A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such as in crowded harbors or narrow canals, or cannot move at all, such as barges, disabled ships, log rafts, or oil platforms. Some are ocean-going, and some are icebreakers or salvage tugs. Early models were powered by steam engines, which were later superseded by diesel engines. Many have deluge gun water jets, which help in firefighting, especially in harbours.
Waterford is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 8,208 at the 2020 census. The name of the town is derived from its principal village, also called Waterford. The town is located in the southeast corner of Saratoga County and north-northwest of Troy at the junction of the Erie Canal and the Hudson River.
Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center is a nonprofit organization in Seattle, Washington dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Puget Sound and Northwest Coast maritime heritage, expressed through educational programs and experiences available to the public aboard its ships. The organization owns three large historic vessels docked at the Historic Ships' Wharf in Seattle's Lake Union Park; the tugboat Arthur Foss (1889), Lightship 83 Swiftsure (1904), and the halibut fishing schooner Tordenskjold (1911). These vessels are used as platforms for a variety of public programs, ranging from tours and festivals to restoration workshops and vocational training.
Hercules is a 1907-built steam tugboat that is now preserved at the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park in San Francisco, California.
The New York State Canal System is a successor to the Erie Canal and other canals within New York. The 525-mile (845 km) system is composed of the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga–Seneca Canal, and the Champlain Canal. In 2014 the entire system was listed as a national historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2016 it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Edna G is a tugboat which worked the Great Lakes and is now preserved as a museum ship. Edna G was built by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company in 1896 for the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad at a cost $35,397.50. She was named for the daughter of J. L. Greatsinger, president of the railroad.
The Mary D. Hume was a steamer built at Gold Beach, Oregon in 1881, by R. D. Hume, a pioneer and early businessman in that area. Gold Beach was then called Ellensburg. The Hume had a long career, first hauling goods between Oregon and San Francisco, then as a whaler in Alaska, as a service vessel in the Alaskan cannery trade, then as a tugboat. She was retired in 1977 and returned to Gold Beach. In 1985 she sank in the Rogue River and has remained there ever since as a derelict vessel on the shoreline. The Hume is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Santa Fe Railroad tugboats were used by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to barge rail cars across the San Francisco Bay for much of the 20th century, as there is no direct rail link to the San Francisco peninsula. In the post World War II period, a fleet of three tugs moved the barges: the Paul P. Hastings, the Edward J. Engel, and the John R. Hayden. After cross-bay float service had ended and the tugs had been sold, the Hastings sank off Point Arena, California in 1992, in water too deep to raise. The Engel sank off Alameda, California in 2007 and was raised and scrapped in the winter of 2013-14. The Hayden remains afloat and in service in Oregon.
Luna is a historic tugboat normally berthed in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Luna was designed in 1930 by John G. Alden and built by M.M. Davis and Bethlehem Steel. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. In 1985, the Luna was designated as a Boston Landmark by the Boston Landmarks Commission.
Baltimore is a preserved steam-powered tugboat, built in 1906 by the Skinner Shipbuilding Company of Baltimore, Maryland. She is formerly the oldest operating steam tugboat in the United States, but at present does not hold an operating license issued by the US Coast Guard, so is unable to leave her dock at the Baltimore Museum of Industry on Key Highway, Baltimore. Her hull is not capable of operating on open water. Baltimore was built and operated as a harbor inspection tug, capable of acting as a municipal tugboat for city barges, as well as an official welcoming vessel and VIP launch, an auxiliary fireboat, and as a light icebreaker.
TID was a standardized British design for a tugboat drawn up and built during the Second World War. One hundred and eighty two were built for the Ministry of War Transport.
Day Peckinpaugh is a historic canal motorship berthed at the Matton Shipyard on Peebles Island, Cohoes in Albany County, New York, United States.
Chancellor is a historic canal tugboat located at Waterford, New York. It was built in 1938 by the Ira S. Bushey & Sons Shipyard of Brooklyn, New York. She measures 76.7 ft (23.4 m) in length, 21 ft (6.4 m) in beam, and 9.3 ft (2.8 m) depth of hold. She was designed for use on the New York State Barge Canal.
