Description:
Tug Huntington Pilot House
Steam screw tug, Steel hull
Built 1933, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Owner: Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company (1933 – c. 1990)
Scrapped: spring 2010, Jacksonville, FL

Salvaged:
Steel pilot house and captain’s quarters, complete with furnishings and fittings.
Salvaged by Salonen Marine, Inc., of Jacksonville, which set aside the pilot house.

Tranportation by Ship to Shoreline Marine Transportation. Picked up in Jacksonville on Tuesday, July 13, 2010. Set to arrive in St. Michaels on Thursday, July 15 at 9:00 am near the Museum’s Steamboat Building. It will arrive by way of the Museum’s main entrance and parking lot.

Planned use:
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum plans a special exhibit on tugs and marine transportation, possibly to be done in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the launch of the tug Delaware in summer 2012. The Huntington pilot house can be located near the exhibition gallery and fitted out for visitors as part of this exhibit. After the special exhibit closes, the pilot house could be incorporated into the forthcoming long term exhibition on maritime trade.

Importance:
Tugs are a vital part of maritime transportation today, especially maritime trade along the coast and within America’s inland waterways like the Chesapeake Bay. Oil, containers, and other materials are moved at less cost per ton-mile by water—including tug and barge—than any other mode of transportation. From docking ships to fighting fires, tugs accomplish a variety of jobs on the waterfront that occur largely out of the public eye. Yet this story has not been widely told, and this aspect of maritime transportation has been underrepresented in the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s collections and exhibits. The handsome Huntington pilot house will help to change both this perception and reality.

Received with generous support from:
Chesapeake Shipbuilding
McAllister Towing
Hudson Haile