Transportation
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Built in 1907 in Camden, New Jersey, by John H. Dialogue and Son for the Shipowners and Merchant Tugboat Company, Hercules made her maiden voyage of 13,500 miles around the tip of South America while towing her sistership Goliah. Until 1923 she ranged the West Coast from Alaska to Panama, towing sailing vessels including the C.A. Thayer, log rafts, and barges. Albert Hody, a Hercules fireman, recalled towing a raft of six million feet of timber south to San Diego at no more than three knots, with long, slow days spent fishing for King Salmon. From 1924 until 1962 Hercules worked on the bay towing railroad barges for Western Pacific, and her strong steel hull and reliable triple-expansion engine gave her a long and useful life.
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