&from_month=03&from_day=01&from_year=1958&to_month=06&to_day=01&to_year=1958&x=45&y=14 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121209043505/http://search.time.com/results.html?N=55&Nty=1&Ns=p_date_range%7C1&Ntt=San+Flaviano&from_month=03&from_day=01&from_year=1958&to_month=06&to_day=01&to_year=1958&x=45&y=14 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-12-09 |date=1958-05-12 |accessdate=2011-11-21 }}</ref> The aircraft, its bombs and its pilot, [[William H. Beale]], were sent by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] as part of US covert support for the [[Permesta]] rebellion in [[North Sulawesi]].{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|pp=99–100}} UK Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]] and Foreign Secretary [[Selwyn Lloyd]] supported the US policy to supply [[Permesta]]{{sfn|Kahin|Kahin|1997|p=156}} and on 6 May 1958, more than a week after the CIA sank ''San Flaviano'', Lloyd secretly told US Secretary of State [[John Foster Dulles]] that this was still his position.{{sfn|Kahin|Kahin|1997|p=175}} On 18 May, Indonesian forces shot down a different Permesta B-26 and captured its CIA pilot, [[Allen Lawrence Pope|Allen Pope]].{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|pp=138, 139, 141}}{{sfn|Kahin|Kahin|1997|p=179}} Nevertheless, in June 1958 both Indonesia and the UK publicly claimed that the aircraft had been flown by [[Guided Democracy in Indonesia#Regional rebellions during the liberal democracy era|Indonesian rebels]],<ref name=Hansard/> concealing the CIA involvement of which both governments were well aware. The CIA pilots had orders to target commercial shipping in order to frighten foreign merchant ships away from Indonesian waters, thereby weakening the Indonesian economy and destabilising the Indonesian government of President [[Sukarno]].{{sfn|Conboy|Morrison|1999|p=116}} In this they were at least partly successful: Royal Dutch Shell suspended its tanker service to Balikpapan and evacuated shore-based wives and families to [[Singapore]].<ref name=Hansard/>

Several new ships delivered to Eagle Oil in the later 1950s were in the order of 18,000 to 19,500 tons. One of the last new ships to be delivered for the fleet was also one of the largest; the second {{MV|San Conrado|1960|2}} (34,750 tons), launched by Furness Shipbuilding in 1960. By then Royal Dutch Shell had absorbed Eagle Oil and Shipping, which ceased to be a separate member of the group in 1959.

== Fleet List ==

* '''[[San Dunstano]]''' (1912–29). 6,220 tonnes, 3,962n, 420' 2" x 54' 6". Triple expansion steam engines by the shipbuilders.

Completed by [[Swan Hunter]] & Wigham Richardson Ltd., [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] in July 1912.

Sank off [[Tampico]] after being in a collision with a submerged object while inward bound on 13 October 1929.

* '''[[San Eduardo]]''' (1912–34). 6,225 tonnes, 3959n, 420' 3" x 54' 7". Triple expansion steam engines by the shipbuilders

Completed by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Newcastle in December 1912

Torpedoed off [[Stornoway]] but it was quickly towed in and repaired for service on 10 March 1917

Arrived at [[Port Glasgow]] to be scrapped by Smith & Houston Ltd in 1934.

* '''San Fraterno''' (1913–27). 9,587 tonnes, 6053n. 527' 4" x 66' 8". Quadruple expansion steam engines by the [[Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company|Wallsend Slipway Co. Ltd.]]

Completed by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd., Newcastle in April 1913.

Mined in the [[Firth of Forth]] and beached on the 11th February 1917, later to be repaired and returned to service.

Sank in the [[Strait of Magellan|Straits of Magellan]] on 29 July 1927 after striking a rock off of Carlos Island while on passage from [[Buenos Aires]] to [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro]].

* '''San Ricardo''' (1913–39). 6465 tonnes, 3927n, 420' 1" x 54' 8". Quadruple exapansion steam engines by the Wallsend Slipway Co. Ltd..

Completed by [[Armstrong Whitworth|Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd.]], Newcastle in June 1913.

Seized by the [[Federal government of Mexico|Mexican Government]] in 1939 and transferred to [[Pemex|Petroleos Mexicanos S.A.]], where it was renamed to "18 de Marzo".

Scrapping commenced in May 1964 in Astilleros de Veracruz, [[Veracruz]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |last1=Conboy |first1=Kenneth |last2=Morrison |first2=James |year=1999 |title=Feet to the Fire CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958 |location=Annapolis |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]] |isbn=1-55750-193-9 }}
*{{cite book |last=Godley |first=Andrew |title=Weetman Pearson in Mexico and the emergence of a British oil major 1900–1919 |year=2007 |publisher= [[Henley Business School|Henley School of Management]] |location=Reading, Berkshire }}
*{{cite book |last1=Kahin |first1=Audrey R |last2=Kahin |first2=George McT |author-link2=George Kahin |title=Subversion as Foreign Policy The Secret Eisenhower and Dulles Debacle in Indonesia |orig-year=1995 |year=1997 |location=Seattle and London |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=0-295-97618-7}}
*{{cite book |last=Talbot-Booth |first=E.C. |orig-year=1936 |year=1942 |title=Ships and the Sea |edition=Seventh |location=London |publisher=[[Sampson Low]], Marston & Co. Ltd}}

==External links==
* {{PM20|FID=co/068666|TEXT=Documents and clippings about|NAME=}}

[[Category:British companies established in 1912]]
[[Category:Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Former Shell plc subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Former joint ventures]]
[[Category:Transport companies established in 1912]]
[[Category:Transport companies disestablished in 1959]]
[[Category:1912 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1919 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:British companies disestablished in 1959]]