15 MOST POWERFUL Tugboats
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00:00Today, we're counting down 15 of the most powerful tugboats in the world.
00:05These boats defy their size with unbelievable strength,
00:08and they can maneuver the most massive ships on the planet.
00:11Let's start with number 15, the Boca Falcon.
00:14Flying under the flag of Belgium, the Boca Falcon is an offshore tug and a supply vessel.
00:20It was constructed in 2011, and it works in projects such as the ocean transportation field,
00:25oil drilling, and subsea installation of oil platforms and wind farms.
00:29At 93 meters in length, 22 meters in width, and a weight of over 5,000 tons,
00:34it gets the job done with ease.
00:36And it's because of this that the ship is often relied on for the most difficult of tasks.
00:42Number 14, the Navajo-class.
00:45The U.S. Navy, of course, is always innovating,
00:48and the Navajo-class rescue and salvage ship is their next generation of tugboats.
00:52Ordered in 2017 as the two-in-one replacement to replace the old safeguard-class rescue and salvage ships,
00:59and Pohatn-class tugboats with just one ship, a total of 10 are set to be produced.
01:04However, to date, none have been completed,
01:06though when they are, they'll likely be some of the largest and most advanced tugboats on the planet.
01:12Number 13, the KL Saltfjord.
01:15Owned by Japanese holding company K-Line Offshore,
01:19the KL Saltfjord is a true representative of Japanese engineering.
01:24It was built in 2011 as part of the company's offshore service fleet,
01:27and it stands apart for a number of reasons.
01:30First and foremost, at a length of 95 meters and a width of 24,
01:34the ship is absolutely massive,
01:36while its two-engine production of 36,000 horsepower is nothing to sniff at.
01:41It also has a strong anchor handler designed for operating in extremely harsh environments.
01:46As such, it can work wherever and whenever the company needs it to.
01:51Number 12, the Lowek Fulmar.
01:54Hailing from Panama, the Lowek Fulmar is classified as a tugboat,
01:59but able to do much more.
02:01Fitted with two cranes and a lifting capacity of 20 tons,
02:04it's not just able to tow vessels,
02:06but also to assist with subsea construction, repair work, and maintenance.
02:10Primarily designed by Rolls-Royce,
02:12it was specially made to operate in the harsh climate of the North Sea,
02:15and to work on the oil and gas sector.
02:18And at a length of 93 meters, width of 22, and a weight of 5,000 tons,
02:23it certainly has the size and the chops to complete all these tasks with ease.
02:28Number 11, Island Victory.
02:31Now by most accounts, the most powerful tugboat in the world is none other than the Island Victory.
02:36Designed in 2020 by Kongsberg Maritime,
02:39the Norwegian ship generally does work in the deep sea.
02:43With a length of 125 meters, a width of 25, and a weight of about 5,900 tons,
02:48when empty, the thing is absolutely massive,
02:51and it's powered by two large Rolls-Royce engines.
02:53It's because of both this and its impressive four onboard cranes
02:57that the ship can work in all sorts of situations, doing several different tasks.
03:01In fact, it's even licensed to work as an oil recovery ship while in Norwegian waters,
03:06making it a true jack-of-all-trades.
03:09Or maybe jack-of-all-boats.
03:12Number 10, the Sorum Class.
03:14While the U.S. Navy may be the world's preeminent naval superpower,
03:18the Russian Navy is nothing to sniff at.
03:21And while they have a strong lineup of ships,
03:23their best offering in terms of tugboats is the Sorum Class.
03:26First built in 1972 in the service of the Soviet Navy and the KGB,
03:31they've continued to see production into the post-Cold War era.
03:34These vessels are notable for performing the standard missions of a seagoing tugboat,
03:39with these including the protecting and patrolling of Russian maritime borders,
03:43the enforcement of navigational rules,
03:45law enforcement, search and rescue, and fishery protection.
03:48Coming in at 57 meters in length and 13 meters in width,
03:51they are rather large and make use of no less than four onboard generators and two propulsion motors.
03:57Now, interestingly, this class also comes in several varieties.
04:01These include the seagoing tug variety, which acts as an auxiliary role to naval operations,
04:06the rescue tug variety, which is designed to assist in search and rescue,
04:10the patrol tug variety, and the experimental variety tug.
04:14These last two are especially notable.
04:16After all, the Border Patrol ships are armed with two 30mm gun mounts,
04:20giving them the ability to fire at surface, air, and ground targets.
