Tugboat Joseph T.

Photo by Cliff West

My dad, Cliff West, photographed the Foss tugboat Joseph T. on the Columbia River at Rainier, Oregon, in August or September of 2006. This tugboat was built in 1975 by the Marine Power and Equipment Incorporated of Seattle, Washington, as the Georgeann for the Samson Tug and Barge Company Incorporated of Sitka, Alaska. In 1988, this tugboat was acquired by the Brix Maritime Company of Seattle, Washington, and was renamed Olympic. In 1993, the Brix Maritime Company was acquired by the Foss Maritime Company of Seattle, Washington, and this tugboat was renamed Joseph T. The Joseph T. is 73.5 feet long, with a hull 27.2 feet wide and 11.1 feet deep. Rated at 2,250 horsepower, it is powered by two Caterpillar D-399 engines with Caterpillar 7261 reduction gears driving two stainless steel, four-bladed 88-inch by 58-inch fixed pitch propellers. This was near the end of this tugboats career on the west coast, as later in 2006, the Joseph T. would be transferred to the Foss subsidiary Constellation Maritime Company of Manchester, Massachusetts, and was renamed Scorpius.