Can a ship tow a ship?

[lynallbel]

My Fil an ex seaman once told me, it was the weight of the tow line that did the towing rather than the pull from the tug?

 

[Poignard]

Here is an account of a ship, not originally designed as a tug, that had a fine record in WWII including towing the carrier Yorktown for two days during the battle of Midway.

USS Vireo (AM-52) - Wikipedia

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The problem with small craft, me towing you (no disrespect to the size of your yacht) is that we don't have long lines, or not very long, most of our lines have minimal elasticity and the impact of chop, or swell is proportionately greater for us - you really need something to smooth out the snatch loads. If its a short tow, from outside to inside a breakwater no issues but if it miles - it needs careful thought.

Its not such an unusual scenario - a yacht having lost a mast, for example (though if they have lost a mast you could get the length by using one or three of their halyards.

I hate to mention long snubbers and I'll try not to mention climbing rope. (but they would give the elasticity.

Jonathan

Because of a passage through the Caledonian canal, I have four 15m nylon lines. If I needed to tow or be towed, that's what I'd use. As they have eyes splices in one end, I could easily join two end to end very securely, or all four with a somewhat less secure knot.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

My Fil an ex seaman once told me, it was the weight of the tow line that did the towing rather than the pull from the tug?

Sort of, but only sort of. The towing line describes a catenary curve between towing and towed vessels. The weight of the line tends to draw the vessels together; the towing vessel counteracts that tendency. So you can argue that the weight of the line pulls the towed vessel forward, and if the towing vessel were stopped, the towed vessel would (theoretically) continue until the towline hung vertically. But the towing vessel keeps the curve flat, so the process continues. However, if you look at the balance of forces, it is clear that the towline is transferring a force from the tug to the towed vessel.

 

[Bru]

In the modern shipping world, I doubt if one merchant ship could or would tow another

Back in my father's day with Alfred Holt & Co, their ships were suitably equipped and expected if necessary to tow each other. Holts had a very strong "self help" ethos and would only call for assistance outside the company in extremis

I think from memory (it's some years since I did a lot of research into the company for the Old Man) their record was a 500 mile tow of the Gleniffer by another Holts vessel after the former lost her propeller

In dad's day as a marine engineer they were expected and required to carry out any and all repairs themselves, often at sea, only the most catastrophic failures or repairs requiring dry docking involved outside assistance

Propeller loss by the way seemed to be a not infrequent occurrence! On one of dad's Far East voyages they carried a replacement prop for another Holts ship stuck in Singapore without a prop. It was stolen and replaced with a wooden mock up overnight whilst alongside in Hong Kong!!! Quite how was never ascertained and nothing was ever proved but it ruined the careers of several deck officers due to the obvious suspicion that it must have been an inside job

 

[Juan Twothree]

I like to watch the series of UK TV programmes about RNLI rescues. They sometimes tow moderately large ships, and tow lines break. I don't remember them saying how they cope with I presume how the two broken ends fly towards the vessel to which they are still attached with the stretch energy...

The dangers of lines under load are drummed into us regularly by the RNLI. Where not to stand, "no go" areas, that sort of thing. Even on an ILB, it's helmet visors down at all times when working with anything under load.

I once saw a ship's mooring rope part, and hit a linesman who was standing on the quayside. He got away with a broken hip, but he could easily have gone into the water.
People have died from a smack across the chest from a piece of rope.

 

[colind3782]

Spanish boats are required to carry a line five times the length of the boat to be used for towing. However, the strength of the line isn't specified which makes a bit of a mockery of it.

 

[Hermit]

RN warships always carry a tow line sized to tow themselves and have suitable points to tow others.

A vessel being towed will break their anchor cable and attach a very stretchy tow line to it before veering plenty of chain (as long as in deep water) to provide a catenary.

I remember practicing being towed by an (I think) Ukrainian warship in the Med years ago in HMS Edinburgh. The other chap went off at speed when connected and the line went tight (no anchor cable used for practice). We all ducked thinking it was going to break but it held and we flew off at speed.

Trouble was that at the end they just can to a stop fairly sharpish and we then had to steer past them and use power to stop otherwise we would have ended up towing them astern from our bow - not ideal.

It is a regular thing practiced off Plymouth - but with slightly more control and patience!

