Foss Launch and Tug Company
Encyclopedia
Foss Launch and Tug Company was founded in 1889 by Thea Foss
(1857–1927) and her husband Andrew Foss. The company, now known as Foss Maritime, is now the largest tug and towing concern on the west coast of the United States.
In 1916 Foss Launch and Tug Company bought Captain O.G. Olson’s Tacoma towing business, including the steam tugs Echo, Elf, and Olympian.
Foss tug dieselised their fleet very on; about 1930. In this way, they were in a better position to weather the Depression.
Their small competition either went under or were bought out.
During the Second World War, Foss tugs were seconded to the US Navy
to fight in the Pacific. Tugs were needed to help the Navy in the South Pacific; in the North Pacific with the Aleutian Campaign; in
Alaska with the Alaska Highway. More tugs were built in the emergency program and these became available after the war.
In the post war years large pulp mills were built around the Sound, as were large bridges. These provided work for the tugs. Cement, chemicals, pulp, aircraft, fish, and the Cold War provided work with
the DEW line in Alaska.
The North Slope oil boom continued the work for tugs after 1968.
By this time Foss had expanded to deep sea work and had become harbor
tugs in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Foss Maritime has 90 tugs and an equal number of barges.
Thea Foss
Thea Christiansen Foss was the founder of Foss Maritime, the largest tugboat company in the western United States...
(1857–1927) and her husband Andrew Foss. The company, now known as Foss Maritime, is now the largest tug and towing concern on the west coast of the United States.
Course of business
The Foss concern began with a single rowboat which Thea Foss rented to crews of vessels in Tacoma. Under the management of Thea Foss, and the Foss family, the company then branched out into sailboats, naptha launches, gasoline-engined vessels, and scows and barges. When Thea Foss died in 1927, the company owned 27 gasoline, diesel, and steam powered vessels, and numerous unpowered barges.Foss tug dieselised their fleet very on; about 1930. In this way, they were in a better position to weather the Depression.
Their small competition either went under or were bought out.
During the Second World War, Foss tugs were seconded to the US Navy
to fight in the Pacific. Tugs were needed to help the Navy in the South Pacific; in the North Pacific with the Aleutian Campaign; in
Alaska with the Alaska Highway. More tugs were built in the emergency program and these became available after the war.
In the post war years large pulp mills were built around the Sound, as were large bridges. These provided work for the tugs. Cement, chemicals, pulp, aircraft, fish, and the Cold War provided work with
the DEW line in Alaska.
The North Slope oil boom continued the work for tugs after 1968.
By this time Foss had expanded to deep sea work and had become harbor
tugs in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Foss Maritime has 90 tugs and an equal number of barges.
Further reading
- Fowler, Chuck and Freeman, Mark, Tugboats on Puget Sound, Arcadia Press (2009) ISBN 0738559725
- Newell, Gordon R., Pacific Tugboats, Superior Publishing, Seattle, WA (1957)
- Newell, Gordon R., Ships of the Inland Sea, Superior Publishing Co., Seattle, WA (2nd Ed. 1960)
- Skalley, Michael, Foss: Ninety Years of Towboating, Superior Publishing, Seattle WA (1981) ISBN 0875642241