I have searched and found many pictures of tug boats of all sizes and types. All are shots of the tug pushing or pulling, docked and mostly from the side.
I cannot find a shot or shots of the deck and the stuff that could be found on it. Pictures would be great but a description would be useful too. Thanks.
Google Moran Towing, then bring up the “morantug” home page and click their picture gallery.
All sorts of views of modern tugs, including a fair number of deck views. In general, there seems to be a towing engine on the foredeck and another on the afterdeck immediately astern of the deck house in most of these views. (A towing engine is a highly specialized winch, designed to control cable tension.)
There isn’t much deck space on a tug, so coiled lines and such are usually stowed out of sight. Also, nobody will be on the afterdeck once there’s tension on the tow cable and nobody will be on the foredeck (what little there is of it) unless they’re handling mooring lines. The towing engines are controlled from the pilot house.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Decks are neat and tidy. Nothing will screw up bringing in or letting out lines or create a major safety hazard than clutter. A friend got suspended for a day when he left his coffee cup on a winch cover and it distracted the crew when it got knocked over when receiving a line from a ship. If it is not being used it is immediately stowed. Even gloves are to be kept on your person when not being worn. No loose items. The deck of a tug is a dangerous place to work.
Brent
RC,
Check out this site. It is a collection of photos from the Welland Canal. There is a section called “International Tugboats”. While it can’t tell you what all is on a tug, it does have about 50 tug photos.
Larry
There were a few. Very modern but I would think the basic have not changed that much. Thanks.
Hmmm, tough to detail neat and clean.
Grime and weathered not included.[oX)]
Brent
The old YTB’s (yard tug boat) we have on our base has a wooden ladder, like the kind you would find at Home Depot, hanging from hooks on the side of the superstructure, so the pilot can transfer from the tug to the submarine deck. I think we are the only base in the Navy that doesn’t use Sea Tractors.
The worst looking tug I ever saw was out of Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Nothing but rust and bird dropings covered it, and it had 55 gallon drums and chicken crates strewn about the deck. It kinda made me question the stores they brought out to us.
What kind of tugs? There are railroad tugs, and plenty of other types. The era is important too; coal fired tugs would have temporary coal bins on deck when starting a longer voyage.
Long journeys might be indicated by water barrels on deck.
Tugs usually carried an axe near the main bitt aft, to cut the tow line in an emergency. Sometimes the axe was stowed on brackets on the rear wall of the deck house, at eye level.
The boarding ladder was mentioned, and would be an accessory when boarding and debarking pilots.
A heavy towing hawser could be faked down (coiled) on the rear deck, but not on the grating that covered the steering gear on the fantail.
During the WWII era it became common for tugs to carry a life raft in addition to a boat. The boat could be used as a tender in port, while the raft was strictly for emergencies. A small one might be carried atop the wheelhouse. In the current era, self inflating rafts would be in orange cannisters.
There might be a fire monitor installed on the wheelhouse top, or on the afterdeck of the deckhouse. The nozzle would usually be lashed down at maximum depression.
Etc.
A deckhand.