04:24They're also equipped with the Kolonka-1 fire control system,
04:27allowing these weapons to act to their maximum capacity.
04:31On the other hand, the experimental tug, it acts as a test bag for SIGINT,
04:35signal intelligence, and hydroacoustic equipment.
04:38In short, this equipment is used to spy and intercept info on enemies through both signals and acoustics.
04:43So, these reconnaissance ships can be pretty dangerous if used correctly.
04:47So, as such, while the Russian Navy may not match that of their American rivals,
04:51their flagship tugboat is still pretty impressive.
04:58So, while the Boomin' Beaver may not be the largest nor the most powerful boat on this list relative to its size,
05:04it is a pretty impressive ship with a pretty cool name.
05:08Originally, they're designed for not military use, but for the logging industry.
05:12More specifically, they were supposed to raft and pull floating logs for the commercial logging industry.
05:16From the 1970s to the early 2000s, they worked exclusively in this role.
05:21However, in 2002, the U.S. Navy ordered a whole bunch of them.
05:25The first boat in the 13-boat order was delivered in January of 2003,
05:29and ever since, they've been put to work in an entirely different role.
05:33Now nicknamed the Boomin' Beaver, these tiny little ships are a class of security tug
05:38used to set up and operate floating underwater barriers known as port security barriers.
05:43They're also known as booms.
05:45They're placed around Navy ships, docks, and bases to act like a perimeter security fence,
05:50ensuring that nothing gets too close.
05:52In terms of stats, they are impressive for their size.
05:55At just 6 meters long and 3 meters wide, the Boomin' Beaver is shorter than some big Ford, Dodge, or Chevy pickup trucks.
06:02However, with the help of their turbocharged 5.9-liter inline six-cylinder 260-horsepower Cummins diesel engine,
06:08they deliver up to 3,400 kilograms of pulling power.
06:12As of 2020, the Navy had 10 Beavers in service.
06:15One is believed to be permanently stationed near the more than 200-year-old USS Constitution
06:19at the Boston National Historical Park, where it protects the historic ship from tampering.
06:24Other Beavers are in use at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California,
06:28and Naval Base Kitsap on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State,
06:32making them a true American ship and a rather important protector of naval bases.
06:37So, while the Boomin' Beaver may be small, its little teeth are sure mighty.
06:44While there are several large towboats out there today,
06:47one that was the king of the castle during the time of steam power was Sprague.
06:52Built by Iowa Ironworks in 1901 for Captain Peter Sprague,
06:56it was the world's largest steam-powered sternwheeler towboat.
07:00A sternwheeler towboat is a special type of vessel
07:02because its massive steam-powered wheel is what propels the ship through the water.
07:07In the late 1800s and early 1900s, this type of ship was very popular in the U.S.,
07:11and by all accounts, Sprague plied her trade up and down the Mississippi River with ease.
07:16Now, in terms of size, Sprague was pretty impressive.
07:19After all, she came in at 84 meters in length and 19 meters wide,
07:22making her a pretty gargantuan, even by today's standards.
07:26However, it wasn't just her size but her performance that got her on the record books.
07:30That's because, thanks to her output of over 2,000 horsepower and six Hopkin boilers,
07:35she was capable of regularly pushing up to 56 coal barges at once.
07:40In fact, in February of 1907, Sprague would set a world record
07:44by towing 60 barges of coal and weighing over 61,000 tons.
07:49For reference, that amount of coal was equal to carrying the equivalent of 1,500 rail cars full.
07:55It was because of all this impressive performance that she was nicknamed Big Mama,
08:00and she soon became quite famous.
08:02On one hand, she made quite the impression.
08:04After all, due to her size and massive tows of cargo she pushed,
08:07she would sometimes cause the Mississippi to run backwards behind her as she passed going upriver.
08:12However, Sprague was also a humanitarian.
08:15After all, she allegedly rescued about 20,000 people
08:17fleeing the high waters of the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927.
08:22She did this by having her people stand on the floating barges,
08:24picking them up and evacuating them to safety downriver.
08:28Now, while the Sprague was a great ship, she was ultimately decommissioned in 1948.
08:33At this point, she was converted into a museum on the waterfront of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
08:38Yet, on April 15th of 1974, her stint as a historic landmark ended
08:42after she burned down during a fire.
08:44However, despite this tragedy, her memory still lives on.
08:48That's because a model of Sprague is still on display at the Portland Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
08:53So, if you want to see a visual of one of the greatest tugboats to ever set sail,
08:57I suggest giving that museum a visit.
