View source for Hercules (1907)

{{Short description|1907-built American steam tugboat}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox ship
|infobox_caption=''Hercules''
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 | image=Hercules (steam tug, San Francisco).JPG
 | image_caption=''Hercules'' at [[Hyde Street Pier]], [[San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park]]
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 | hide_header=
 | country= United States
 | flag= {{USN flag|1963}} 
 | name=
 | namesake=
 | owner=*[[Shipowners' and Merchants' Tugboat Company]] (1907–1924)
         *[[Western Pacific Railroad]] (1924–1975)
         *[[California State Park Foundation]] (1975–1977)
         *[[National Park Service]] (1977–)
 | operator=
 | registry=
 | route=
 | ordered=
 | awarded=
 | builder=[[John H. Dialogue and Sons]], [[Camden, New Jersey]]
 | original_cost=
 | yard_number=
 | way_number=
 | laid_down=
 | launched=1907
 | sponsor=
 | christened=
 | completed=
 | acquired=
 | in_service=1907
 | out_of_service=1962
 | homeport=
 | identification=[[Official number]]: 20481
 | motto= 
 | status=[[Museum ship]]
 | fate=
 | notes=
 | badge=
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 | hide_header=
 | header_caption=
 | class= 
 | type=[[Tugboat]]
 | tonnage={{GT|409}}
 | displacement= 
 | length={{convert|151|ft|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|LOA]] 
 | beam={{convert|26|ft|abbr=on}} 
 | height=
 | draft=*{{convert|11|ft|abbr=on}} aft
         *{{Convert|10|ft|abbr=on}} forward
 | depth=  
 | power=
 | propulsion=*Scotch marine [[fire tube boiler]], 4 × oil-burning furnaces
              *1 × {{convert|1000|hp|0|abbr=on}} 3-cylinder [[triple expansion steam engine]]
 | speed={{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}
 | range= 
 | endurance=
 | capacity=
 | crew=15
 | sensors=
 | notes=
 }}

|section4={{Infobox NRHP
 | embed                = yes
 | name                 = ''Hercules'' (tug)
 | nrhp_type            = nhl
 | image                =
 | caption              =
 | location             = [[San Francisco, California]]
 | coordinates          = {{coord|37|48|36|N|122|25|20|W|display=inline,title}}
 | locmapin             = California#USA
 | map_width            = 300
 | area                 =
 | built                = 1906
 | architect            = [[John H. Dialogue and Sons]]
 | architecture         =
 | designated_nrhp_type = January 17, 1986<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web
 |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1530&ResourceType=Structure
 |title=Hercules (Tug)
 |access-date=June 18, 2008
 |work=National Historic Landmarks Program
 |publisher=[[National Park Service]]
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114222248/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1530&ResourceType=Structure
 |archive-date=November 14, 2007
 |df=mdy-all
}}</ref>
 | added                = January 17, 1975<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2007a}}</ref>
 | refnum               = 75000225
 }}
}}
'''''Hercules''''' is a 1907-built steam [[tugboat]] that is now preserved at the [[San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]].

==History==
''Hercules'' was built in 1907 by [[John H. Dialogue and Sons]], of [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]], [[New Jersey]]. She was built for the [[Shipowners' and Merchants' Tugboat Company]] of [[San Francisco]], as part of their [[Red Stack Fleet]] (a part of today's Crowley Maritime Corporation). After completion, ''Hercules'' was sailed to San Francisco via the [[Straits of Magellan]] with her sister ship, ''[[USS Goliah (SP-1494)|Goliah]]'', in tow.

For the first part of her life, ''Hercules'' was an oceangoing tug. Because of the prevailing northwest winds, [[sailing ships]] often employed ''Hercules'' and her sisters on journeys north up the coast from San Francisco. For example, in 1916, ''Hercules'' towed {{ship||C.A. Thayer|1895|2}} to [[Port Townsend, Washington]]. On return trips back down the coast, ''Hercules'' often towed [[log raft]]s of [[Pacific Northwest]] timber, to [[Southern California]] mills. At other times, ''Hercules'' was employed towing [[barges]] to other ports on the [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] and to [[Hawaii]], and in transporting equipment for the construction of the [[Panama Canal]].

