This Day in History (1962): Super Tanker takes on record load of crude

From the Aug. 29, 1962, edition of the Sun and Flare

Loading 718,597 barrels of crude oil and 68,018 barrels of bunker fuel oil, the Manhattan Tanker company's "Manhattan" established a record for single ship offtakings last weekend at the Ras Tanura Terminal.

Arriving at noon Friday, the world's third-largest active super-tanker began loading that evening at the North Pier's Berth 10. Pumping was halted several hours Saturday afternoon until the next incoming tide at 9 p.m. Saturday. The final portion of loading was then completed and the "Manhattan" departed at high tide early Sunday morning.

Destination of this cargo is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Launched in early 1962 and flying the American flag, the "Manhattan" is the largest tanker ever loaded at Ras Tanura. She is 940 long, 130 feet wide, and has a capacity of 105,568 deadweight tons.

Caption for top photo: TREMENDOUS BEAM of "Manhattan" shows clearly as she loads at North Pier's Berth 10. She cannot use the Panama Canal at any time because of her width.

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1991 — Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party

1986 — Lea Michelle, singer and star of the TV musical series "Glee," is born in the Bronx, New York

1970 — The Chico Moratorium against the Vietnam War in East Los Angeles sparks riots that result in three people, including journalist Ruben Salazar, being killed

1966 — The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco

1958 — The United States Air Force Academy opens in Colorado Springs, Colorado

1949 — The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, known as First Lightning or Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan

1930 — The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St. Kilda are voluntarily evacuated to other parts of Scotland

1912 — A typhoon strikes China, killing at least 50,000 people

1907 — The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers

1898 — The Goodyear tire company is founded in Akron, Ohio

1885 — Gottlieb Daimler patents the world's first internal combustion motorcycle, the Reitwagen

1831 — Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction

1756 — Frederick the Great attacks Saxony, beginning the Seven Years War

1728 — The city of Nuuk in Greenland is founded as the fort of Godt-Haab by the royal governor Claus Paarss

1541 — The Ottoman Turks capture Buda, the capital of the Hungarian Kingdom

708 — Copper coins are minted in Japan for the first time