09:00Moving on to number seven, the Sam Towage.
09:04The world of towing has seen a continuous innovation over time,
09:08and the folks over at Sam Towage are certainly at the forefront.
09:11That's because in April of 2024, they released one of the world's first fully electric tugboats.
09:17While not the first of its kind, Sam Towage's craft is certainly pretty special.
09:22It's powered by two lithium-ion battery banks,
09:24and these 100% electric zero-emission tugs are currently at work in the Canadian port city of Vancouver.
09:30This is important for two main reasons.
09:32First and foremost, Sam anticipates that its two inaugural battery electric tugs
09:36will reduce CO2 emissions by about 2,400 metric tons annually.
09:40For reference, that's equivalent to taking 600 gas-burning cars off the road.
09:45In a world where carbon emissions serve as an existential threat,
09:49creating this example of a truly sustainable yet functional ship
09:52should inspire other port cities to also invest in these vessels.
09:56Another major pro is that tugs emit considerably less marine noise.
10:00This significantly reduces their impact on the environment.
10:03It's also worth noting that the batteries on this tug are also pretty durable.
10:07The company expects them to last for somewhere between 10 to 12 years.
10:11However, even though the batteries will no longer be suitable for the tug after the time frame,
10:15they'll still be strong enough to be used elsewhere.
10:18Now, these tugboats are strong by electric standards.
10:20After all, the tug's motors put out about 5,000 horsepower.
10:24They aren't the strongest tugboats around, though.
10:27Getting to the point where super-strong electric tugs are being built
10:30will likely require further investments in electric towing.
10:33As put by Bowen Ma, who is the province's Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness,
10:38quote,
10:39Sam's Towage's two new fully electric tugs are a welcome addition to the busy port of Vancouver
10:44and are going to have a major impact on how industry is powering marine operations.
10:48Although these are the first electric tugs in the port,
10:50we're hoping they inspire others to make the switch.
10:53This project is supported through British Columbia's CleanBC
10:56Go Electric Commercial Vehicle Pilots program,
10:59which is helping industry to reduce the emissions in the medium and heavy-duty vehicle sector,
11:03resulting in cleaner air and water for people now and for future generations.
11:07End quote.
11:12The U.S. has had a long and storied naval history,
11:15and the Pohattan class is a tugboat that's been around for a large portion of the country's last 50 years of military engagements.
11:22You see, during the war, the U.S. Navy realized that its tugboats
11:25not only had to be very powerful, but also able to complete transatlantic and transpacific voyages.
11:31While the Abnaki class were relied on for the entirety of World War II,
11:35it wasn't quite up to snuff, and by the mid-1970s, it was obsolete.
11:39As such, the decision was made to create an entirely new class of tugboat.
11:44In 1975, construction began on what would become the 12 Pohattan class tugboats.
11:49Once all was said and done, this class was pretty impressive,
11:52coming in at 73 meters long, 13 meters wide, and 2,000 tons.
11:56They are quite large, so large, in fact, that they've had helicopters send supplies onto them
12:00and underwater vehicles launched from the deck.
12:03And while these tugboats were not designed to engage in combat,
12:06what they were designed to do was to be used in areas of active fighting.
12:10Since damaged ships are often burning, the tugs are equipped with three fire monitors,
12:15which can pump more than 8,300 liters of firefighting foam per minute,
12:19with the help of two diesel engines.
12:21The tugs' pumps could assist damaged ships in dewatering flooded compartments,
12:25and while the ships weren't supposed to fight, they were designed to hold two 20-millimeter guns
12:29and two .50-caliber machine guns in a time of war.
12:33It's also worth noting that, unlike most Navy ships, the Pohattan class was crewed by civilian mariners.
12:38In total, a crew would consist of about 16 civilian crew
12:41and a four-person military detachment of communications specialists.
12:45The ships could also accommodate an additional 16 people for mission-specific roles.
12:50However, the days of the Pohattan class boat are limited.
12:52That's because all but one of them have been retired,
12:55and the current plan is to replace them with the Navajo class rescue and salvage ship.
12:59Yet despite their promise, the Navajo class is still under development.
13:02And so, until their retirement day comes,
13:05the Pohattan will continue to apply its trade and service of the U.S. Navy.
13:12For all of modern history, tugboats have been powered by steam or diesel.
13:16However, in today's day and age, there's been a push towards electric tugboats.
13:21To date, the electric tugboat that lays claim to being the world's first and the world's strongest
13:26is none other than the aptly named Sparky.
