Tugboats

Explains what tugboats are and how they assist other ocean vessels.

Complemented by 150 black-and-white period photographs and personal anecdotes of life on the New York waterways, a visual history traces the lore and use of tugboats in New York from their early nineteenth-century precursors to their heyday in the 1950s, detailing their various roles guiding large ships safely, conducting rescue operations, and navigating quantities of resources through traffic-clogged waters. Reprint.

While square-rigged sailing ships, steamboats and ferries, and ever-larger cruise and cargo-carrying vessels have made their mark on Puget Sound's maritime history, no other vessels have captured the imagination of shore-bound seafarers like tugboats. Beginning in the 1850s when the first steam-powered tugboats arrived in the Sound from the East Coast via San Francisco, company owners and their crews competed fiercely for business, towing ships, log rafts, and barges. The magnetic attraction of powerful, tough tugs both large and small is unexplainable but enduring. This book, featuring about 200 rare historic images and carefully researched text, tells the colorful story of tug boating on Puget Sound.

Meant for “bigger things,” Scuffy the Tugboat sets off to explore the world. But on his daring adventure Scuffy realizes that home is where he’d rather be, sailing in his bathtub. For over 50 years, parents and children have cherished this classic Little Golden Book.

"Summary: Simple text and photographs describe tugboats, their parts, and what they do"--Provided by publisher.

Tugboats hold a fascination not only for anyone who has worked aboard a vessel or around a harbor but for many land-bound folks as well. There is something about their chunky, powerful build and their often risky but vital work that excites our interest and admiration. The captains and crews of the tugboats are justifiably proud of what they do, and they have some great stories to tell about the ships and barges they tow or push; the harbors, storms, tides, and dangerous passages they must negotiate; the unions; the pilots; the different designs and capabilties of their boats; and the way the boats and their livelihood are irrevocably changing.

This fine collection of extraordinary stories and stunning illustrations recount the harrowing rescues of ships and cities in distress. “The sea is at its best at London, near midnight, when you are within the arms of a capacious chair, before a glowing fire, selecting phases of the voyages you will never make.” —Henry Major Tomlinson