The first purpose-built oil tanker, launched in 1886, was Glückauf.
Built by Armstrong, Mitchell and Company at Newcastle upon Tyne for German shipowner Wilhelm Anton Riedemann, Glückauf was designed specifically to carry petroleum in bulk. Its eight cargo compartments allowed oil to be pumped directly into the hull, eliminating the need to load thousands of barrels or drums.
The ship represented a major change in tanker design. Earlier vessels had carried oil in containers or had been converted from other uses, but Glückauf was an ocean-going steamship planned around bulk petroleum transport. It made its maiden voyage from the Tyne on 10 July 1886 and helped establish the modern tanker pattern.
The name is German for “good luck.” Glückauf operated until it ran aground at Blue Point Beach on Fire Island, New York, in March 1893. It is sometimes described as the first modern or first purpose-built ocean-going tanker; those phrases distinguish it from earlier converted ships and specialized vessels such as the Petrolea.