THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 23, 1996 TAG: 9607230055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 89 lines
FOR NEARLY six decades, the spiffy little tugboat Huntington tooled and tooted around the Newport News waterfront, pushing and pulling the world's largest watergoing craft.
Though broad in the beam, as tugs go, the 300-ton Huntington looked toylike nudging up against Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and merchant ships with dead weights approaching half a million tons. But, like its lookalike ``Little Toot'' of storybook fame, the Huntington's size belied its power.
Now the vintage tugboat is being refurbished and refitted at a Newport News city dock.
Its new owner, Brook Smith, has ordered the retired boat brought back to its former glory, and, come September, it'll be berthed at the Norfolk waterfront near Nauticus, transformed into an interactive, kid-friendly museum. The tug's brass will gleam in the sun again, and it will look like new inside and out.
Smith also owns the American Rover, the tall ship that gives sailing tours of Norfolk harbor. He had watched the tidy little tug huff and puff around the Norfolk waterfront in recent years. When he heard about its retirement in 1994, he came up with the preservation plan. He declined to disclose the purchase price or the cost of refurbishing.
During its career, the Huntington moved an estimated 40,000 vessels around the harbor and the James River. In 1992, after 59 years of hard work, the boat was sold to Bay towing, a Norfolk-based company.
A half-hour tour of the tug museum will cost $1 for children and $2 for adults.
The Huntington has also captured the heart of Capt. Terry L. Briggs, the man in charge of the fix-up project. The tug's familiar to him, too, for he's been a tugboat captain for nearly two decades. Briggs grew up in a Norfolk towing company family.
Briggs is quick to show off pictures of the Huntington in its glory days. He has one taken from the deck of the cruise liner United States in 1957.
``Every sub, every aircraft carrier built in this shipyard, this tug undocked,'' he says. ``Dignitaries went out on it for christening parties.''
Briggs said that the Huntington tugboat museum will be the only one of its kind in the country. Though some vintage tugs are tied up at marine museums elsewhere, they're artifacts rather than boats folks can get aboard and investigate, he said.
The overhaul includes getting the boat's two water ``cannons'' operational again so kids can take aim and shoot water about 20 feet out into the harbor. And they'll be able to toot the Huntington's whistle.
In the pilot house, youngsters will pretend to pilot the boat, cranking the steering wheel, and out on the wide decks, they'll learn to tie knots and splice lines.
When kids and grownups aren't climbing over the decks, the Huntington will double as a bed and breakfast and a place for private parties.
Shipyard apprentices built the boat in 1933 as a yard tug and fireboat. It was named for shipyard founder Collis B. Huntington.
The tug was such a familiar sight that the dark brown paint it long wore became known as ``Huntington Brown.'' It was a hue one could select from paint color charts in hardware stores, minus, of course, the dose of varnish the Huntington's crew always threw in to make it shine.
Every Friday morning, without fail, the Huntington's crew would rub and polish the brass portholes, doorknobs and fire monitors to a warm gold glow.
``She looked real nice when she was dressed up. . . . There's no question she had a personality,'' said Reginald F. Hunley, a former captain of the Huntington.
``It was a beautiful boat in its heyday,'' Hunley said, remembering his 27 years aboard the tug. ``In the Newport News shipyard, she was the number one tug. From Monday through Friday each week, and more, she was our home away from home.''
The late Capt. Marvin Ambrose piloted the Huntington for more than 30 years before Hunley took over the helm.
``Ambrose and the Huntington were a legend,'' said Hunley. ``He was able to do so much with that boat.''
``It's kind of a mess right now,'' he added.
Layer upon layer of deck paint are lifting off the main deck in big chips, and brass fittings and portholes were painted over with white paint years back. The boat's smokestack was cut down from its original height and must be rebuilt.
Once it's got the spit and polish it needs, the Huntington will be towed - yes, towed - to its new berth. There, the former Queen of the Harbor will lie in state permanently. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
JIM WALKER/The Virginian-Pilot
Terry Briggs of Rover Marine in Newport News is overseeing
renovation of the Huntington.
VP
Map by CNB