Dravo SteelShip Delivers Three Towboats To Radcliff

Dravo SteelShip Corporation, Pine Bluff, Ark., recently delivered three 88-foot by 38- foot by 9-foot steel towboats to Radcliff Materials, Inc. of Mobile, Ala. These towboats, the Pintail, the Kingfisher, and the Kittiwake, are powered by twin Caterpillar D-398 diesel engines, each rated 825 bhp at 1,225 rpm. The engines are equipped with Caterpillar 7261, 4.22:1 reduction gears. Fernstrum keel coolers provide for main engine jacket and after cooling.

Twin Caterpillar 3304 engines with 55-kw generators supply ship's power, which includes VARO searchlights, Carlisle & Finch 12-inch, 1,000-watt searchlights, NABRICO deck winches, Stephens-Adamson Model 12V- 10HP capstan, and Kahlenberg Model Q-3 air horn. Owner-furnished electronics include Modar Triton VHF, Raytheon RAY 350 loudhailer, SI-TEX Model 23 radar, and other equipment. The electronics were suppled by RCA Service Company, Mobile.

Main engines and generator sets were supplied by Burford Equipment Company of Montgomery, Ala. A telephone booth supplied by Acoustical Development is located in the engine room.

The steering system is a Dravo SteelShip standard design with an Activation power unit. Designed with two main and four flanking rudders, steering is controlled by WABCO LogicMaster controls. Each vessel is equipped with two Kahlenberg four-blade, stainless-steel, 72 by 62-inch propellers.

Tank capacities onboard each vessel are: fuel, 30,000 gallons; clean lube oil, 500 gallons ; dirty lube oil, 500 gallons; potable water, 7,100 gallons; and bilge, 20,500 gallons.

Each towboat is designed with five staterooms to accommodate a crew of eight. A Microphor Type II sanitation system is provided on each vessel.

Dravo SteelShip is currently building two 75-foot tugboats, two 85-foot towboats, two 65-foot towboats for stock, and several other pieces of marine equipment.

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