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Navy seeks to replace aging Northwest tugboats

The crews operating the region's oldest tugboats say the boats will get the job done well until replacements arrive.
A Navy tug guides the USS Nimitz away from the pier as it leaves Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton for deployment in June 2017. (Photo: Meegan M. Reid / Kitsap Sun)

About an hour before one of Bremerton's aircraft carriers returns to port from deployment, the civilian crews of the Navy's tugboats start warming up their boat's engines.

Four to five tugs typically meet the carrier as it passes Bainbridge Island, helping it safely navigate the rest of the way home, including through Rich Passage's narrow route.

"When they look out, all they see is rocks and trees," Matthew Probst, captain of the tugboat Canonchet, said of the sailors lining the flight deck.

Tugboat Captain Matthew Probst gives a tour of the Canonchet's bridge at Naval Base Kitsap Bremerton. (Photo: MEEGAN M. REID)

As the carrier approaches the waterfront, the welcoming cheers from pier-side family members ring out across the water.

But the crews of the Navy tugs that guide in the roughly 4-acre wide, 20-story tall carriers into port miss the homecoming show.

"The honest answer is that we can't even see them," Probst said. "Even so, we're happy to bring them home to their wives and sons and daughters and mothers and fathers because they're the reason why we're here and to bring them home safely to a good homecoming is what we do."

At 44 years old, Probst's Natick-class tug is one of the oldest tugs in the Navy's service. Three of the Navy's eight tugboats that operate in the Pacific Northwest are almost 50 years old, surpassing expectations for how long they would run.

As it works to modernize the fleet's service crafts, the Navy is planning to add seven new tugboats during the next three years at a cost of more than $94 million, according to the Navy's recently released fiscal year 2019 budget and 30-year shipbuilding plan.

Although those tugs haven't been assigned to particular command yet, the budget indicated the new ones will replace aging tugboats in Yokosuka, Japan; Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Navy Region Northwest.

There are three tugs assigned to Bremerton. Two are the older-class tugs and one is a "hybrid" tug that uses the hull of a Natick-class tug with a renovated propulsion system. At Bangor, there are two Valiant-class tugboats that are both less than a decade old. The region's third Natick-class tug is based at Naval Station Everett alongside one of the newer tugs.

"As far as the old tugs, they’re all classic ladies," said Jim Walker, port operations program director for Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton. "These boats have class. When you get underway, the ride is nice and they’re solid."

Probst said the Canonchet's age doesn't mean it works any less efficiently than the newer ones in the fleet.

"It would be nice to get new vessels, but we’re good with what we have until we get replacements," Probst said.

Unlike many other Navy vessels, the Natick-class tugs never really had an estimated service life with a projected retirement date, said Navy Region Northwest Marine Service Craft Specialist Gregg Clark.

"As long as they’re maintained, they'll run indefinitely," Clark said.

The Canonchet, built in 1974, still runs on its original engine and parts are readily available for it, Clark said. But as time moves on, that may not be the case.

"Will a 1968 Chevy Camaro run forever? Sure, and who would want to get rid of a 1968 Chevy Camaro?" said Canonchet Mate Jason Moosmiller. "But it costs more money over time, it needs more love over time and there’ll be fewer people who know how to work on them now."

With the decades-long gap between the construction of the two classes of tugs, there's a lot of differences between them, Probst said.

The older tugs have a barn door-sized rudder that steers the boat left or right with a single screw. The newer tugs have a propulsion system that gives the boat a 360-degree range of motion and allows them to be able to stop on a dime.

"It allows for the boat from going straight forward at speed to being completely still within a second," Moosmiller said. "With this one, it needs time to slow down because there are no breaks."

The newer tug's maneuverability makes it easier for the tug to operate under challenging conditions, such as on a windy day.

"Because of the way this boat operates, if Probst comes in and we don’t get the lines up the right way the very first time he does it, he has to back all the way off and make another approach," Moosmiller said.

The older tugs require more manual labor from the deckhands working the lines, but that gives the crew a greater degree of control while trying to "make-up" with ships, or the process of getting their lines across the water to the other vessel.

Deck hand Jason Moosmiller talks about the workings of the Navy tugboat Canonchet's capstan (to his left) and how it is used while the boat is in service at Naval Base Kitsap Bremerton. (Photo: MEEGAN M. REID)

The Natick-class tugs use capstans to wrangle the lines, which "requires a whole lot of more deck seamanship and communication and safety and just overall skill," Walker said.

On the newer tugs, the lines are controlled by a winch with push-button automation.

"On the new tugs, the captain isn't just driving, but he’s controlling the make-up, he’s controlling once the lines are up, he’s controlling the tension and how it’s done," Moosmiller said. "On the (Canonchet), when he’s driving, he’s depending on the crew."

"They have to know exactly what they’re doing and when to do it with a little supervision from me because I’m busy driving,” Probst said. “It takes a skilled deck crew to run this boat."

Many of the region's tug captains, like Probst, have worked on their boats for almost three decades. Likewise, most of the deck crews measure their careers in decades rather years, Walker said.

"The tugs are just half the story. The other half is the people," Walker said. "That's what keeps them running. It’s the pride of ownership of our civilian crews."

Deckhand Jason Moosmiller gives a tour of the bridge of the Navy tugboat Manhattan at Naval Base Kitsap Bremerton. (Photo: MEEGAN M. REID)

Such skilled crews are important when bringing a submarine back to port, Moosmiller said.

"You have to be really careful with the round hull under the waterline because you can't see it," he said. "If you come into it at an angle, you could put your propeller into the side of the submarine."

Bangor is usually the busiest port for the tug crews. While the jobs at Bremerton are more infrequent, they're usually bigger jobs.

"We’ll have nothing to do for a week, but then we won’t be able to breathe for a week." Moosmiller said. "It just goes back and forth."

The bottom line for the Canonchet's crew: The region's oldest tugs will continue to get the job done until they're no longer needed.

"To replace them, that’s fine and dandy, but these boats are fine vessels," Probst said.

"Just because they’re old doesn’t mean they’re obsolete."

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