Harbor Tugboat Kingston II

Kingston II, built in 1937 at General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division in Groton, Connecticut, was among the earliest all-welded vessels. Designed by E.B. Wheeler and Robert C. Simpson, she was built of scrap steel in four months for $15,000 to train apprentice welders before they qualified to work on U.S. Navy submarines. Powered by a General Motors 12V-71 500-horsepower diesel engine and a four-blade, 44-inch propeller, the 44-foot tug worked for 42 years at Electric Boat's Groton plant, attending the launch of many U.S. Navy submarines, including Nautilus, guiding submarines into and out of repair docks, shuttling equipment to other Electric Boat locations, helping with construction of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge over the Thames River, clearing ice from docks, and responding to fires on the Thames and Mystic Rivers. After Cold War-era nuclear submarines grew too large for her to handle, she was declared surplus and donated to Mystic Seaport in 1979. She had already helped move Mystic Seaport's historic ships in the 1950s and 1960s, and after arriving there she spent 20 years shifting vessels to and from the restoration shipyard, breaking ice, restoring bulkheads, delivering derrick barges, standing ready for fires, leading river parades of antique boats, and welcoming visiting vessels from other nations. Today she needs major repairs to her 73-year-old hull before she can return to work, and she stands as an ambassador of Mystic Seaport's watercraft collection and a symbol of the region's maritime contributions.

Mystic, Connecticut · United States