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Helen McAllister


  • Owner: Guest
  • Uploaded: Dec 19 2008 12:30 PM
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  • Category: Tugs
Helen McAllister

Helen McAllister seen here at the South Street Seaport Museum, Lower Manhattan, New York - photographs taken 18th April 2008.

Courtesy of the Museum's web site @ http://www.southstre...portmuseum.org/

"The tug, Helen McAllister, ex Georgetown, ex Admiral Dewey, was built in 1900 at Port Richmond, N.Y. for the Berwind-White Coal Co. The tug spent the next 55 years as the stalwart of the Berwind-White fleet, towing coal barges to bunker the myriad of ships in New York Harbor. As coal bunkering diminished, the tug was sold to a tug operator in Charleston, South Carolina. In the 1980s, McAllister Towing and Transportation Co. acquired the tugboat company in Charleston, and renamed the tug the Helen McAllister. She continued to work in the ports of Charleston and Georgetown, South Carolina. In 1992, with its tall steam stack rebuilt, the vessel was brought to New York Harbor and used to help dock tall ships during Op Sail at the South Street Seaport. In 2000, McAllister Towing donated the Helen McAllister to the South Street Seaport Museum."