hawser, line and wire: happy 50th!

Some tugs are named after rivers. Some after seas, some after trees. Some are named after American Indian tribes.

But the CG has a class of tugs that wins the award for best names: the 65-foot Small Harbor Tug (WYTL).
Named after things normal people call “rope”, and things found on a boat that interact with the “rope,” or, in one case, what normal people call “droop” of a rope, to those who love tugs, these names are little, one-word love poems, odes to the small harbor working tug.

The WYTLs were built between 1962 and 1967, and were employed only on the east coast, from Maine to Virginia. Originally a class of 15 tugs built by different shipyards, 11 are still in service:

• BOLLARD (WYTL 65614)  New Haven, CT
• BRIDLE (WYTL 65607)  Southwest Harbor, ME
• CAPSTAN (WYTL 65601)  Philadelphia, PA
• CHOCK (WYTL 65602)  Portsmouth VA
• CLEAT (WYTL 65615)  Philadelphia, PA
• HAWSER (WYTL 65610)  Bayonne, NJ
• LINE (WYTL 65611)  Bayonne, NJ
• PENDANT (WYTL 65608)  Boston, MA
• SHACKLE (WYTL 65609)  South Portland, ME
• TACKLE (WYTL 65604)  Rockland, ME
• WIRE (WYTL 65612)  Saugerties, NY

BITT  (WYTL 65613)  was decommissioned on 4 October 1982, now  R/V Clifford A. Barnes
SWIVEL  (WYTL 65603) , still SWIVEL at Governor’s Island
TOWLINE  (WYTL 65605) perhaps for sale, and
CATENARY  (WYTL 65606), now Growler

 

And YOU are invited to the 50th birthday celebration of  Hawser (17 Jan 1963), Line (21 Feb 1963), and Wire (19 Mar 1963):

“1 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013: the three tugs will meet at the Walkway over the Hudson and steam north to Saugerties. A Coast Guard spokesperson will be available at the walkway and there will be a photo opportunity there to capture the tugs together on the Hudson River.” USCG Media Advisor

According to Hudsonian’s  & Tugster’s photos, all three have expanded the cabins aft to enclose the stack. So the drawing above is incorrect. Do not use for navigation.
Like one to take home? look here.

Length:	65 ft
Beam:	16 ft
Displacement:	72 tons
Power Plant:	Upgrading to 500 HP

The Naval Institute Guide To The Ships And Aircraft Of the U.S. Fleet, Norman Polmar

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new year’s log

“Tradition states that the first entry of the new year in the official log in CG and Navy must be in verse and rhyme.”

So, here’s to tradition…

Zero one January two thousand one two.
Eight glasses for the old year and eight for the new.

Clear, windless day; low tide at o8h14,
The river has that beautiful blue-brown, cold sheen.

Hair making good knots, rolled out of my berth,
Dismayed by the thickening of the girth

After bubbly and beer and something chateau,
Feeling like sierra hotel india tango

It’s already into the forenoon watch
When I go to the galley to assess the debauch

Staring at all of the bottles in front of me
Feeling a bit post-frontal lobotomy

Semper ready for the challenge!
It’s not too bad, rank it code orange.

Monitoring 13 while the kettle does boil…
So, where are my friends moving cargo, people and oil?

Clearing the nav station of sketches and cat,
I scan AIS to see where everyone’s at.

There’s xx at the anchorage and xx on the KV
And look at the ships coming in from sea!

Can’t wait to tell Tuggie who’s going by now!
Containerships, tankers, tugs and their scows,

Ferries and fishingboats and tour boats galore,
A honeyboat, and the boats of the Army Corps

Icebreakers and buoy tenders, and medium response
A sailboat, some kayaks, and hopefully, clearance.

A cruiseship.  No ro-ro’s. The dredgers are at bay.
Do harbor charlie and fireboat get overtime pay?

Are the survey boats working? are the line boats out?
They’re not on AIS so I can’t see their routes.

I could do this all day, but muster midmess
To wish all of you for 2012: the best!

Thank you, CaptJJ for telling me about this tradition!

And thank you Ed, whose ship’s log is featured here in the official CG blog, Compass,
Look here for  more new year’s logs of the CG ashore! Both afloat & ashore: fascinating reads.

what is your log entry for today?

¡wow! thank you, west38! it looks so beautifully zen! click on her lovely blog to see the art of needle and thread in perfection: that corner is art.

back by popular demand/command

Back by popular demand, the barrel is hereby returned to its rightful place on the OTO-Melara 76mm cannon of the CGC Escanaba.

Due to well-meaning–but unfounded–national security concerns, the gun barrel had been omitted. The illustrator apologizes for any crudities (crudites?) that may have occurred as a result of this misguided emasculation.

“the deck gun…retracted…?” — from a reader

“Didn’t you forget the gun barrel here ?
As a male, it seems important to me.” — from another reader

Sorry, Commander Ed.

Click here to see the goings-on onboard the Escanaba.