13:29The story goes that after partnering with Enchandia in 2018 to build the world's first electric ferry fleet,
13:35Damon Shipyards again collaborated with them in 2020 to create another maritime landmark,
13:41the world's first full-size, fully electric ship-handling tugboat.
13:45Sparky is 25 meters long and designed to tow and assist large vessels and maritime objects
13:50in and out of New Zealand's Auckland Harbor.
13:53Now, in order to power this forward-thinking ship,
13:55the design team made use of an Enchandia eTug energy storage system that's based on LTO cells.
14:01Now, these LTO cells are heavy-duty enough to perform high-power operations while still being fast-charging.
14:06So fast, in fact, that they can charge from 20 to 90 percent in minutes.
14:10The battery life is also pretty strong.
14:12Sparky can anchor between two to three ships before needing a recharge.
14:16Its battery is also very durable.
14:18It can last for anywhere between 20,000 to 30,000 cycles at a minimum,
14:21ensuring that the tugboat will last for at least the next 25 years.
14:25On one hand, this system helps with blackout prevention,
14:28load sharing between energy sources and energy efficiency,
14:31making Sparky a greener vessel than it otherwise would be.
14:35Enchandia CEO Fredrik Hellstrƶm said that, quote,
14:38We are extremely happy that Sparky shows the way for other port operators to become more efficient.
14:43With this groundbreaking achievement,
14:44we see a huge interest in making port operations emissions-free with our battery systems.
14:49It will result in a whole new market for electric tugboats
14:52and speed up the development to become emission-free.
14:54End quote.
14:55In terms of full-time work, Sparky's been in operation since June of 2022.
15:00And in September of that year,
15:01Sparky received the prestigious Tug of the Year award at the 2022 International Tug and Salvage Awards.
15:08Number 4. Rising Star
15:11While the Rising Star may not be the largest tugboat on this list,
15:15it stands apart for perhaps having the best record of them all in terms of operations and rescues.
15:20Built in 1991, it's the U.S. Air Force's one and only tugboat,
15:24and it's stationed at the Petrific Space Base.
15:27It's located more than 1,200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle on the northwest coast of Greenland.
15:32This Rising Star is essential to the base operations,
15:35as it escorts fuel tankers and cargo ships.
15:37This makes the Rising Star the latest in a long line of tugboats
15:41that have helped resupply Petrific Space Base ever since its founding in 1953.
15:46This important role is a possibility thanks to the tugboat's power.
15:50It's got two Detroit diesel two-stroke V-16 engines with 900 horsepower each.
15:55However, this doesn't make it perfect.
15:57While the tugboat is operational from May to September,
16:00the sea becomes too frozen for it to operate in the winter.
16:03As such, during the warmer months, it's got to work overtime.
16:05In particular, it sees a lot of action during Operation Pacer Goose,
16:09which is a yearly resupply mission that usually happens between July and August.
16:13The reason why this resupply mission is so important is due to Petrific's importance in the U.S. military.
16:19After all, the location at the proverbial top of the world
16:21makes it a strategic post for missile warning, missile defense, and satellite command.
16:25It's also worth mentioning that the Rising Star is notable for its rescue efforts.
16:29You see, on August 3rd of 2020, the crew of the Rising Star
16:32responded to a distress call from a leaking commercial ship.
16:35The ship in question was about 50 kilometers south of the base
16:38and caught in dangerous two-meter high waves.
16:41While the weather was pretty rough, the Rising Star miraculously managed to make it to the commercial ship
16:46and tow it back to its base.
16:48It's also worth mentioning that while the Air Force owns the boat,
16:51Rising Star is actually crewed by contractors.
16:54However, as put by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Warren,
16:56quote,
16:57As fun as it is to tell visitors that we have Air Force-only tugboat,
17:00what really matters is that the Rising Star is operated by our outstanding contract partners
17:05to make our ports safe for the vital cargo ships that resupply us every year.
17:09The Rising Star is one more data point that points to the fact that
17:13life and operations on the top of the world are only possible when the whole team,
17:17military, civilians, and contractors, all tug together.
17:21End quote.
17:23Number 3. Far Sampson
17:26While it may not be the most powerful tugboat in the world any longer,
17:29the one that held the modern title up until 2020 is no other than the Far Sampson.
17:34Designed and equipped by Rolls-Royce and manufactured by STX Offshore in Norway,
17:39the ship is a true testament to good craftsmanship.