In 1924, ''Hercules'' was acquired by the [[Western Pacific Railroad]]. For her new owners, she worked shuttling [[railroad car floats]] across [[San Francisco Bay]] from [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] and [[Alameda, California|Alameda]] to San Francisco.

In 1947, she and the tugboat ''Monarch'' were given the task of towing the hulk of the battleship {{USS|Oklahoma|BB-37|2}} to San Francisco Bay to be scrapped. However, 500 miles from Hawaii, they were struck by a powerful storm and the ''Oklahoma'' began taking on water and sinking, threatening to drag the two tugs along with her. While the ''Monarch'' managed to release her lines, ''Hercules'' could not get free until the last moment, narrowly avoiding being dragged into the deep by the ''Oklahoma.''<ref>{{cite book|last=Newell|first=Gordon|title=Pacific Tugboats|date=1957|publisher=Superior Publishing|location=Seattle, Washington|ISBN=978-1258209568}}</ref> Afterwards, she returned to shuttling car floats and worked in this role until 1957, when she was replaced by the diesel-powered [[train ferry]] {{ship||Las Plumas|ferry|2}}. ''Hercules'' was kept in a stand-by role to the new ferry until 1961.

The [[California State Park Foundation]] acquired ''Hercules'' in 1975, and the [[National Park Service]] took over her restoration in 1977. In 1986 she was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]]. She is now one of the exhibits of the [[San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park]] and is to be found moored at the park's Hyde Street Pier.

== Image gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Hercules tug engine.agr.jpg|Triple expansion steam engine
File:Hercules towing machine.agr.jpg|Towing machine
File:STARBOARD HULL VIEW FROM ASTEARN. - Steam Tug HERCULES, Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA HAER CAL,38-SANFRA,201-38.tif|In dry dock 
File:Crew's mess, deck house, forward. From left to right, volunteers Larry Boucher and Maggie Lindley, deckhand Bruce Vanvick, and volunteer Harry Morgan. - Steam Tug HERCULES, HAER CAL,38-SANFRA,201-19.tif|Crew's mess
File:Interior of wheelhouse looking forward. - Steam Tug HERCULES, Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA HAER CAL,38-SANFRA,201-18.tif|Wheelhouse
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
*{{cite web|publisher=[[National Park Service]] |url=http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/herc.html |title=Hercules |access-date=May 20, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050621081749/http://www.nps.gov/safr/local/herc.html |archive-date=June 21, 2005 }}
*{{cite web |first=Frank |last=Brehm |date=1996–2005 |url=http://www.wplives.com/operations/marine.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130209143145/http://www.wplives.com/operations/marine.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2013 |title=Western Pacific - Marine |access-date=May 20, 2005 |df=mdy-all }}
*{{cite web
|url={{NRHP url|id=75000225}}
|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form / Tugboat Hercules
|format=pdf
|last=Welts
|first=Allen W.
|publisher=[[National Park Service]]
|date=October 1, 1974
|access-date=October 11, 2012
}}
**{{cite web
|url={{NRHP url|id=75000225|photos=y}}
|title=Accompanying Photos
|format=pdf
|publisher=[[National Park Service]]
|access-date=October 11, 2012
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Hercules (tugboat, 1907)}}
*{{Cite web |url=https://home.nps.gov/safr/learn/historyculture/hercules.htm |work=[[San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park]] |title=Hercules |publisher=[[National Park Service]]}}
*{{HAER |survey=CA-62 |id=ca1507 |title=Steam Tug HERCULES, Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA |photos=44 |color=2 |dwgs=7 |data=36 |cap=3}}

{{San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park}}
{{Registered Historic Places}}
{{Western Pacific Railroad}}
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1907 ships]]
[[Category:Tugboats of the United States]]
[[Category:San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park]]
[[Category:Museum ships in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Western Pacific Railroad]]
[[Category:steam tugs]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in San Francisco]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area]]
[[Category:Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco]]
[[Category:Rail transportation in Oakland, California]]
[[Category:Ships built by Dialogue & Company]]