Matton Shipyard is a historic shipyard and canal boat service yard located on Van Schaick Island at Cohoes in Albany County, New York. It consists of eight extant buildings, various surviving features, and archaeological remains dating to the period 1916 to 1983 when the site functioned as a shipyard, repair facility, and towboat operation on the New York State Barge Canal and Champlain Canal. Extant buildings include the office / stores, watchman's building, sheet metal shop, carpenter shop, stores building, pipeshop, pitch building (pre-1936), garage, and electric building. Also on the property are a flagpole, dock, steel launching ramps, fence, and camels. Numerous ruins also occupy the property. The motor ship Day Peckinpaugh is berthed here.
Standard Oil Company No. 16, later Pegasus, was a historic harbor tugboat located at Morris Canal Basin, Jersey City, New Jersey. She was built in 1907 by the Skinner Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Baltimore, Maryland for the Standard Oil Company. She had heavy steel frames and deck beams. She was 100 feet in length, 23 feet in beam and 11.2 feet in depth. She was registered at 175 gross tons. She had an original wooden pilot house and the engine room dated to 1953-1954 when converted from steam to diesel. At that time, Standard Oil sold the tug to the McAllister Towing and Transportation Company and she was renamed McAllister 41. In 1955, she was renamed John E. McAllister.
Mayflower is a steam tug built in Bristol in 1861 and now preserved by Bristol Museums Galleries & Archives. She is based in Bristol Harbour at M Shed. She is the oldest Bristol-built ship afloat, and is believed to be the oldest surviving tug in the world.
The Type V ship is a United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) designation for World War II tugboats. Type V was used in World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Type V ships were used to move ships and barges. Type V tugboats were made of either steel or wood hulls. There were four types of tugboats ordered for World War II. The largest type V design was the sea worthy 186-foot (57 m) long steel hull, V4-M-A1. The V4-M-A1 design was used by a number of manufacturers; a total of 49 were built. A smaller steel hull tugboat was the 94-foot (29 m) V2-ME-A1; 26 were built. The largest wooden hull was the 148-foot (45 m) V3-S-AH2, of which 14 were built. The smaller wooden hull was the 58-foot (18 m) V2-M-AL1, which 35 were built. Most V2-M-AL1 tugboats were sent to the United Kingdom for the war efforts under the lend-lease act. The Type V tugs served across the globe during World War II including: Pacific War, European theatre, and in the United States. SS Farallon, and other Type V tugs, were used to help built Normandy ports, including Mulberry harbour, on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and made nine round trips to Normandy to deliver Phoenix breakwaters.
The Niagara was a large wooden tugboat that sank on June 4, 1904 on Lake Superior near the town of Duluth, Minnesota, Lake County, Minnesota after running aground near Knife River. On April 14, 1994 the wreck of the Niagara was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Arctic was a wooden-hulled tugboat that worked on the Great Lakes of North America from 1881 to 1930. In 1930 the Arctic was stripped of her machinery, and abandoned at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. On June 22, 2018, the remains of the Arctic were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Fulton Shipyard was a shipbuilding company in Antioch, California. The shipyard was founded in 1924 by Frank Fulton and Angeline Fulton Fredericks. To support the World War II demand for ships, Fulton Shipyard built minesweepers, tugboats, and troopships. The shipyard was located on the Stockton Channel at 701 Fulton Shipyard Rd, Antioch, near Antioch pier and the Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge. The site was the former Jarvis Brothers, opened in 1918, then Laurtzen shipyard. In 1977 the site became the California Corporation. The shipyard closed in 1999 and the land is owned by the Fulton Family Trust. Fulton Shipyard was on the San Joaquin River and an inland port located more than seventy nautical miles from the ocean, emptying into Suisun Bay. Fulton Shipyard was featured in a 1914 movie called The Stolen Yacht, a short drama film released on November 5, 1914. Frank Fulton and Angeline's son James Lloyd Fulton became an operator of a Fulton Shipyard tugboat.
United States
