Tugboat Luna
"The Queen of the Fleet"
Tugboat Luna
National Register of Historic Places - 1983
Boston Landmark - 1985
National Historic Landmark – 1989
The Pride of Boston Harbor
At 95 years old Luna is once again needing a helping hand. The non-profit group, Luna Preservation Society, LPS, that revitalized and cared for Luna during the past 30 years is itself growing old. LPS needs new members and participants to continue the care of Luna. Luna has a phenomenal opportunity to once again be a the center of Boston harbor: to be moored on Pier 3, adjacent to USS Constitution, in the Charlestown Navy Yard.
Luna represents a unique mix of classic traditional wooden ship construction, the best state-of-the-art engineering technology applied to marine transportation and a significant role in the history of Boston’s harbor.
Imagine world renowned yacht designer John Alden, a traditional shipyard: M.M. Davis & Sons in Solomons, MD, and GE electric motors and generators with Winton diesels coming together to build Luna - the first commercial diesel electric tug with a new degree of precise and delicate maneuvering. Luna received world-wide attention at her launching because she was the first diesel-electric tug designed for a commercial towing company: Mystic Steamship Company now Boston Towing & Transportation.
What Luna and LPS, needs now is: PEOPLE
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people that enjoy being on the water, who have a love of historic boats, willing and eager to put their hands and eyes on Luna,
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people with an appreciation of history, of how things once were done, the technology, engineering, the craft of a bygone era,
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people who want to support a group focused on education, environment, hands-on job skills,
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people who want to join LPS as board members, volunteers, and participants preserving Luna and Boston’s waterfront history.
Please contact & send a message to Luna Preservation Society.
WELCOME
National Register of Historic Places - 1983
Boston Landmark - 1985
National Historic Landmark – 1989
The Pride of Boston Harbor
"If Beauty Brings Luck, then Luna Will Laugh at all Disaster"
so said the press when Luna first appeared on the Boston waterfront. Now, Boston's seafaring history can smile for its future. The Queen of the Fleet, the one-of-a-kind historic tug Luna, is on her way to recovering her past glory, coming back from the brink of disaster.
Luna was the first diesel-electric tug built for a commercial towing company. Luna represents a step in the continuing evolution in propulsion, power, and control.
Imagine a tugboat from the drawing board of a famous yacht designer, John Alden. When she was built in 1930, she got "cutting edge" or the "state-of-the-art" technology for her powerplant: a diesel-electric system, Winton and GE, that allowed precise handling when maneuvering close alongside ships. Luna was among the first to be built with this industrial advance. General Electric was so proud of her system that 20 years later and well into the 1950s, Luna still appeared in GE ads. While she was still part of the "working fleet," Luna docked the great passenger liners as S.S. Normandie and often towed USS Constitution on parade. She represents the "working waterfront" that gave Boston one of its vital links, the link to foreign commerce and the world economy. Now, Luna is the last of her kind.
Maritime transportation has evolved from sail, steam assist sail, steam, direct drive diesel, diesel-electric, diesel with transmission/reduction gear boxes, and now hybrid systems using both diesel-electric and diesel systems.
The propulsion system designed for Luna evolved from the railroads. Tugboats and trains have the same problem: acceleration of very heavy loads at very low speeds. What worked for the RR was applied to tugboats. Penn RR was first to implement the design in their push boats dedicated to their RR barges in NY harbor.
For the first time, tugboat captain's were able to control with ease an efficient drive, giving Luna tremendous thrust at low speeds. The diesel-electric drives gave good weight distribution and space utilization, enabled optimum engine speed, effective propeller speed, and instantaneous motor control, with eight speeds both forward and reverse. Luna represents an engineering design transition in maritime transportation that is still being used today.