A city in Illinois on the Kaskaskia River. Vandalia was the
state capital from 1820 to 1839 and today is the seat of Fayette
County. The origin of the name is uncertain, but the name
probably is derived from the Germanic Vandal tribe. Other
explanations of the name hold that it is a latinization of a
Dutch family name or that it refers to a small Indian tribe of
the early 19th century. (IX-191: dp. 22,491; 1. 516'6"; b.
68'1"; dr. 28'8"; s. 10k.; cpl. 105; a. 1 4", 1 3") Walter
Jennings—a twin-screw, steel-hulled tanker completed in 1921 by
the Federal Shipbuilding Co. of Newark, N.J., for the Standard
Oil (New Jersey) Co.— served under the aegis of Standard Oil
through the 1920's and 1930's. Allocated to the Navy by the
Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration in late 1944,
the ship was renamed Vandalia on 18 October 1944, being
designated as an "unspecified auxiliary" (IX), and given the
classification IX-191. She was accordingly taken over from the
War Shipping Administration on 23 December 1944 a