Navy Tugboat Tour - YTL-250 circa 1943

A quick light hearted tour of a 1943 US Navy Harbor Tugboat YTL-250.
On our journey south on the ICW, we came across this old tug docked at a marina in Staten Island, NY. The current owner(Cross) was king enough to let us have a walkthrough of it.
The tug was built in 1943 for the US Navy during Word War 2 in Buffalo NY by Niagara Shipbuilders. It is 66’ in length with a 17’ beam. It weighs 140,000 pounds and boasts a single 375 horsepower Detroit Diesel engine.

[@jbradleymeagher6426]

in 1971, my father purchased YTL 451 from the Navy Shipyard in San Diego, CA. I was 12. We had Campbell Machine Co. restore the 375 HP Hamilton Diesel, then cruised from San Diego all the way to Ketchikan Alaska. Unlike this tug, ours was still in the original Navy configuration, with a Folk s l , companionway ladder, pipe births, main engine room, and all controls were by air ram. I wrote a book about it if you're interested. I love what you did with this boat, converting the engine room into a large salon.

[@AdventuresofHappyOurs]

Wow that’s awesome! Post a link to the book if you can. Thanks!

[@justinomps7226]

Hey guys, i'm the guy that converted that tug into a live aboard. The main salon is where the original 300 Cooper Bessemer was located. It had a bad crankshaft so i pulled it out and refitted the interior. I have tons of photos of the construction if interested

[@AdventuresofHappyOurs]

Definitely! Love to see and hear the history of old boats!

[@Kayak7seas]

That boat is very cool, loved the wooden helm. Nice find.

[@ms.kayak7seas]

Hi and thanks Adventures of Happy ours for sharing. That's quite a fascinating boat tour. They well-remodeled inside and it looks very modern-retro...Well done. 🙋‍♀🙋‍♀🛶🛶

[@jbradleymeagher6426]

My Dad purchased ytl 451 in 1971 from the Navy inactive ship facility in San Diego. We ran it from San Diego, to Everett Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska. I wrote a book about it. Thanks for sharing this video. The hull of 250 looks just like ours.

[@AdventuresofHappyOurs]

That’s great! Where is 451 now? And what’s the name of the book?

[@azphilip1960]

Thanks for sharing with us!!! Awesome!!!! A tank on water!!!

[@ross6343]

Me and them spiral stairs would have a hard time getting along after me consuming a generous three fingers worth of Maker's Mark...just saying. Enjoyed the sound effects too! But hey...what a relic of navigation...hummm...I wonder how that tug would handle if it had bow/stern thrusters. Great video - thanks. Safe travels.

[@ricshrewsbury948]

I ran one of these on Puget Sound for many years in commercial service. We had 600 HP in ours

[@abiv9821]

This boat is living history. Well done!

[@joshkyle83]

I just saw this posted for sale on marketplace lastnight! $100k

[@shanepowell5115]

That's bad ass!!!

[@AdventuresofHappyOurs]

I thought so!

[@Mgtowfreedom]

😂 you could play basketball in here