17:42At 122 meters in length, 26 meters in width, and a weight of 9,400 tons when empty,
17:47she is a massive ship.
17:49And it's so immense that she even has a cargo deck area of over 1,400 square meters.
17:53Regarding its power, Far Sampson is powered by two Rolls-Royce diesel engines,
17:57each one having a propulsion system that combines both diesel-electric and diesel-mechanical transmission.
18:03In fact, it's because of this that the tugboat's achieved a 95% nitrogen oxide reduction,
18:08and it's not required to engage in exhaust cleanup.
18:11Its strong propellers are supplemented by a number of thrusters at the rear and front.
18:16These include no less than three tunnel thrusters, two swing-up azimuth thrusters,
18:19and a single combi thruster.
18:21The ship is also equipped with two cranes supplied by national oil well Varco,
18:26with the main deck crane having an impressive capacity of about 250 tons,
18:30and the nearby support crane having a capacity of up to 18 tons.
18:34Meanwhile, a 7.2 by 7.2 meter moon pool assists the ship in deploying equipment offshore.
18:40To keep things safe and in check, the ship's also equipped with active heel control systems
18:44and passive roll reduction tanks.
18:46In fact, it's so effective that the types of jobs it can do go far beyond just towing.
18:51That's because the ship is designed to carry out heavy plowing operations for pipes and cables on the seabed,
18:56conduct subsea installation work in ultra-deep water, and of course, towing.
19:01Given the fact it can cut trenches in the seabed in water that's up to a thousand meters deep,
19:06its range is also near limitless.
19:08It's because of all this that at the time of its completion,
19:11Rolls-Royce's president of offshore operations said that, quote,
19:14this vessel is truly a world-class combination of high technology and new capabilities,
19:19pushing the boundaries in the offshore market, end quote.
19:22Well, yeah, I definitely agree with that.
19:29While tugboats have been around since antiquity,
19:32the first steamboat to ever do the job of tugging was none other than the Charlotte Dundas.
19:37While it was neither very big nor very strong,
19:39its status as the first steam tugboat made it, at least for the time,
19:43the most powerful tugboat on the planet.
19:45Now, the story of the steam tugboat starts a little before Charlotte Dundas.
19:49That's because the credit for this type of ship's invention belongs not to the creators,
19:53but to a different man, known rather fitting as Jonathan Hulls.
19:57He was born in Gloucestershire, England, in 1699.
20:01He had a natural gift for mechanics,
20:03and it's because of this that he began his professional life making and repairing clocks.
20:07But soon, he began dreaming up bigger and better things.
20:10So, on December 21st of 1736, he filed a patent.
20:14In the filing, he described his invention as, quote,
20:33Well, while its name is quite a mouthful, at least on paper, it was quite effective.
20:37Illustrated in a pamphlet published in 1737,
20:40it featured a stern paddle wheel that was to be driven by a Newcomen atmospheric engine.
20:45This pamphlet also provided a very detailed defense of his project.
20:48Fit with a full description of all the ship's mechanisms,
20:51and a list of the advantages of his design,
20:53the patent itself further supplemented the document
20:56by responding to several hypothetical concerns people may have.
20:59These include explanations on how it was possible for a small vessel to tow a larger vessel,
21:05and whether or not the force of the water would damage parts of the tugboat.
21:08However, despite its promise, neither the patent nor the pamphlet led to a practical trial of Hull's invention.
21:14Instead, it seems to have more or less been met with ridicule.
21:17After all, Hull's only benefactor pulled the plug on funding soon after it was patented.
21:22Worse still, after his passing, the following poem began to be repeated around his hometown.
21:27Jonathan Hulls, with his patent skulls, invented a machine to go against wind and stream.
21:32But he, being an ass, couldn't bring it to pass, and so was ashamed to be seen.
21:37Well, with Jonathan's passing came a temporary death of the tugboat idea,
21:41and it wasn't until a few decades later that the new tugboat came into being.
21:45Known as the Charlotte Dundas, it was designed by William Symington in a way that was somewhat similar to Hull's design.
21:52Built and funded with the support of Lord Dundas, it was named after his daughter Charlotte.
21:57After some improvements in March of 1803,
21:59the Charlotte Dundas towed two 63-ton barges for 30 kilometers along the Forth and Clyde Canal.
22:05Well, unfortunately, this proved to be the beginning of the end for the Charlotte Dundas.
22:09Plans to introduce boats on the Forth and Clyde Canal were thwarted,
22:13largely because many feared the tugboat would erode the canal's banks.
