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Arthur Foss
1889 Tugboat

Length: 120'
Beam: 28'
Draft: 16'
Specifications:

The History of the Arthur Foss
Time Line:

The Arthur Foss is one of the oldest tugboats in existence and an important part of the history of the Pacific Northwest. Long before Boeing and Microsoft drove our economy, this ship was hard at work on Northwest waters. Northwest Seaport is pleased to be able to share this artifact and its colorful past with the public.

In her 115 years afloat, the Arthur Foss has seen a lot of changes along Northwest shores, not as a passive bystander but as a worker helping the region grow. Launched at Portland in 1889 as the steam tug Wallowa, she was built to tow sailing ships over the Columbia River bar. She was caught up in the gold rush fever of 1898, and made several voyages up the Inside Passage towing barges packed with would-be gold miners and supplies. (The Arthur Foss is the last Alaskan Gold Rush vessel still operating.) She briefly became a movie star in the 1933 movie Tugboat Annie, playing the garbage-barge towboat Narcissus. In 1934 her steam power plant was replaced with a 700 hp Washington Estep diesel engine. She served in the Pacific during World War II, and was the last American ship to escape Wake Island before it fell to the Japanese invasion. But her greatest role in the Northwest economy was her work in the timber industry, towing log booms to mills around the Puget Sound, mostly that same Douglas Fir that makes up her massive hull.

Retired after 80 years of hard work, in 1970 she was donated by Foss Maritime Co. to her current owner, Northwest Seaport. Here she began a new life as a teaching tool and floating museum. Located in Seattle at the south end of Lake Union, Northwest Seaport is a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring historic ships for the education and enjoyment of the public. Visitors of all ages will enjoy a glimpse of life aboard a tugboat.

The Arthur Foss has been designated a National Historic Landmark, a nationally significant historic place possessing exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States.