A Vintage Towboat Is Repurposed
As with the last column, a photo shared by a friend recently stirred many memories. It was of a vessel headed to a final resting place after a long career of some seven decades throughout the western and inland rivers.
Avondale Marine Ways was formed in 1938 with a yard on the west bank of the Lower Mississippi River near New Orleans. With an original focus on building barges and small tugs, the owners were James Viavant, Harry Koch and Perry Ellis. During World War II, the firm expanded into building larger tugs and small ships for the government. After the war, the company continued to grow, yet primarily built barges, tugs and ships rather than river towboats.
By 1951, Avondale had established a Quick Repair yard in Harvey, La., and had purchased Service Foundry in New Orleans. A year-end report for the company showed production was up more than 30 percent from the previous year with 2,655 vessels repaired and new construction of 50 barges, several towboats and harbor tugs, a ferry and two tuna clippers.
Avondale delivered its first river towboat in February 1951, a 95-foot by 26-foot hull completed at Greenville, Miss. A complete vessel was delivered in March and designated hull number 349. It was a twin-screw towboat with hull dimensions of 125 by 30 feet and equipped with kort nozzles. It had 2,500 hp. from a pair of Enterprise DMQ-316 diesels turning 360 rpm. Named the Joan E, it was assigned the radio call letters WD 4276 and was owned by Texas Towing Company of Houston.
The Joan E had a full lower cabin with an open stern, a fairly long upper cabin with twin stacks behind and a slightly raised pilothouse. A large white star logo with a “T” in the center was on the outside of each stack as well as on the front of the shapely pilothouse. It was the largest boat in the Texas Towing fleet.
In 1955, the Joan E was sold to Thomas Petroleum Transit, Butler, Pa., and renamed Jane T. In 1969, it was sold to G&C Towing Inc., Point Pleasant, W.Va. G&C was set up by Capt. Robert H. Bosworth. The Jane T was the second boat in what would grow to be a sizeable fleet. Under Bosworth’s ownership, it was usually on charter to Ashland Oil Inc., towing petroleum products from Catlettsburg, Ky., to the Pittsburgh area. The boat exhibited the efficiency of its hull design and the strength of the direct-reversing Enterprise engines as it routinely departed Catlettsburg upbound with 15 loaded barges in any river condition. An aerial photo of it was featured on G&C letterhead stationery for many years.
In 1973, the Jane T was sold to General Marine Towing Company of Springfield, N.J., which morphed into General Intermodal Logistics Corporation (Gilco), Pittsburgh, Pa. It was renamed Jane Elizabeth and, in 1974, was repowered with a pair of GM 12-645E2 engines with Falk 3.02:1 gears, which delivered 3,000 hp. In April 1984, it was sold to Gator Towing Company, Pierre Part, La., and renamed Miss Audrey. It was renamed Jessica when sold to Hunter Marine Towing, Cut Off, La., in September 1987. It was again sold in February 1988 to Capt. James A. Sprinkle Inc. of Baton Rouge, La., and renamed the Pearl River. In July 1990, it was sold to Marquette Transportation, Paducah, Ky., and renamed Susan F. Griffis.
Seven years later, in August 1997, it was sold to Mays Marine Service, Clinton, Ky., and renamed Justin Edward. In February 2006, it was sold to Cooper Marine & Timberlands, Mobile, Ala., and renamed Crimson White. For the next 16 years, the boat was seen from Mobile to New Orleans, at Paducah on the Ohio River and, from there, up the Tennessee River to Yellow Creek and down the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway back to Mobile.
After 71 years of service, the Crimson White was retired in 2022 with virtually no changes made to the superstructure. While being dismantled, a fire broke out and burned much of the interior. On February 28, 2023, Okaloosa County, Fla., announced that the Crimson White was included in its five-year artificial reef plan. It was described as being ideal for reefing due to the hull thickness and vessel height. Artificial reefs are considered important for providing habitat for marine life as well as enhancing the fishing and diving in the local areas.
Last week, Barry Griffith forwarded a photo of Morgan Marine Salvage towing the Crimson White to be reefed. At the time this column was written, this unique veteran towboat should be resting on the bottom, beginning its new life as a fish habitat and attraction.
Featured image caption: The mv. Crimson White being towed to a reefing location last month. (Morgan Marine Salvage photo courtesy of Barry Griffith)
