Bay Area Tugboats 2

Bernice Lind has an interesting and transformed history.  The 60′ x 23′ square bow began life as a USN landing craft.

Nearby Bernice on Mare Island were (l to r) Guardian and Hero.  I’ll leave that there at this time.

Jamie Ann and Z-Four are rafted up and ready to work.  I’ve not seen Jamie Ann unobscured, but she’s a 2020 6866 hp, 95′ x 40′ Foss boat built in the Salish Sea aka Puget Sound.  Z-Four is a 1999 Great Lakes boat, 88′ x 32′ and 4000 hp boat.  For more Z-    Cleveland built boats, click here.

Patricia Ann was built on the Columbia River in 2008, 5080 hp and 73′ x 34′. 

Sandra Hugh is another Columbia River build, 73′ x 34′ and 5080 hp.

Paula M. Sperry is another Centerline pushboat, 2600 hp, 81′ 34′ and here she’s bunkering Matson’s R. J. Pfeiffer.

Rachael Allen dates from 2020, 95′ x 40′ and 6866 hp.

Valor dates from 2007, 93′ x 40′ and 6772 hp.

And this post concludes with two more unusual boats, beginning with Sacagawea, and I quote from George Schneider:  “originally an Army Corps of Engineers as ROBERT GRAY by Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton WA in 1936.  They classed her as a tug, but her interior was somewhat splendid, and she was probably the headquarters vessel for the area supervisor.  In WWII she indeed worked as a seagoing tug for the Army as LT 666.  In the 1950’s she was turned over too the U. S. Geological Survey and renamed DON J MILLER II.  She was declared surplus in 1988 and donated to the Seattle Community College (“Seattle Maritime Academy”) but in 1990 was traded to private owners for a more appropriate vessel for the school.  She resumed the name ROBERT GRAY for several owners as a yacht until renamed SACAJAWEA in 2019.”   It turns out I’d posted a photo of this vessel over four years ago here. Many thanks to George for corrected the info I’d posted here before about a different Sacagawea.

Polaris ran ashore in 2013 and is succumbing to the waves and weather.   More photos of the vessel in slightly better condition can be found here. 

All photos, any errors, WVD.

Other Peoples Photos 117

Look closely at the tugboat below.  Something is missing.  Do you “see” what’s missing?  Answer follows.

As is true for the photo above, Leader and Scout are not East Coast tugboats, or boats typically seen along the East Coast.  Know the port?  The concrete columns in the background appeared in this post a few days ago.  More on them later in this post as well.

This vessel is currently in Tampa.  RV Petrel was once owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who used it for deep-sea exploration and archeology. As such it was instrumental in locating and photographing a number of deep-sea wrecks, including USS Indianapolis.

It was launched in 2003 from a Norwegian shipyard.  Dimensions?

Huge, with loa of 251′ and beam of 49′.  Currently she’s owned by NAVFAC and operated by Oceaneering International.

Getting back to the first two photos, Scout is a 1999 Crowley tugboat, photographed in San Diego.  Leader is same general vintage and size.  I’m not sure why the different livery.

The top photo is a tugboat sans stack because it has no emissions;  it’s the first all-electric escort tugboat in the US.  I won’t use the T-word;  let’s just say eWolf is a marine counterpart to the automobile Henry Ford’s wife Clara would drive.

Many thanks to George Schneider for the first two photos.  And thanks as well to eastriver for the Tampa photos of Petrel.

PC 1264

If you read Newsday, you might have seen the recent essay clipped below.  Many thanks to Nick Casseus for reaching out to use my photo to accompany his guest essay.  I look forward to Friends of PC 1264 getting organized.

The story exists, and with efforts like those of Nick and his group, it should become better known.

As to the Morris Heights-built vessel, not much remained a dozen years ago, as shown in these photos.  Even less is there now.

Take a moment or as long as you like, and use your imagination to do some regression.  Picture it first splashing into sixth boro waters before sailing into the history it was to make.

Here’s the wikipedia article.  As to the location, click on the google image below and interact with it.

For more background on PC 1264, you might want to click here and here.

My photos, the three in the middle here and the one used in the Newsday article … I took in August 2011.  The submarine chaser is also featured in the documentary by Gary Kane and me, Graves of Arthur Kill, available here.

 

 

Government Boats 63

Some of these are iconic, others taken for granted, and still others might not be seen as memorable but their history is yet to be made.

Three of the boats that overnight at Ellis Island are paid for by taxes.   Annie Moore (to the left) is one I’d love to see close up. 

Up against that gray backdrop is Hayward.  Anyone know how long she’s been in the boro?  Answer follows.

The government operates 67 of these 87‘ patrol boats.

Any guesses on the huge gray backdrop in the graving dock in Bayonne?

Here’s a Newark fireboat.  Does it have a name or number?  How many fireboats does Newark have?  I don’t know the answer.  There’s lots of talk and opinion pieces written since last summer of additional fireboats and training in Port Newark. 

The next few I took on the road . . . like USNS Charlton, one of 33 around the planet.

For the moment, Gary I. Gordon is MV, not USNS.

Denebola and Antares need to be ready to sail at short notice.  I recently learned that this class are among the fastest cargo vessels in the world.

All those grays are stealthy, and some argue we don’t have enough stealth and gray capacity.  The government vessel below was built for one government and since WW2 has sailed for another.  If you want a fantastic read about the vessel below in New London CT, read Capt. G. McGowan’s The Skipper & the Eagle. 

