Merchant vessels come in all sizes and shapes. A ubiquitous part of the harbor scene for over 200 years is the tugboat. Tugs date back to the age of sail. The earliest were paddle wheel driven and were used to tow a sailing ship into and out of harbors, thus saving time. Without them a merchant sail skipper might have to wait days or even weeks for a favorable wind. At first sailing masters would have nothing to do with these smelly little steamers, from a combination of pride and tradition. Soon the obvious commercial advantages overcame their prejudices. From this humble beginning the role of the tug expanded into a variety of specialized functions. Specialized companies were formed to do a particular job. As ship size increased tugs became necessary in order to guide ships into their berths. Companies were formed to handle this job, some operating under government control or under subsidies. Some companies deal with just towing jobs, such as the delivery of a drilling platform to a remote corner of the world. A recent spectacular towing job was the delivery, of the liner UNITED STATES from Newport News to a shipyard in Turkey. Other companies specialize in marine salvage, a high risk and very hazardous business. Tugs, of all types, are also a part of every navy's inventorv.

The Tugger Set 1/700 waterline kit gives a good selection of tugs of various sizes, trom harbor to ocean going salvage type, for the WWII Japansese Navy. These are very accurate models and are well detailed. Many modelers have used them in dioramas with other country's naval vessels. A conversion from one of these hulls was included in the recent Classic Warships USN battleship kits. It is very generic and does not really look like anv particular tug. All tugs of a particular time frame look similar but they are not the same. American, British, European, and Japanese tugs have a particular look, especially during and before WW II. In recent years the destinctions have blurred as designs become more specialized, ideas are copied, and a country's tug fleets no longer come from local shipyards. If a tug is to be added in a model diorama it will look much more realistic if it is the right type of tug for the time period and for the function depicted. Needless to say, a small article such as this can only scratch the surface and can just present a few examples from a rather immense variety of tug designs. The following drawings will give some idea of this variation. There are quite a few good books available about tugs for further research, particularly for British and American vessels.

Fenders were originally just small logs slung along the hulls. As ships grew in size and the logs caused damage thev were replaced with bundles of fibers consisting of ropes, lines, old hawsers, whatever was available. Old automobile and truck tires, filled with fiber, were also used along the sides. Most modern tugs have rubber fenders as a design feature. Goodyear recently has developed a white rubber fender for use when handling white painted hulls of cruise ships. Rubber fenders - note the HEIDI MORAN plan for a typical example. Rubber strip fenders are also slung vertically along the hull replacing the tires or woven rope fenders.

1/700 Scale Drawings