The Cutter Sumac Became a Towboat

A photo was taken recently of two boats beached out on the bank at Ledbetter, Ky., near Paducah. They were apparently placed there for dismantling and scrapping. Both of these vessels have significant histories, so the older of the two will be detailed this week, followed by the other.

In the late 1930s, a shipyard was established on the banks of the Missouri River at Blair, Neb. The name of the firm was Petersen & Haecker LTD, and it turned out a few small towboats before being awarded a major contract by the U.S. Coast Guard about the time the United States entered World War II. The small yard would build five Tender Class cutters, including the Fern in 1942, the smaller Lantana in 1943 and the Clematis and Shadbush in 1944.

The firm completed its final Coast Guard vessel, the Sumac, in late 1944. The Sumac had the same hull dimensions as the Fern and was also triple screw. There were slight differences in the lower cabin arrangement, and where the Fern had three smokestacks, the Sumac only sported two. The two vessels were designed by A.M. Deering of Chicago and were more like towboats than traditional Coast Guard vessels. Both the Fern and the Sumac were constructed for ice-breaking duties by placing an “Amsterdam” ice plow to the bow.

The keel of the Sumac was laid on March 13, 1944, and it was launched on October 14 that year. According to the U.S. Coast Guard historian’s office, the vessel sponsor at launching was Miss Helen Marie Petersen, a daughter of one of the shipyard’s owners.

The Sumac was commissioned on November 1, 1944, with Lt. J.J. McSally Jr. in command. The 114.5-foot by 30.5-foot hull of the cutter was built out of “Cor-Ten” steel due to the strength and corrosion resistance of that metal. Three Fairbanks-Morse 8-cylinder diesel engines provided 960 hp. The total cost of the new Sumac was $356,372.

The Sumac had a crew complement of 24 and was initially stationed at Burlington, Iowa, on the Upper Mississippi River. Later, the vessel was transferred to Owensboro, Ky., on the Ohio. While based at Owensboro, it serviced aids to navigation and broke ice as needed on the lower Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. In July 1946, it was based at Paducah, Ky., and moved back to Owensboro in 1951, where it was based until August 1962. From there, it was based at Peoria, Ill., on the Illinois River before being moved to Cairo, Ill., in May 1966. Two years later, in May 1968, it was transferred to Hickman, Ky., on the Lower Mississippi until it returned to the Upper Mississippi at Dubuque, Iowa, in October 1972. While based here, in 1971, the original F-M engines were replaced with three Cat D379TAB diesels coupled to Cat 3.25:1 gears. Total horsepower was increased to 1,695 hp.

The Sumac was based at Keokuk, Iowa, from May 1973 until 1978, when it was transferred to St. Louis, its final base as a Coast Guard tender. The Sumac’s identifying number was WLR-311, and its radio call sign was NRZC. The 55-year-old vessel was decommissioned on July 9, 1999.

Throughout this time, the Sumac serviced an untold number of aids to navigation, performed search and rescue missions, assisted in fighting fires aboard barges and towing vessels and performed flood rescue missions.

Following its decommissioning, the Sumac was first donated to the Marine Learning Institute and then went to the Kaskaskia Regional Port District in Red Bud, Ill. In March 2006, it was sold to XYZ LLC of Paducah. This was a partnership involving Capt. Peanut Hollinger, marine broker Mike Marshall and others. The boat was rebuilt with the middle of three towknees on the bow removed and other modifications to make the boat more of a traditional towing vessel. At that time, it was renamed the Jayne S. Hollinger.

The Hollinger was bareboat chartered to several companies and was seen throughout the river system until it was sold in February 2013 to Clinton Auto Parts, Ledbetter, Ky., which was affiliated with Three Rivers Boat & Barge, also of Ledbetter. Under this ownership, the vessel was renamed Rita Jane and bareboat chartered to other companies. It’s been laid up for the past several years.

The sighting of it sitting on the bank would seem to indicate an impending end to its 81 years of service.