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Back three decades again with more fotos by Seth Tane, in this case with some vessels now considered dead.
Foto #1. QM2 assisted at the dock by Diana L. Moran, a 1956 Jakobson boat now seven years scrapped.
Foto #2. Rio la Plata. Here’s what Harold Tartell has to say about her: ” In 1984, RIO LA PLATA was built [by Sanchez Marine Services of Fall River, MA]. At the time Turecamo was quite busy, short on boats, and chartered the boat with the option to buy. Turecamo also had another tug on charter from Tidewater Marine Services around the same time period. She was EL ZORRO GRANDE. She was to be renamed HELEN J. TURECAMO, but I never saw a photo of her officially with that name affixed. She was sold to Dunlap Towing Co., LaConner, Wa., & renamed MANFRED NYSTROM. In 1987, RIO LA PLATA went West to become Oscar Niemeth Towing’s SILVER EAGLE. She is still in service.”
Foto #3. Harold says “The McAllister tug assisting LASH Atlantico with barges is MARGARET M. McALLISTER.”
Foto #4. “The red canaller towing the two light oil barges is Morania Oil Tanker Corporation’s MORANIA NO. 8.”
Foto #5. “JULIAN A was built 1943 By George Lawley & Soms, Neponset Ma., as DPC-28, WSA-22, WOTOCO, GAY MORAN (1967). In 1972, she became JULIAN A. owned by Julian A. Corp. In the early 1980’s she was owned by River Towing Corp. name unchanged. She was later sold to Raymond Connelly Shamrock Marine Corp. & renamed INTREPID. By 2001 her existence was in doubt,” Harold.
Here’s the class of Army DPCs. In this foto, Julian A was towing salvaged scalloper Fatima from Massachusetts waters to the sixth boro, where her engine parts would be used in a restoration project. Not long after this foto was taken, the tug was searched by the federal agents who found $32 million of marijuana.
Foto #6. About the yard vessel sporting the flag and striped stack, Harold says, ” JOE WEBER McAllister’s little yard tug at Tug & Barge Drydocks, Jersey City. They built her in 1975. She was later sold to Miller Launch, & is now MILLER GIRLS.”
Click here and jump ahead to 1983 in this fascinating compilation of Jersey City history from 4.6 billion years ago to the present for a reference to the now-gone McAllister Tug & Barge Drydocks. Click here for a tugster foto of Miller Girls.
Foto #7. Harold says, “I’m having a little difficulty indentifying. Under the handrails on the lower small white panel near the pilothouse door, it appears to read N.J. MATHER. I will continue to work on it.” Any ideas? She seems narrow boat; someone with long arms in the wheelhouse could have a hand out each each at the same time.
Foto #8. On the Morris Canal . . . here’s a foto I wish I could truly travel back in time to see. Part of the house seems to be a huge rectangular tank. Up high the sign says “nite blues limited.” Anyone know the story? The Morris Canal today has changed. Anyone have water-focused fotos of the Canal you are willing to share on tugster? Type morris canal into the search window and you’ll find lots more fotos.
I’m eager for your interpretation of these fotos of a lost sixth boro, captured on fotos of Seth Tane.
Graves of Arthur Kill has archival footage of a boneyard on the Arthur Kill from about the same era. I’d love to see more fotos of what was new and what was derelict in the sixth boro from then and before.
The blog will resume gallivanting in fifth dimension time travel soon, but for now, another set of contemporary Columbia River fotos.
A train travels the center of Main Street of aptly-named Rainier, Oregon, extending west and
back east.
I’ve never seen this line–BC Rail–out east. They move slowly enough that anyone could jump aboard, although the trip would be only a mile or so from here because this cargo is nearly at the dock, where
it gets loaded into bulk carriers like this, Ken Mei. Click here for info on fleetmates of Ken Mei.
Astern of her is a conventional bulker . . . Cleantec, maybe loading wood chips?
Further astern is Ocean Hope, log racks up.
Here Kathryn B passes on the Oregon side of what appears to be a sawing or chipping operation.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
More Seth Tane fotos.
