TUGS AND MULES AT WORK ON THE PANAMA CANAL

Tugboats have been an indispensable part of maritime transportation for nearly 200 years. They maneuver larger watercraft in tight areas, and tow unpowered vessels from port to port. Tugs were invented in 1810, shortly after steam-power was successfully applied to watercraft.   The first reference to the word tug appears in maritime history in 1817. This was the name given to a small towing vessel built in Dunbarton as a ship assistant.

Dredges, tugs, barges and crane boats that had been laboring in the sea level approaches of the Canal and in the two terminal bays, much of it left behind by the French, were brought in to clear the Culebra Cut. Barges dumped the spoil in designated areas of Gatun Lake with the use of cranes and other construction equipment. Floodlights installed in the Cut allowed around the clock work. The old French ladder dredge Marmot made the pioneer cut� through the Cucaracha slide on December 10, 1913, to open the channel for the first time.  Since 1914, tugboats and electric mules have been assisting ships to pass through the Panama Canal Locks.

TUGBOATS WORKING IN THE PANAMA CANAL 1913-1914
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Tugboat Gatun  trial run of locks 26th September,1913	Dredge Marmot Culebra Cut 1913	SS Ancon and Gatun Tugboat 1914
The seagoing tug Gatun, an Atlantic entrance working tug used for hauling barges, had the honor on September 26, 1913, of making the first trial lockage of Gatun Locks. The lockage went perfectly, although all valves were controlled manually since the central control board was still not ready. On October 10, 1913, President Woodrow Wilson pressed a button in Washington and relayed by telegraph from Washington to New York to Galveston to Panama the signal that blew the center of the dike to complete the flooding of the Cut and join it to Gatun Lake.  The Panamal Canal was officially opened on August 15th, 1914, only a few days after the outbreak of World War I.

TUGBOATS IN SERVICE ON THE PANAMA CANAL AFTER ITS OFFICIAL OPENING (VINTAGE YEARS)

USS MARINER

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The USS Mariner (1906) was a commercial tugboat operating in the Panama Canal area. She was employed by the Panama Canal Commission during the construction of the Panama Canal and after its completion. Taken over by the U.S. Navy in early 1918, when World War I broke out, she was commissioned as USS Mariner (with no identification number) in February to serve in the Panama Canal Zone area on patrol and tug duties. Built at Camden, New Jersey, in 1906. the 234 gross ton steam tug was  taken over by the Navy and commissioned 1 February 1918 with Lt. W. C. Coalfleet, USNRF, in command following America’s entry into World War I.

Armed by the U.S. Navy, she spent the rest of the war protecting vessels in the vicinity of the canal from German submarines. The Mariner was the second ship to be so named by the U.S. Navy. Mariner patrolled the approaches to the canal and provided tug and towing services during the remainder of World War I.  After the war she was decommissioned and returned to her owner on the 13 January 1919 and resumed her civilian work. Her name was struck from the Navy list. 

USS Mariner circa 1906

USS Tennessee and Tug Mariner

USS Mariner circa 1910

USS GORGONA

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The USS Gorgona, a 351 gross ton tug, was built by the Staten Island Steam Boat Co., Staten Island, NY, in 1915 for the Panama Canal Company. She was acquired by the Navy on the 23 July 1917 and commissioned the same day for use in World War I. She operated out of Norfolk, Virginia, for the rest of the war, towing target rafts for Atlantic Fleet gunnery practice. She remained on this duty until 24 January 1919 when she sailed to Guantanamo, Cuba, where she towed target rafts for Battleship Forces 1 and 2. In early 1919 Gorgona performed the same service out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.  

From there she sailed to New Orleans, towing two barges on her return, and on 5th April she departed Cuba for Norfolk. She went back to Panama in June 1919 and, after decommissioning, was returned to the Panama Canal Commission.  The Gorgona was hit by a ship while in transit near the northeast wing wall of Pedro Miguel Locks. The Captain was Jack Waters and the Engineer was Jim Hudgins. The tug was sunk but was later raised and put in that location.

Tug Gorgona in port prior to her World War I Naval service 1917-1918

HERCULES

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The steam tug Hercules was built in 1907 by John H. Dialogue and Son, of Camden, New Jersey. She was built for the Shipowners' and Merchants' Tugboat Company of San Francisco, as part of their Red Stack Fleet. After completion, Hercules was sailed to San Francisco via the Straits of Magellan with her sister ship, the Goliath, in tow. Hercules towed barges, sailing ships and log rafts between Pacific ports.  During the construction of the Panama Canal, she towed a huge floating caisson (a steel structure used for closing the entrance to locks) to the Canal Zone.  The tug usually carried a crew of three firemen, three oilmen, a chief and two assistant engineers, three deckhands, cook, two mates and a captain.  She is now one of the exhibits of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park and is to be found moored at the park's Hyde Street Pier.

Tugs Hercules and Goliath

 Steam Tug Hercules circa 1908

Hercules towing panama canal caisson

Titanic being towed down the Belfast Lough by the tug Hercules, 2nd April, 1912

Steam Tug Hercules moored at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Hyde Street Pier

Steam Tug Hercules

Steam Tug Hercules moored at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park Hyde Street Pier

TUG BOAT PICTURES EARLY DAYS ON THE PANAMA CANAL

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Tugboat in Panama Canal

Tug race off coast of Panama

Tug in Locks Panama Canal

TUGBOAT FLEET AT WORK ON THE PANAMA CANAL TODAY

The current tugboat fleet at work on the Panama Canal is comprised of 24 units, each costing between 5 to 7 million dollars.  In 2009 The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) announced that it has introduced five new tugboats to its fleet, increasing the availability of these vessels used to assist ships transiting the waterway. The new units, purchased from Cheoy Lee Shipyards, Ltd., have an output capacity of 4,800 horse power and a bollard pull of more than 60 metric tons.  An additional 13 tugs, also purchased from Cheoy Lee Shipyards, Ltd, are scheduled to begin arriving in September 2010. Overall, the ACP plans to have a total fleet of 46 tugs by 2014. The additional units will replace old tugboats with more than 35 years of service and augment the existing fleet.

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Esperanza

Los Santos

Federal Pendant and tug

Los Gantos

Chagres

D.P. McAuliffe

Pilot boat

Eain McAllister

Tugs in locks

Paz

Guia

AUSTRALIAN CRANE & MACHINERY PTY. LTD.
42 Glenbarry Road,
CAMPBELLFIELD.  Vic. 3061
AUSTRALIA

Tel:  +61 (03) 9357 7524
Fax: +61 (03) 9357 7521