Built in 1889, she is the only known wooden-hulled 19th-century tugboat left afloat and in operating condition in the United States. FOSS towed lumber and grain-laden square-rigged ships across the treacherous Columbia River, and hence, was a key participant in the Pacific Coast lumber trade and the international grain trade. While under charter to the U.S. Navy, FOSS was the last vessel to successfully escape Wake Island before Imperial Japanese forces attacked and captured that Pacific outpost in 1942.

 

Credits and Sources:

Information provided by the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Park Service.