22:17As a result, it was left in a backwater of the canal until it was broken up in 1861.
22:22Despite this unfortunate end, steam-powered tugboats took off as a concept,
22:26and over the next few decades, they became extremely popular in canals and waterways across the planet.
22:36Some of World War II's most intense battles were in the water.
22:40In the Pacific Theater in particular, aircraft carriers launched fighter jets,
22:44massive battleships shot at enemy boats, and submarines made surprise attacks.
22:49Meanwhile, on the beaches of Normandy and Sicily,
22:53transport boats brought in thousands upon thousands of soldiers, ready to swarm the beaches as they moved.
22:59However, one ship that almost never gets the credit it's due is the humble tugboat.
23:04While it may not seem like a type of ship that would be all that useful in the thick of battle,
23:09the reality is that tugboats played an essential role in warfare during this period.
23:14Now, it should be made clear that on most naval battlefields, tugboats were all but useless.
23:20With a maximum speed of about 15 knots, tugboats were slow even by World War I standards.
23:26So, in World War II, they simply couldn't match the speeds of large naval vessels,
23:30many of which could travel at speeds of over 30 knots.
23:33To make matters worse, even though most tugboats weren't completely unarmed,
23:37they were certainly only lightly armed compared to the most combat ships,
23:41so their ability to defend themselves was limited.
23:44While that may sound like a death sentence for the tugboat,
23:46the reality is in that some battle scenarios, tugboats were incredibly useful.
23:51One of the most important examples of this was the use of tugboats on D-Day.
23:55This is the battle where Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy,
23:58and in order to get the job done, tugboats played an essential role.
24:02You see, in the middle of battle, boats would get damaged,
24:05so in order to rescue the craft, the captain, and the crew, it was necessary to tow them off the battlefield.
24:10Several times during the day, tugboats came in mid-fight and under heavy fire
24:14to retrieve broken-down ships left helpless in the water.
24:18This, in turn, contributed to the Allied victory and saved quite a few lives.
24:22Tugboats also saw use during naval operations that were expected to come under attack,
24:26particularly when rescue ships weren't readily available.
24:29As an example, there's evidence that tugboats saw action during Operation Pedestal.
24:34This was the codename given to Britain's air and sea supply of Malta,
24:37which required the British Navy to sail through German-occupied waters.
24:41While the tugs were not on official records due to them being neither a merchant ship nor an escort,
24:46historic reports suggest that in August of 1942, there was one tugboat assigned to the oiling force,
24:51and one to the escort moving through Malta.
24:54From time to time, tugboats would even be used to rescue troops from otherwise deadly situations.
24:59One famous example happened in November of 1943.
25:03In that month, a guide bomb sank the SS Rona off the coast of Algeria.
25:07In response, the rescue tug Mindful went out to help them, saving over 250 lives in the process.
25:14So, tugboats are so useful that nations often had dedicated tugboat fleets.
25:19For example, Great Britain had the Royal Navy's Rescue Tug Service,
25:22and the United States had the American Tug Fleet.
25:25With the aid of the U.S. Lend-Lease Program, the Royal Navy's Rescue Tug Service
25:29eventually had 85 rescue tugs that were manned by about 2,000 personnel.
25:34And while the total of 20 tugs were lost due to a combination of mines, torpedoes, bombs, or bad weather,
25:39in return, the division saved nearly 3 million tons of merchant shipping,
25:43and a grand total of 254 British and Allied warships.
25:47However, of all the tugboats to grace the waters during World War II,
25:51America's V-4M A-1 was the cream of the crop.
25:55Named after a type of lighthouse, they were the most powerful tugs in the world when they were built in 1943.
26:02They had steel hulls, were 59 meters long, and weighed in at 1,400 tons.
26:06And in order to have enough power to operate, they made use of either a six- or eight-cylinder engine,
26:11depending on the ship.
26:12Due to their importance, they were built in shipping yards across America,
26:15with these yards including sites in New York, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
26:21Over the entirety of their production cycle, a grand total of 49 of these incredible ships were made.
26:26While not all of them have well-recorded histories,
26:29it appears that most, if not all of them, were scrapped at various points in the 70s,
26:33with the exception of some that sank while in the line of duty.
26:36As such, the mighty V-4M A-1 may no longer be around.
26:41It does deserve a prize spot in the history books as one of the unsung heroes of the Second World War.
26:47Thanks for watching, everyone. I'll see you next time.
26:50Thank you to our channel members.