Foto #1. It’s 1979, 34 years ago. What I see is no structure on Pier 17 Manhattan, lots of covered warehouses and a ship on the Brooklyn side. Extreme lower right of foto . . . is that the floating hospital? There’s another large white vessel to the left of lightship Ambrose. There’s a vacant lot just to the south of the Brooklyn side access to the Bridge. And a large ATB looking tug in the Navy Yard. What have I missed?
Foto #2. W. O. Decker–in my posts here and here and many other places–comes to pick up a tow, Poling #16. Digression: if you do Facebook, here’s the Marion M (shown in the second Decker link there) updates site with fotos. Lots of intriguing details in the background of the Navy yard here.
Foto #3 Driving Decker here is most likely Geo Matteson, author of Tugboats of New York. A 2013 “reshoot” of this cityscape is a “must do.”
Foto #4. Tied up at Pier 17, Decker remakes the tow to get the tanker alongside.
All fotos by Seth Tane.
If you’re interested in collaborating in a documentation of the changing harbor, particularly the evolving articulation between the sixth boro and the other five, please contact me. See address upper left side.
This “fleetless” 2013 fleet week in the sixth boro is an ideal time to look back at previous fleet visits, using these vintage fotos taken almost a third of a century ago by Seth Tane. Here’s my “fleeted” fleet week fotos from 2012.
Foto #1. USS Mount Whitney arrives in town with airship escort. Which lightship might that be off LCC-20’s port bow? My thanks to Jed for identification of LCC-20.
Foto #2. Victory ship USNS Twin Falls as campus for Food and Maritime Trade high School rafted up along the North River with Liberty ship SS John W. Brown, a floating nautical high school. Which pier# or street were these docked at? Can anyone share fotos taken inside these unique school vessels?
Foto #3. Comparing with this foto of Wire WYTL 65612 taken less than a year ago, it appears changes have been made over the past 30 years to her house. Also, notice the “previous” version of the Staten Island ferry terminal off her starboard.
Foto #4. Seatrain Lines vessel Transindiana after some altercation. Transindiana was initially built as a WWII USN transport vessel. Enjoy these other Seatrain fotos.
Foto #5. Intrepid initially arrives in the North River to begin service as a museum ship. The foto is taken from a vessel on Pier 9 in Jersey City.
All fotos thanks to Seth Tane. And, I again invite your comments and reminiscences. If you missed it, here was the first installment of this series.
I’m not confusing the Columbia with Colombia, but here’s what I found when I mistyped, on purpose. Colombia seems to be getting some new vessels.
But on the Columbia, Sommer S seems to be the most powerful vessel of the Shaver fleet.
Here’s the land office with Willamette and Columbia at the dock, as well
as Vancouver and Lassen.
On the far side of Sommer S are Deschutes and Tidewater’s Betty Lou (1950). Closeup, it’s Mary B.
Kathryn B is Bernert Barge Line’s sister to Mary B.
Click here for Bernert Barge Line’s plea to save the dams that make the Columbia navigable for as far as it is.
Foss recently announced it was withdrawing from the Columbia. A few days ago, Betsy L, Pacific Escort, and PJ Brix were parked at the dock on the Willamette.
Betsy L
Lindy Marie (1952) has unusual house lines. Note in the background the bow of the black mystery tug to the left and USACE’s Redlinger, maybe the fastest survey vessel on the seven seas.
This is an escort tug built in 1947 with obsolete technology just because it was effective.
When Portland II was service, it was operated by Shaver. Click here for a narrative of its operation and transformation to museum vessel. Click here for a foto of the vessel Shaver replaced the steam vessel with in 1981.
Yup, I gotta see the movie.
Parting shot, it’s part of the Brusco fleet. Nearer vessel is Sharon Brusco.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Catching up on old business . . . the vintage sixth boro NYC fotos in yesterday’s post come compliments of Seth Tane, currently living in Portland, Oregon but a working resident on New York waters 30 years ago. Tugster will feature more of those fotos in upcoming posts to illustrate the dramatic change that three decades have brought both on the water and along its margins.
I hope that anyone having similar images of waters and waterfronts will volunteer them into the public domain, either on tugster or on any other site.
Click here for Seth’s site–also linked below to the left–and here for a Portland media review of a show his work participated in recently.
Below is reserve Portland fireboat Campbell, launched 1927.
