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Harbor Tugs, 1946-1980: Photo Gallery

Most of the photos here were selected from the comprehensive NavSource Photo Archive and are acknowledged with thanks.

Click on the photos to prompt larger views of the same images.

Large Harbor Tugs (YTB)

An internal Navy memo dated 3 November 1961 stated that nine new tugs had been built and placed in commission since the war and that a modest replacement program of about four per year had been initiated in FY 1960. The new tugs had 1800 horsepower and a bollard pull of 65,000 pounds compared to the 35,000 pound bollard pull of an old YTB. The new construction tugs were specifically designed to work with aircraft carriers, in that bridges and superstructures were low in order to slide in under the elevator extensions and sponsons. They had full radar, communications, and gyro equipment, which was missing from many of the older tugs. The memo called for reassessing the 162 older tugs and proposed downgrading many to YTMs. On 24 November 1961 CNO directed reclassifications as follows: YTB: 1201 horsepower, YTM: 601-1200 horsepower, and YTL: 600 horsepower and below. This would change the inventory from 172 YTB, 2 YTM, and 75 YTL to 28 YTB, 146 YTM, and 75 YTL.

Class: YTB 746

Pokagon (YTB 746) underway in the Caribbean.
(Photo: NavSource 140974601 from the US Navy Memorial)

Class: YTB 752

Edenshaw (YTB 752).
(Photo: NavSource 140975202 from the US Navy Memorial)

Oshkosh (YTB 757).
(Photo: NavSource 140975701 from the US Navy Memorial)

Bogalusa (YTB 759).
(Photo: NavSource 140975902 from the US Navy Memorial)

Class: YTB 760

Natick (YTB 760) in Holy Loch, Scotland, off the village of Kilmun in the winter of 1988.
(Photo: NavSource 140976004)

Dahlonega (YTB 770) underway off the end of Pier 12 at NOB Norfolk, VA., 1 March 1989.
(Photo: NavSource 140977001, DVIC photo # DN-SC-90-03825)

Wauwatosa (YTB 775) entering port at Naval Station Subic Bay, Luzon Island, Republic of the Philippines, 8 December 1991.
(Photo: NavSource 140977502, DVIC photo # DN-ST-92-02822)

Manistee (YTB 782) alongside USS Vincennes (CG-49) at Yokosuka, Japan, 8 February 2005.
(Photo: NavSource 140978204, USN photo # 050208-N-9851B-003)

Mandan (YTB 794) off Sturgeon Bay., Wisc, on 25 June 1968.
(Photo: Shipscribe)

Ketchikan (YTB 795) photographed by her builder, Marinette Marine, on 21 August 1968 shortly after entering service.
(Photo # NH 68537)

Opelika (YTB 798) assisting in the departure of USS Frank Cable (AS-40) from Yokosuka, Japan, on 14 August 2006.
(Photo: NavSource 140979819, USN photo # 060814-N-2716P-053)

Eufaula (YTB 800), starboard side view by her builder, the Southern Shipbuilding Corp., on 25 June 1969.
(Photo # NH 68747)

Eufaula (YTB 800), port bow view by her builder, the Southern Shipbuilding Corp., on 25 June 1969.
(Photo # NH 68748)

Palatka (YTB 801) casting off from NAS Bermuda on 26 August 1994 as part of the closure of that facility.
(Photo: NavSource 140980103, DVIC photo # DN-SC-95-00659)

Wasahachie (YTB 814) moored at Pier 13, Honolulu, Hawaii, on 7 November 1981.
(Photo: NavSource 140981411)

Pokagon (YTB 836) off Naval Station Everett, WA, 8 September 2010. She was sold in January 2023.
(Photo: NavSource 140983605)

Medium Harbor Tugs (YTM)

YTM 747 class: An internal Navy memo dated 3 November 1961 stated that the Navy was investigating the possibility of acquiring Army tugs to meet some of its future needs. These tugs were 107' long, 1200 HP, with a bollard pull of 30,000 pounds. Their high structure left something to be desired in working with carriers as did their direct drive feature, and they did not have communications, radar, or gyros, but the Navy could probably find uses for them that would free up better equipped tugs. Eleven tugs with Army numbers between LT-1964 and LT-2095 were selected, and on 21 January 1963 they were designated YTM-747 to YTM-757 and assigned names. YTM-759 was of the same type but was not part of this procurement.

Class: YTM 747

Chicopee (YTM 747, ex Army LT 1966) assisting USS Hunley (AS-31) as the tender returned from her first deployment to Holy Loch, Scotland, in summer 1966.
(Photo: NavSource 141174702)

Woonsocket (YTM 754, ex Army LT 1965) with fenders removed while acting as the 1st leg and finish line marker for the America's Cup Races off Newport R.I. in 1967.
(Photo: NavSource 141175402)

Waukegan (YTM 755, ex Army LT 1968) alongside USS Mauna Loa (AE-8) between an LCM-8 and a covered lighter on 31 January 1965 while the ammunition ship offloaded ammunition at anchor.
(Photo: NHHC USN 1111131)

Owatonna (YTM 756, ex Army LT 2083) with Yuma (YTM 748, ex Army LT-2078) at Naval Supply Center, Oakland, CA. being readied for naval service in September 1964.
(Photo: NavSource 141175601)

YTM-759 (ex Army LT 2077). In 1964 the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Pasadena, Calif., produced a low-budget vehicle, CURV, to recover sunken test weapons off San Clemente Is. NOTS used a tug, YTM 759 (unnamed), to carry CURV on the fantail and control it from a deckhouse aft of the stack (see photo). In 1966 CURV, on a larger ship, recovered a hydrogen bomb from deep water near Palomares, Spain.
(Photo: NavSource 141175902)

Class: YTM 760

Mascoutah (YTM 760, ex YTB 772) probably on her delivery voyage from Jakobson Shipyard, Oyster Bay, NY, in 1964. She was funded in Fiscal Year 1963 as an experimental YTB with cycloidal propulsion (SCB Project 61R), and was reclassified YTM in September 1965.
(Photo: NavSource 140977201)

Menasha (YTM 761, ex YTB 773), the sister of Mascoutah, shown after 1995 as the civilian Escorte. She was then called a tractor tug fitted with two Voith-Schneider cycloidal drives. (Photo: NavSource 140977305, Mac Mackay photo from gltugs.wordpress.com/escorte/)