The T2 tanker, or T2, was an oil tanker constructed and produced in large quantities in the United States during World War II. The largest "navy oilers" of the period, after the T3s, nearly 500 were built between 1940 and the end of 1945. Many remained in service for decades after the war, and like other World War II ships pressed into peace time service were the subject of safety concerns. A United States Coast Guard Marine Board of Investigation in 1952 stated the ships were prone to splitting in two in cold weather and they were then "belted" with steel straps. This occurred after two T-2s, Pendleton and Fort Mercer, split in two off Cape Cod within hours of each other. Engineering inquiries into the problems suggested at first the tendency of the tankers to split in two was due to poor