 

[LittleSister]

The dangers of lines under load are drummed into us regularly by the RNLI. Where not to stand, "no go" areas, that sort of thing. Even on an ILB, it's helmet visors down at all times when working with anything under load.

I once saw a ship's mooring rope part, and hit a linesman who was standing on the quayside. He got away with a broken hip, but he could easily have gone into the water.
People have died from a smack across the chest from a piece of rope.

I was once on a boat towed by the RNLI. We spent the time before their arrival rigging up a cat's cradle of lines to spread the towline load load between the samson post, wooden keel-stepped mast, and aft cleats, all of which were very substantial (more small ship style than yachty). The tow was rather alarming. Our stern was dragged very low into the water. We pleaded by radio for them to slow down, which they did, but disappointingly slightly. The towline thrummed, and I cowered behind the coachroof mindful of how dangerous it could be if it parted.

At some point we noticed that the towline was caught to one side against some obstruction at the bow (possibly part of the bowsprit mounting on the foredeck, I can't recall exactly), risking damaging either the fitting or the cable. For some reason it fell to me to go forward and try to free it. I gritted my teeth, squinted my eyes and made my way forward. During some momentary reduction in load on the towline, perhaps as the boat surged down a wave, I managed to prise it upwards, using something like a boathook handle, it pulled clear of the obstruction and now had a fair lead forward. Boy, was I glad to get back to the cockpit in one piece!

With the benefit of hindsight it was a daft thing to do.

 

[Juan Twothree]

I was once on a boat towed by the RNLI. We spent the time before their arrival rigging up a cat's cradle of lines to spread the towline load load between the samson post, wooden keel-stepped mast, and aft cleats, all of which were very substantial (more small ship style than yachty). The tow was rather alarming. Our stern was dragged very low into the water. We pleaded by radio for them to slow down, which they did, but disappointingly slightly. The towline thrummed, and I cowered behind the coachroof mindful of how dangerous it could be if it parted.

At some point we noticed that the towline was caught to one side against some obstruction at the bow (possibly part of the bowsprit mounting on the foredeck, I can't recall exactly), risking damaging either the fitting or the cable. For some reason it fell to me to go forward and try to free it. I gritted my teeth, squinted my eyes and made my way forward. During some momentary reduction in load on the towline, perhaps as the boat surged down a wave, I managed to prise it upwards, using something like a boathook handle, it pulled clear of the obstruction and now had a fair lead forward. Boy, was I glad to get back to the cockpit in one piece!

With the benefit of hindsight it was a daft thing to do.

I'd like to think that the training has improved a lot since then. The situation you describe would be very unlikely to happen these days, it's all SOPs and checklists, which is a very good thing.

If possible, I always put a crew member aboard a boat we're towing, to make sure everyone's happy, and to act as a communications link; depending on who I've got with me on the lifeboat, I try to make it me that goes aboard.

That way I can hopefully get a cup of tea, and possibly some food too, while I bore the pants off them talking about boats.

 

[Frank Holden]

In the modern shipping world, I doubt if one merchant ship could or would tow another

Back in my father's day with Alfred Holt & Co, their ships were suitably equipped and expected if necessary to tow each other. Holts had a very strong "self help" ethos and would only call for assistance outside the company in extremis

I think from memory (it's some years since I did a lot of research into the company for the Old Man) their record was a 500 mile tow of the Gleniffer by another Holts vessel after the former lost her propeller

In dad's day as a marine engineer they were expected and required to carry out any and all repairs themselves, often at sea, only the most catastrophic failures or repairs requiring dry docking involved outside assistance

Propeller loss by the way seemed to be a not infrequent occurrence! On one of dad's Far East voyages they carried a replacement prop for another Holts ship stuck in Singapore without a prop. It was stolen and replaced with a wooden mock up overnight whilst alongside in Hong Kong!!! Quite how was never ascertained and nothing was ever proved but it ruined the careers of several deck officers due to the obvious suspicion that it must have been an inside job

I believe that Blue Funnel/A Holt & Co self insured all their ships which would help promote the self help ethos.
Another company that seemed to do rather a lot of it was BTC ( Burgoo Tripe and Curry ) whose ships were also known as 'Red Sea Beetles' as there were so many to be found thereabouts. They were better known in later years as BP.
Strangely a lot of this towing seemed to take place in the northern Indian Ocean.

Back when the world was young and Noah was still a deck boy all the ships I sailed on had a very long wire hawser - known as the 'insurance wire' - on a reel at the break of the fo'csle which was for that very purpose and required by the underwriters.