The next few fotos show vessels on the only recent rainless day at Swan Island on the Willamette. In the drydock is USNS John Ericsson T-AO-194, named for the one-time NYC engineer and inventor.
Nearby were DoD vessels Pacific Collector (in its third life after launch in 1970) and Pacific Tracker (in its third life after launch in 1965).
I’d like to know more about this drydock, but it’s clearly built on three re-purposed identical hulls. I couldn’t identify the tug in the drydock.
Backing up the channel here is CS Tyco Dependable, a cable ship.
Later, Dependable was ensconced beside Global Sentinel, another cable ship. Click here for Tyco’s fleet.
And here’s a mystery vessel looking for identification . . . at least 130′ long–I think–and just downstream from the St. John’s Bridge. I saw no name or number anywhere. Might it be an LT like Bloxom–cover vessel on documentary Graves of Arthur Kill–launched out of West Virginia in 1943 and 44?
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who’s physically returned from the wet coast.
Here’s the treat I’ll leave you with for a few days. The twin towers in the background should clearly state we aren’t in Kansas or 2013 anymore. Please comment on your speculations. Foto #1
This is from the converging waters just south of the Battery. Notice the towers to the right. Foto#2
Note the stripe on Coursen‘s bow. Foto #3
Note the I-beam structure to the right. Foto #4
Note the relative positions of the towers and the Manhattan-side Holland Tunnel vent. Foto #5
Again, thanks in advance for your comments and reminiscences.
Source will be credited soon.
The foto below is a repeat, last one of previous post . . . and I stated I was hoping I could find Portland. Well . . .
I did!!
Port of registry on this Foss tug reiterates that. Not much time for research or commentary on my part, so enjoy the fotos.
Although this one deserves some enhancement. Peacock is a pilot boat with a daughter vessel. Notice the seam around the stern . . . it opens to launch the daughter, which got the pilot to the ship for 30 years.
Germany-built and delivered in 1967, she’s
a charm.
A model inside the museum–where there’s also a video of her delivering a pilot in very rough water–illustrates the flybridge.
Will Van Dorp took these fotos and will post again when possible.
Trying to do a drive-through of maritime Maine in a few days is as futile as trying to tease town genealogy from its graffiti, but I’m a fool and I rush in.
It was 20-something years ago that I last saw this exhibit of generations of lobstering boats at Maine Maritime Museum.
Since then, MMM has installed this most effective display of a vessel built on the grounds, schooner Wyoming, the largest ever wooden ship, the last of 10 six-masters. For scale, note the workmen and the black pickup truck and yellow lift at the bow.
And from this site, if I rotate a quarter turn to the right, it’s BIW and the emerging DDG-1000 Zumwalt. Its namesake is this remarkable man.
Here’s the vessel and a fleet of Winslow tugs as seen from the Route 1 Bridge.
Prock Marine’s Marie hangs in the balance.
Rubbing shoulders with the brawn at the pier is the beauty Wagon Box.
Gimmick like the brass spheroids hanging from some pickups I’ve seen?
Hardly . . . it’s one of the few Amphicars.
Gladding & Hearn‘s 1980 academic tug Pentagoet heads back to the Castine.
Now if I can follow signs like these to reorient myself, I might get to Portland . . .
All fotos by Will Van Dorp, who may go a few days before posting again.
Quick update on National Maritime Day from Belfast, Maine. What got me here was this vessel, today a platform for tours between here and the Arctic mostly. Wanderbird started this stage of her life after fishing for 30 years, cod and herring. The shoes in the foreground reflect its origins . . . launched in 1963 as a beam trawler in Maassluis, Holland.
What enforces this sign is . . .
this. David put the specs up on yesterday’s post.
The “towed” vehicle will be observed from here.
Also on hand are Maine Maritime Academy vessels. Here’s tug Pentagoet, training vessel powered
by two sets of Detroit diesels. Note this is one set, two blocks mounted together.
And the wheelhouse . . . shows TLC.
Another MMA vessel is Ted, as in
Ted Nusunginya, revealing its previous Alaska work and soon to be renamed for an MMA alum. Vessel Ned is a classroom, a lab, in fact, for courses such as Navigation, Celestial Navigation . . . and more.
The pilot boat is
Florida built.
If you have a chance, you might fall in love with Belle fast.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
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