This Week in Petroleum History: May 18 – 24
May 18, 1912 – Last Coal-Powered Battleship –
The USS Texas, America’s only surviving dreadnought — and the last battleship fueled by coal — was launched from a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. Commissioned in 1914 and converted to fuel oil in 1925, the “Big T” earned five World War II battle stars (see Petroleum and Sea Power). The 27,000-ton battleship became a museum in 1948, the first and oldest of eight U.S. battleship museums. After extensive repairs and restoration, a reopening of the floating museum in Galveston is planned for late 2026, according to the Battleship Texas Foundation.
May 19, 1885 – Lima Oilfield discovered in Ohio
Ohio’s petroleum industry began when Benjamin Faurot found oil at Lima in the northwestern part of the state. He had been searching for natural gas in the Trenton Rock Limestone (see Indiana Natural Gas Boom). “If the well turns out, as it looks now that it will, look out for the biggest boom Lima ever had,” proclaimed Lima’s Daily Republican newspaper. (more…)
