The Yahoo tugboat groups has recently hosted an interesting discussion on “oldest” tugs in the United States, North America, or US-built. Here’s a batch I’ve seen in the past year.
Baltimore . . . 1906, afloat in Baltimore.
Rose . . . 1906, afloat in Camden, NJ.
Jupiter . . . 1901, afloat in Philadelphia.
Pegasus . . . 1907, afloat in Jersey City.
Urger . . . 1901, working near Albany. I took this foto in Lyons in February.
New York Central No. 13 . . . 1887, ashore on Staten Island.
I’d love to see recent fotos of the following: Fanny J, 1874, probably in Haiti; Tramp, 1874; Rustler, 1886; Jill Marie, 1889; and Spanky Paine, 1892. Many boats much younger than all those mentioned here have been scrapped or left to linger in graveyards.
All fotos in this post by Will Van Dorp, taken in 2010. Last time I had a batch adding up to 550 years.
Unrelated but a “must-see” is the current exhibit at Atlantic Gallery called “Water” which features work by 75 artists including Pamela Talese and the peripatetic bowsprite.
tugster: a waterblog 
11 comments
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June 29, 2010 at 10:36 am
John van der Doe
Great pictures Will of the oldies.
June 29, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Bonnie
YAAAAY PEGASUS!
June 29, 2010 at 7:54 pm
William B. Kelleher
Will,
Do you know anything new about ” New York Central No. 13 “?
The blog has not been updated since Feb 20 2010
Thanks
Bill Kelleher
June 29, 2010 at 8:11 pm
tugster
hi bill–
i was in the yard about a month ago, and not much has changed in the past 6 months. send me an email. -will
July 1, 2010 at 1:50 am
Sand Sock Girl
Great old boats, alive and kickin’!
July 1, 2010 at 7:25 am
Fairlane
Great post! It’s neat to see so much history in one post.
Don’t forget about Seattle’s Arthur Foss, possibly the oldest wooden tug still afloat. Here’s a picture I got of her last summer: http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=855804
July 1, 2010 at 7:28 am
tugster
fairlane– have any advance intelligence on the seattle waterfront? i’m headed there next week.
July 1, 2010 at 8:09 am
Fairlane
Oh, plenty. The south Lake Union waterfront is great for seeing the historic ships docked there. The waterfront has several scattered parks that provide good views of shipping, including one just south of the Coast Guard base with a good view of the container ships. I’ve also found that if you want a good view of the boats at the huge Fisherman’s Terminal, there’s nothing better than parking at the terminal, then taking a stroll across the Ballard Bridge. The Terminal should be open to wander about, too. The Ballard Locks can be pretty good for some ship watching, also.
Unfortunately I’m out in Guam now, so I don’t have much on what’s there now, but you should be able to find something interesting.
August 24, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Fairlane
Well, I came across Rustler while I was home in Seattle, and she’s a little worse for wear, as seen here:
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo-1170284-RUSTLER
In addition, here’s a little about Spanky Paine:
http://homernews.com/stories/011409/news_2_004.shtml
Interestingly, she is also likely the only US Revenue Cutter still afloat, so it would be neat to see her saved somehow.
February 25, 2014 at 3:44 pm
Anonymous
Jupiter was built in 1902!
February 25, 2014 at 10:22 pm
tugster
dear ann o’nimous . . . you may be right, but i take my info from the illustrious files of neafie & levy as assembled by colton: http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/719thcentury/neafie.htm
maybe construction started late ’01 and delivery was made early ’02?? ??