Tellico

 

A river in Tennessee.

 

__________

 

Tellico—a T1-M-BT1 tanker laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2634) on 15 May 1945 at Jacksonville, Fla., by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Co. and launched on 23 August under the sponsorship of Mrs. Charles W. Olson—was scheduled to be acquired by the Navy on a loan charter basis from the Maritime Commission as Tellico (AOG-74). However, as the tanker neared completion, the Navy's need for this type of ship diminished; and the government contract for her construction was cancelled on 27 August 1945, when the ship was only 74.4% complete.

 

Eventually finished in 1951 by the Todd Shipyard of Brooklyn, N.Y., the oil tanker served under a succession of owners and national flags into the 1970's. She sailed as Tellico under the Panamanian flag; as Transea under the Liberian ensign; and finally in succession as Sea Transporter and Sea Transport under the Canadian flag.