Historic Vessels on Display

LT-5, Major Elisha K. Henson

National Historic Landmark 

Vessel Currently Closed for Onboard Tours as Restoration Continues.  Dockside Experience Included in Museum Admission.

Today, moored along the West First Street Pier in Oswego Harbor, LT-5 Major Elisha K. Henson serves as a dock-side attraction, a remnant of the greatest generation, and a site worthy of preservation.  Seventy-five years ago, the 114’ ocean going tugboat played a crucial role in what General Dwight Eisenhower termed the “Great Crusade” – the allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, colloquially known as D-Day.

On November 22, 1943, hull no. 298, christened Major Elisha K. Henson, was launched at the Jacobson Shipyard at Oyster Bay on Long Island.  Built as a Cox & Stevens design no. 271, LT-5 was capable of both ocean and harbor tug operations under the command of the Army Transportation Corps’ Water Division.  LT-5 sailed for Great Britain on February 3, 1944, as part of the allied buildup in preparation for Operation Overload – the event that awarded her National Historic Landmark status.  By 1945 there were over 200 “LT” class tugs in service to the U.S. Army begging the question: Why is this one special?

According to Charles D. Gibson’s September 1994 article in Sea Classics “she is the last of but six LT tugs which provided a service which by its exact nature allowed victory in Normandy – a service which may well have saved the American Army once ashore from virtual defeat.”  During the pre-invasion planning process in 1943-44, General Omar Bradley requested that one dozen barges, loaded with ammunition, be beached near the invasion site as part of the initial invasion.  And so, in the early hours of June 7, 1944, LT’s 2, 4, 5, 22, 23 and 130, each transporting two barges, completed their initial mission prior to the establishment of the artificial Mulberry Harbors. 

Two weeks after the initial assault a ferocious storm destroyed the American’s Mulberry A – off Omaha Beach – and, given the lack of a navigable harbor (Cherbourg had yet to be captured), troops on the front lines began to feel the impacts of a ruptured supply line.  General Bradley, the senior general on the ground in Normandy, began to fear the worst.  The ammunition beached by the six LTs on D-Day + 1 became a life-line at a time most-crucial to maintaining a foothold in the European theater.  According to Paul Stillwell’s book Assault on Normandy, when discussing General Bradley’s request to beach that ammunition, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Alan Kirk is quoted to have remarked that “…by God, when the great storm came in mid-June, it saved our bacon.”

Of course, LT-5 is significant in other ways, as well.  Despite her role in the Army’s Transportation Corps, she was not spared danger.  On June 9, 1944, LT-5 shot down a German Focke Wulf - her logbook for the day reads “Planes Overhead.  Everyone shooting at them.  Starboard gunner got an F.W.”  She was also an essential part of Operation Mulberry which established the artificial harbors off Normandy by June 14th (D-Day +8) and within four days had landed 11,000 troops, 2,000 vehicles, and 9,000 tons of equipment and supplies.

After remaining in service throughout the war in Europe, LT-5 returned to the United States and was decommissioned by the U.S. Army.  Shortly thereafter, LT-5 was assigned to the Buffalo, NY District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in May 1946 and recommissioned as John F. Nash.  LT-5 served from 1946-89 in the lower Great Lakes region assisting in the maintenance of harbors and worked on significant construction projects including the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 1950s and several harbor improvement projects in Oswego.  When deemed excess by the USACE in 1989, the Port of Oswego Authority eagerly acquired the National Historic Landmark that is now maintained by the H. Lee White Maritime Museum.

Today, a dedicated group of Maritime Museum volunteers invest countless hours annually to preserve and interpret the iconic tugboat. 

Derrick Boat No. 8 – National Register of Historic Places

Built in 1927 at Syracuse, NY, Derrick Boat no 8 had a nearly 60 year history of serving the New York State Barge Canal as a workboat.  Duties often consisted of dredging, moving heavy objects, placing buoys, and performing the various tasks associated with ensuring the entire canal system functioned.  As opposed to the days of mule drawn vessels, Derrick Boat no 8 was always accompanied by a tugboat.  She was acquired by the H. Lee White Maritime Museum in 1984 upon her retirement. 

Derrick Boat no 8 is 77’ long, has a beam of 28’, and the main derrick was powered by the American Hoist & Derrick Co. steam engine, still located in the vessel in original configuration.   Built in Syracuse, NY the vessel had a lifting capacity of ¾ cubic yards and was manned by a crew of 6.

Today, through all of her trials, Derrick Boat no 8 serves as a living, breathing permanent testament to the men who served on both this and other vessels on the New York State Canal System since its inception.  Without these unsung heroes, the engineering marvel of the 19^th century surely wouldn’t have been maintained.  In 2015, Derrick Boat 8 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, honoring that legacy.

Eleanor D. – Oswego Fishing Tug

Eleanor D. is the last U.S. commercial fishing boat to work on Lake Ontario.  She was owned and operated by William Cahill Jr., former mayor of Oswego, between 1958 and 1978 out of the Cahill Fish Markey, located in Oswego Harbor.  The Cahill family fished Lake Ontario for three generations, and their market brought regional fish as far away as Philadelphia and New York City. 

A wide variety of fish were caught including perch, trout, bass, chubs, sturgeon, silverfish and American eel.  Built in 1948 on Lake Erie, the vessel is 43’ long, has a 12’ beam and 5’ draft.  The 40 ton steel fishing tug is powered by a 1972 Detroit Diesel.   The vessel was generously donated to the Maritime Museum in 2004 by the Cahill family.