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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
U. S. Navy Harbor Tug No. 48 (classified YT-48 in 1920),
1920-1921.
Harbor Tug No. 48, a 215-ton, 88-foot long wooden-hulled
tug propelled by a single cylinder steam engine, was built by
the Industrial Department of the U. S. Naval Station, New Orleans,
Louisiana. She was one of 40 sisters (Harbor Tugs Nos. 46-85)
ordered by the Navy in May and June 1918 as part of its World
War I emergency shipbuilding effort. Harbor Tug No. 48's
keel was laid down in July 1918, she was launched in November
1918 and commissioned in May 1920. Classified YT-48 when the Navy
implemented its standard hull classification system in July 1920,
she remained at New Orleans until being assigned in 1921 to the
Submarine Base at Coco Solo, Canal Zone. The small tug was towed
out of New Orleans by USS Owl (AM-2), but during the night
on 31 October 1921 she suddenly sheered off to starboard and began
to sink. She foundered a half hour later and was stricken from
the Naval Vessel Register as of the date of her loss. The commanding
officer of Owl speculated that the tug hit a floating derelict
just after midnight while hidden from view by a heavy rain squall.
This page features the only views we have concerning U.
S. Navy Harbor Tug No. 48 (later YT-48).
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 41611
U. S. Navy Harbor Tugs and Submarine Chasers
The 88-foot Harbor Tug No. 48 (on the right), Harbor
Tug No. 49, and the 110-foot Submarine Chaser No. 443
being fitted out by the Industrial Department of the U. S. Naval
Station, New Orleans, La., in early 1919. Harbor Tug No. 50
and Submarine Chaser No. 444 are in the building ways
in the background. The center building way, from which Harbor
Tug No. 49 was probably launched, is empty.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41613
U. S. Navy 88-foot Harbor Tug
The steam engine for one of the three small tugs (Harbor Tugs
Nos. 48-50) built by the Industrial Department of the U.
S. Naval Station, New Orleans, La., in 1918-1920.
It is a vertical, single-cylinder, non-condensing engine with
a cylinder diameter of 18 inches and stroke of 22 inches and
was rated at 300 horsepower.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 85KB; 585 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 104706
U. S. Navy "Wood Harbor Tug"
Outboard profile of the Harbor Tug No. 46 class (Nos 46
through 85). This plan by the Navy's Bureau of Construction and
Repair is dated 25 April 1919 and is signed by the bureau's chief,
Naval Constructor David W. Taylor, USN. Its number is C&R No.
60815.
These tugs measured 88 feet in length and 20 feet in beam, displaced
215 tons, and had a designed speed of 10 knots.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 435 pixels |
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Page made 30 April 2007