''Glückauf'' was a German ship that represented a major step forward in

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

design. "When the ''Glückauf'' sailed from the Tyne on 10 July 1886 she was the first ocean going tanker with oil to her skin". The vessel was in use from 1886 to 25 March 1893, when it ran aground at

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Lo ...

in New York. The 2700-

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

tanker was built at the

Armstrong Mitchell Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...

yard,

Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward in the south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. History The place-name 'Walker' is first attested in 1242, where it appears as ''Waucre''. This means 'wall-carr', that is to say, 'the marsh b ...

, Britain, with eight compartments for the cargo. It was the first ship in which oil could be pumped directly into the vessel hull instead of being loaded in barrels or drums. (Other sources give the gross tonnage in the 2300s.) It was built for Wilhelm Anton Riedemann's shipping firm in Geestemünde and ran mostly as a

tramp steamer A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes called ...

. ''Glückauf'' was on a charter voyage for the Standard Oil Company when it ran aground across from

Sayville, New York Sayville is a hamlet (place), hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Located on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island in the Township of Islip, New York, Islip, the population of the CDP w ...

at Blue Point Beach on

along Long Island. Differing sources give the date of the wreck as March 23, 24, or 25, in 1892 or 1893; a contemporary ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' article said that it ran aground "just before dawn" on March 24, 1893. Men from the Blue Point Life-Saving Station rescued the crew. On April 7, it was briefly dislodged and was being pulled out to sea when the hawser broke; the ship ran permanently aground. The wreck quickly became a tourist attraction, and scavengers ripped up whatever they could and carried it away. The wreck of the ''Glückauf'' now lies offshore, from the water surface to of water.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gluckauf (1886) 1886 ships Maritime incidents in 1893 Fire Island, New York Oil tankers Ships built on the River Tyne Shipwrecks of the New York (state) coast Steamships of Germany Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth