- Item
- 1952-03-18
Part of Richards Studio Photographs
On March 18, 1952, the "Republic," an ex-German military transport, was photographed as it passed directly under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. It was being towed by a Foss Launch & Tug Co. tugboat, the Donna Foss. To the transport's stern were additional Foss tugboats, the Agnes Foss and the Wedell Foss. The "Republic" was at the start of a long voyage; from its storage in Olympia, it was being towed to the Panama Canal by tugboat and then onto the East Coast where it was scrapped. The trip was expected to take 40 days. The 20,000 ton "Republic" was built in Belfast, Ireland, in 1907 and used as a German transport in WWI. Captured by the Allied Forces, it then also served in WWII. Photograph ordered by Foss Launch & Tug Co. (History of Pierce County, Vol. 1, p. 422, TNT 3-20-52, A-11)
Foss Launch & Tug Co. (Tacoma); Tugboats--Tacoma--1950-1960; Towing--Tacoma; Government vessels; Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Tacoma); Suspension bridges--Tacoma;