Page 27: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2026)

TUG AMERICA & CAPT PAUL C. LAMARRE III 1986, America was renamed Wisconsin. She subsequently

Built During, and For, a Different Era

America was constructed by Union Dry Dock Company worked in Milwaukee, where she eventually spent several in Buffalo for the Erie Tug Line of Erie, Pennsylvania. Her years largely inactive. Her next chapter began in 2018.

LaMarre, who had longstanding relationships with Great original assignment was harbor towing and ship assistance,

Lakes Towing Company and had previously served on its with ? re? ghting capability. The Great Lakes shipping in- dustry of 1897 was a very different place: schooner barges board of directors, was overseeing the redevelopment of and wooden steamships remained common, while steel the Port of Monroe. The port needed harbor towing capa- bility. Great Lakes Towing had an available tug.

freighters were still relatively new.

The decision was made to relocate Wisconsin to Mon-

Against that background, America represented modern technology. “When the America was built, she was lauded roe, where she returned to service under her original name, America.

as this very modern, sophisticated, large steel-hauled ma- “It really gave the tug a second lease on life,” LaMarre chine that was really beyond just about anything the lakes said. “She may not still be here today if she hadn’t come to had seen at that point,” LaMarre said.

Two years after her construction, the formation of the Monroe and really served as our staple harbor tug because

Great Lakes Towing Company brought many independent we had not had one previously.”

The arrangement has proved valuable to both the port towing operations under one organization, and America became part of that ? eet. According to LaMarre, she is the and the tug’s owner. At Monroe, America assists vessels car- only surviving vessel from the towing company’s original rying liquid asphalt, steel coils and project cargo. Her work- load, like every working tugboat, varies with vessel traf? c, 1899 ? eet.

The tug began life with a coal-? red reciprocating steam and she is particularly busy during the winter, when ice- engine. In 1950, she was converted to diesel propulsion breaking becomes an important part of harbor operations.

The port recorded its busiest season since 1932 in 2020, with an EMD 567C engine, which amazingly remain at according to LaMarre, and America experienced her high- the heart of her machinery arrangement today.

“She’s a time capsule,” LaMarre said. “The tug is nearly est level of activity in decades.

Further growth could follow the development of Michi- entirely original from 1897, except for having been re- gan’s ? rst marine container terminal at Monroe, which is powered in 1950 with an EMD 567C.”

Externally, he notes, the most conspicuous change is her expected to attract additional international vessel calls.

For LaMarre, who arrived at Monroe in 2012 and helped shorter diesel exhaust stack, replacing the tall stovepipe stack of her steam-powered years. But

America’s history is not exclusively a

Tug America was repowered with an EMD 567C story of engineering longevity.

in 1950, and it’s still running strong today.

LaMarre recalled that six mari- ners lost their lives aboard the tug in 1941, one of the most tragic episodes in Great Lakes Towing Company’s history. For him, operating the ves- sel carries an obligation to remember those men and the generations who worked aboard before him.

“Each voyage is a ? tting tribute to not only the sailors who were lost on here, but each one who made their living keeping her going.”

He describes the relationship be- tween a vessel and its crew as the bond between steel and spirit. “A vessel takes on a life of its own be- cause people breathe life into it.”

The tug’s continued commercial operation was not inevitable. In www.marinelink.com 27

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