SS ''Las Choapas'' was an

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

built in 1898. It was originally commissioned by

Standard Oil of New Jersey Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the largest direct successor of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, the modern company was formed ...

and built by the

Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works The Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works (founded in 1871) was a major late-19th-century American shipyard located on the Delaware River in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the industrialist John Roach (shipbuilder), John Roac ...

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

as the SS ''Atlas.'' It was the first oil tanker to carry crude oil from Sabine Pass, originating from the Spindletop oil well in Texas in 11 march 1901, bound for Standard oil refinery in Philadelphia to be tested as a light illuminating purpose. Sold in the 1920s to the Italian company Ditta G.M. Barbagelata, of

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. It was seized while docked at

Tampico Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fif ...

, in Mexico on 8 December 1941 by the Mexican government and renamed, to be operated by Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), and homeported in Tampico. On the afternoon of 27 June 1942, ''Las Choapas'' was hit by a single torpedo from the , commanded by Hans Ludwig-Witt, and sank in flames east of

Tecolutla Tecolutla is a town and municipality located on the Tecolutla River on the eastern coast of the state of Veracruz in Mexico. It has the closest beaches to Mexico City, and much of its economy is based on tourism, as it is only a four- or five-hour ...

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

."Las Choapas"
Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 September 2015. Another Mexican tanker, the ''Tuxpam'', was sank the same day, also by ''U-129''''.''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Las Choapas Ships built by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works 1942 in Mexico Military history of Mexico during World War II Pemex Ships of Mexico Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea Maritime incidents in June 1942 Oil tankers 1898 ships