All photos, any errors, WVD.

And finally, Hayward will celebrate a half century in the boro next January.  See her history here. 

Up until last week, the big gray backdrop in Bayonne was USNS Red Cloud, but it has just returned to Norfolk, and another gray vessel has taken its place. More on that later. 

Something Different 81

Quick post today is here late today, but as I learned in 9th grade French class, “mieux vaut tard que jamais.”

Here’s a quote from a January 12, 2024 Maritime Executive article:  “Charles Jackson French was posthumously awarded the Navy Marine Corps Medal in 2022. ‘For too long, we did not recognize Petty Officer French appropriately, but we’ve begun to correct that,’ said Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro on [January 10]. ‘Today, with profound conviction and a heart brimming with long-overdue recognition, I am proud to announce the name of our newest destroyer, DDG 142, will be the USS Charles J. French.”  USS French will be the Navy’s 91st Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and will be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi beginning in 2026. 

Some articles have referred to French as a “human tugboat.”  I understand the point, but might it be more dignified to say French was a strong, fearless, independent, and compassionate man.  Military heros come in all varieties and ranks.

For a different way to see an illustration, click here.

 

 

Other Peoples Photos 114

With all this gallivanting, I love having these photos from others–you–to remind me of what I’m missing.  Tony A sent these first few along.  Herbert P. Brake has been here in red, blue, and now this livery.

The numbers on Herbert P are as follows:  60′ x 19′ and 1992.

Kendall J. Hebert follows dredging projects, and has been pictured here only a few times.  The numbers are 78′ x 30′ and 2002.

Kimberly S . . .  since Random Tugs 396 I’ve not learned anything new, but I’m wondering if she used to be called Becky T.

I’ve never learned the identity of this tugboat, but the lines of single screw tugs like this are beautiful.

My friend Al G sent the next three along.  Alexandra–120′ x 34′ and 1976–has been working in the boro for some time now. 

The next two are former YTBs, Nanticoke and Keokuk.  Now called Robert E McAllister, ex-Nanticoke YTB 803, she’s from 1969 and 103′ x 29′.

YTB 771, seen here in Portland ME and possibly not renamed, 109′ x 31′.  I’ve seen her before in Portsmouth/Kittery in 2010, and retro’d in 2020, before she was auctioned into the private world.

And since we’re on YTBs, this photo of Jackie F. McAllister comes from William Mitchell, long time reader.  He got the photo from a friend in Eastport ME, where I’d attempted to get photos earlier this year. Without attempting to be a seasonal photo, it’s tough to beat, I think.

Thanks to Tony, Capt. Gonquin, and William for sharing these photos.

Previous tugster posts featuring YTBs can be found here.

Veterans 3

Thanks to all the veterans, not just on November 11, but on all days of every year.  Here’s what I wrote last year, and I feel the same this year.  Here are other previous posts.

Thanks to Phil Little for catching this photo of USS New York departing within the hour.  Here are previous posts with LPD-21.

Thanks Phil.  Thanks to those who served as described above.

 

Government Boats 61

You know something’s going on when these guys are in the sixth boro, and

 

racing around in pairs.

Specifically, something’s happening at the UN when the East River

has

an FRC is stationed here.  

 

All photos, any errors, WVD.

Meeting the Fleet 2023

Is that really USS Cole (DDG 67)?

I’ve not seen it mentioned much in media coverage today.

Ocean survey vessel HMS Scott (H131) and why the 

penguin?  Answer follows.

 

USS Oak Hill (LSD 51), a dock landing ship is named after a former president’s residence!

ITS Virginio Fasan (F 591) is an Italian frigate.  Click here for the namesake.

USCGC Warren Deyampert (WPC-1151) has a quite interesting namesake story.

Deyampert and Ollis meet. 

HMCS Glace Bay (MM 701) is a Canadian coastal defence vessel, as spelled in Canadian English.

 USS Wasp (LHD-1) history can be read here.

Is that a Harrier AV-8B?

 

USNS Newport (T-EPF-12) can transport over 300 troops at almost 50 mph.

I’d love to tour it.

 

All photos this morning, WVD.

OK, H131 is named for RF Scott, the explorer.

Retro Sixth Boro 61 B

On this date in May 2013, I was near Portland OR scanning slides, images Seth Tane had taken decades earlier.  

The images have value in a macro sense, not the small details but rather the extent of change in the past almost 50 years. 

Tomorrow (2023) the fleet comes in.  But what year did LCC-20 come in . . . maybe 1985 or 1986?  It seems she’s still active. I now believe that lightship is the former LV-84.

But there are details here too, like these.  Might these two tugs be what’s more commonly known to me as Christine M. McAllister and H. J. Reinauer?   And look at the crowds!!

Is this the former lightship St. Clair?

Will this former tanker, former crane ship be fodder for underwater archeologists of the 22nd century?

I’d love to see this tugboat today.

What a different skyline!!  The Esso tanker’s been scrapped two decades already. 

Kehoe tugs have appeared here on this blog a few years ago.  Here in this fog, they look every bit to be a fading past.

All photos, thanks to Seth Tane.  Any errors, WVD.

If you’ve got time and inclination and an interest in the comments of a decade ago, click in the links below for that journey back in time to 6 b 5  d   aka sixth boro fifth dimension posts . . . .

6B5D 01

6B5D 2

6B5D 3

6B5D 4

6B5D 5

6B5D 6

6B5D 7

6B5D 8

6B5D 9

6B5D 10