page_title: Thomas W. Lawson (ship)
section_title: Service
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas W. Lawson (ship) / Service
caption_attribution_description: Sevenmasted schooner 'Thomas W. Lawson'. This was the biggest "pure" sailing ship (i.e., without auxiliary engine) ever built. She was lost on 1907-12-14 in British waters at Hellweather's Reef, near the Isles of Scilly, killing sixteen of the eighteen persons on board (fifteen crew and the pilot) and causing the first known major oil spill. This photograph was taken in 1906 or 1907. See en:Thomas W. Lawson (ship) and/or de:Thomas W. Lawson: The Lawson's hull was painted in bright colours when launched, but later the hull was painted black. Her topmasts were taken off by 1903. She was not completely re-rigged before 1906. As the Lawson did not leave America's East coast before her last voyage, this photograph must have been made there (probably in North America). Furthermore, for her extraordinary draft when loaded, one might be able to further reduce the possibilities for the location of this scene. At http://history.vineyard.net/photos/vh10/V105702.HTM, an other (and less cropped) print from same negative ist shown which has, according to the webpage, a hand-written note Thomas M. Lawson / Boston Harbor 1911 on its backside. As the city's skyline is more distinct on that other print, it might be checked whether "Boston" is correct. The date 1911 and the name Thomas M. Lawson definitely are not.
context_page_description: Thomas W. Lawson was a seven-masted, steel-hulled schooner built for the Pacific trade, but used primarily to haul coal and oil along the East Coast of the United States. Named for copper baron Thomas W. Lawson, a Boston millionaire, stock-broker, book author, and president of the Boston Bay State Gas Co., she was launched in 1902 as the largest schooner and largest sailing vessel without an auxiliary engine ever built.
  Thomas W. Lawson was destroyed off the uninhabited island of Annet, in the Isles of Scilly, in a storm on December 14, 1907, killing all but two of her eighteen crew and a harbor pilot already aboard. Her cargo of 58,000 barrels of light paraffin oil caused perhaps the first large marine oil spill.
context_section_description: Often criticized by marine writers (and some seamen) and considered difficult to maneuver and sluggish (comparisons to a "bath tub" and a "beached whale" were made), Thomas W. Lawson proved problematic in the ports she was intended to operate in due to the amount of water she displaced. She tended to yaw and needed a strong wind to be held on course. Originally built for the Pacific trade, the schooner was used as collier along the American East Coast. A year later in 1903, Crowley withdrew her from the coal trade. He had the topmasts, gaff booms and all other wooden spars removed and had chartered her out as a sea-going barge for the transportation of case oil. In 1906, she was retrofitted for sail at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company for use as a bulk oil carrier using the lower steel masts to vent oil gasses from the holds. Her capacity was 60,000 barrels. Under charter to Sun Oil Company, she was the world's first pure sailing tanker, carrying bulk oil from Texas to the eastern seaboard.
caption: Deeply loaded in Boston Harbor, hull painted in black; photo taken in 1906 or 1907
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