Photo below of an 'in house' tow. T3 'Stanvac Karachi' towing 27k dwt 'Stanvac Japan' towards Bombay after the latter's catastrophic explosion in 1958.
Not sure how they set up the tow as S/V Japan was 'dead ship' and no power on the focsle.

 

[Rappey]

Wouldn't tow lines nowadays be dyneema as when it snaps it falls to the ground with little recoil ?

 

[Kukri]

As Bru and Frank Holden say, towing a sister ship was almost an expected evolution in Blue Flue and BTC and on a smaller scale, Comben Longstaff coasters (“the Blue Funnel of the coasting trades”) were the same.

This leads us onto merchant ship salvage. The good bit here is that the crew of the salving ship can claim salvage as well as the owners.

Good fun for all concerned. In the days of my youth I worked for a firm of City solicitors with a large Admiralty law practice (collisions, salvage and so on) and I did several merchant ship salvages.

The Royal Navy, represented for Lloyd’s Form salvages by the Treasury Solicitor, used to be very keen on this, as they carried and no doubt still carry huge crews and all sorts of useful kit, such as helicopter portable gas turbine pumps. I can remember an RN frigate in the Caribbean being absolutely delighted to help a London Greek owned OBO with an oil cargo which had flooded her engine room and was gently sinking in fine weather. Her crew and her owners gave a good impression of being delighted as well, but in reality the owners were in financial difficulties, as this was the time of the first “Tanker crisis” and would have much preferred it if she had gone down without Naval interference. The RN handed over the tow to, indeed, Smit, and she made it into port followed shortly by her owners’ insolvency. I’m sure Frank can name them. Very nice people. They went on to become SASOL’s chartering brokers, with a nice office over a jewellers in Bond Street.

There was a special insurance clause that provided that if a sister ship provided salvage services these were to be paid for by underwriters “the same as if the salving ship belonged to strangers”.

Years later I recall a friend who had command of one of my then employers’ nice pocket container ships of 10,800 GT towing a logger into Singapore with her and my advising him on how to proceed with his claim and his crew’s claims including the advice not to retire or to expect a new house but to plan on a new car, which proved to be exactly right. Now at that time that was a nice small container ship of 790 TEU, and she was pretty much the size of one of the Holt family’s ocean greyhounds of the generation before.

Which illustrates the point that ships were getting bigger. Frank’s snap of the Stanvac Japan, a notably big ship of her day at 27,000dwt, under tow by her older sister the Stanvac Karachi, a T3 tanker of 16,000dwt, makes the same point.

As ships have got bigger - much bigger - any idea of handing the gear needed to make a towing connection with another merchant ship has to be given up, and the crews have got smaller into the bargain.

So for big ships it’s no longer possible.

 

[Biggles Wader]

"Insurance wire". We certainly had them on 1950s/60s built general cargo ships. We used to say that if we ever rolled it out the copra bugs would probably have eaten through it. Likewise the leadline sounding gear.

 

[Juan Twothree]

Wouldn't tow lines nowadays be dyneema as when it snaps it falls to the ground with little recoil ?

I believe it's been gradually rolled out to ALBs over the last few years, and ILBs will be getting it some time soon.

 

[Frank Holden]

"Insurance wire". We certainly had them on 1950s/60s built general cargo ships. We used to say that if we ever rolled it out the copra bugs would probably have eaten through it. Likewise the leadline sounding gear.

Let me guess. Bank Line?

 

[Kukri]

Let me guess. Bank Line?

“Go on board a Bank boat - smell the Stockholm tar!”?

 

[Kukri]

Poking around on the subject of insurance wires, I find that the “Queen Mary” still has hers. There are two, one forward, one aft, hand spliced and served over the eyes and splices, stored under deck and in well nigh perfect condition.

I think the SOLAS provisions for “effective towing arrangements” have superseded the insurance wire.

 

[Biggles Wader]

“Go on board a Bank boat - smell the Stockholm tar!”?

Curry is my most vivid recollection and very good it was too

 

[davidej]

My Fil an ex seaman once told me, it was the weight of the tow line that did the towing rather than the pull from the tug?

An interesting concept. Presumably the tug could just let go and the towed vessel would carry on and not notice the difference?

But Antarctic pilot has explained it far more elegantly than I ever could.