Dates: 1947 -

In January 1943 the one-day old T2 tanker SS Schenectady had just completed successful sea trials and returned to harbour in calm cool weather when . . . "Without warning and with a report which was heard for at least a mile, the deck and sides of the vessel fractured just aft of the bridge superstructure. The fracture extended almost instantaneously to the turn of the bilge port and starboard. The deck side shell, longitudinal bulkhead and bottom girders fractured. Only the bottom plating held. The vessel jack- knifed and the center portion rose so that no water entered. The bow and stern settled into the silt of the river bottom." The ship was successfully repaired. The Schenectady has provided innumerable Naval and Maritime Engineers with a serious object lesson in the catastrophic effects of Britle Fracture. The speed with which these ships were built and the remarkable histories of many continue to captivate engineers and non-engineers alike

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