1943-1952

(click photo to enlarge)

• Crowley began to build and operate terminals to improve the efficiency of petroleum-distribution
• The first terminal was built at Alviso in 1945 which was at the extreme southern end of San Francisco Bay
• Crowley undertook the first coastal transportation from San Francisco to Coos Bay, Oregon of bulk petroleum by barge
• Construction of the companys first sea going oil barge was completed in 1947
• In the early 1950s, Crowley began hauling gasoline southward to Mexico and brought molasses northward on the return trip
• After the war the Company replaced all of its surviving steam tugs with war surplus diesel equipment
• Additional surplus vessels were purchased in the late 1940s such as miki-class wooden hull, 1200-h.p. tugs, and flatdeck and other barges
• The Company began the tow of the U.S. battleship Oklahoma from Hawaii to Oakland after it was bombed at Pearl Harbor