Nomination for LUNA (tugboat)

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (3-82) OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries - complete applicable sections 1. Name For NPS use only received 9 1983 - date entered historic Tugboat Iuna (tug boat) and/or common Same 2. Location street & number Boston Harbor N/Anot for publication city, town Boston N/Avicinity of state Massachusetts code 025 county Suffolk code 025 3.

Classification Category - district building(s) structure site X object Ownership - public X private both Public Acquisition N/ Ain process being considered Status X occupied unoccupied work in progress Accessible - yes: restricted - yes: unrestricted no Present Use - agriculture commercial educational entertainment - government - industrial - military museum park & private residence religious scientific transportation other: 4. Owner of Property name Terra/Mare Research and Education Society, Inc. street & number P. O. Box 223 city, town Boston N/ Avicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state Massachusetts 02113 courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. United States Coast Guard, c/o Documentation Office street & number 447 Commercial Avenue city, town Boston 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of the Historic Assets title of the Commonwealth has this property been determined eligible? state Massachusetts 02109 yes X no date 1983 federal X state county local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission city, town -Boston state Massachusetts 7. Description Tugboat Luna, Boston,Harbor, Massachusetts Condition excellent good X fair deteriorated Check one Check one Aunaltered Mkmvedsite _ altered _moved date unexposed N/A Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

Launched June 29, 1930, the tugboat Luna is presently (1983) tied up at Pier 10, Boston Marine Industrial Park, South Boston and is being restored as a living museum. A captain and crew live aboard. The Luna (see Photos #1-6) is an oil-fired diesel-electric tugboat of wood construction (oak and longleaf yellow pine) with trunnel fastenings. Her overall length is 97' 3", register breadth is 24' 8" and draft is 13'. The hull speed is a maximum 12.5 knots and the vessel's displacement is approximately 325 tons; the gross tonnage is 165 tons. Propulsion is provided by two six-cylinder, single acting, four-cycle Winston diesel engines with a single, four-blade 8' 9" screw in a diesel-electric drive system which delivers 760 brake horsepower. The Luna a ecomodated an average of six crew members: captain, mate, engineer, cook, deckhanä, and oiler.

The-captain occupied the cabin directly aft of the wheelhouse, the mate and engineer occupied the two cabins in the main house aft of the engineroom fidley, while the unlicensed crew lived in the forecastle below deck. Architecturally, the Luna is a classic wood tugboat. She was traditionally designed, traditionally built, and massively constructed. The hull and house design was representative of the harbor tugboars that worked along the coast in protected waters in the United States in the 1930s and 1940s. launching paonted yiaht winte wo te her house interoor and extego were Vaxnas, exterior were varnished. The door stiles and,rails, window sash, staçk and walestrakes (fenders part of the hull) were painted black. The decks were kept oiled and all of the brass was kept polished (all of the exposed hardware was solid brass).

Of interest are the dutch doors around the main house which are hung with solid brass axe holders which were hung on the main house near the main towing bitts aft and up forward. However, the two significant details on the Luna which people associated directly with this tugboat, was the Cunningham "working" whistle and. the ship's wheel. The Luna's wheel (four feet in diameter) was built out of mahogany and intricately inlaid with many different exotic woods. The original wheel, is now in the possession of the first captain's daughter. The most noteworthy aspects of the Luna herself were the elliptical, fantail stern, and straight, plumb stem, properly wide beam, and massive walestrakes. These charac- teristics suggest the ruggedness of this classic harbor tugboat.

The Luna's exterior and interior are basically unaltered from their original state; alterations have been minor and have not affected the structural integrity.or overall :appearance of the vessel. When the! Luna was commissioned for war duty, her hull and brightwork were camoflaged battleship gray and the glass and brass portholes were blacked out (Photo #5). Following World War II until 1981 the Luna was painted black and the house bright red with the trim work (door and window frames and casings) black, the Boston Tow Boat Company still use today (Photo #6). Since 1981, the hull and deckhouse have been returned to their original appearance of white paint and varnish (Photo #1). A survey conducted several years (Continued) 8.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Tugboat Luna, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Period - prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1899 X 1900- Areas of SignificanceCheck and justify below -archeology-prehistoric - community planning - landscape architecture __ religion - archeology-historic conservation _ law _ science agriculture economics - literature - sculpture architecture (naval) education military _ social/ art X - engineering _ music humanitarian X commerce exploration/settlement - communications - philosophy theater _ industry - politics/government X transportation _ invention -other (specify) Specific dates 1930 Builder

Statement of significance

/Architect M. M. Davis & Sons/John G. Alden Co. Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The tugboat Luna possesses integrity of location (in Boston Harbor), setting, design, materials, workmanship and association. She is significant both for the high quality of her design which combines a traditional overall appearance with the most innovative mechanical drive system of the time and which marks an important transition in tugboat architecture inithe second quadter of the 20th century. She was the first of her class built for a commercial tugboat company and one of the last wooden-hulled tugboats constructed; she remains the only original diesel-electric tugboat still running in the United States. Additionally, the Luna possesses an enduring and outstanding career in association with the maritime history of Boston Harbor from 1930 to the present.

The tugboat Luna thus meets criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Boston owes much of its greatness to the merchantships -- as many as fifteen ships a day -- which used the ldeep water port during the 18th and 19th centuries. Prior to the introduction of the steam engine nurie: Paor to in the early 19th century, sailing ships entered, docked and departed at the mercy of the weather and tides. The steam engine permitted both larger bulk transportation andthe development of small powerful tugboats built to tow or push barges, freighters and liners and for salvage operations. The Charlotte Dundas was the first, built in Scotland in 1802. In the United States, the Rufus King was among the earliest built for the New York Dock Company in 1825. Like her British counterparts, she utilized a coal-fired steam engine and paddle-wheel propulsion.

Boston boasted the earliest salvage tug in the United States and one of the first with screw propulsion, the R. B. Forbes (1845). Over the years, coal-burning steam engines were improved with the triple-expansion engine and better boiler construction; steam engine (oil- or coal-fired) was the engine of choice until the development of the steam engine in the early 20th century. Increased specialization also occurred, resulting today in harbor and docking tugs, river towboats, canal tugs, railroad tugs, coastal tugs, ocean tugs, rescue and salvage tugs, Navy tugs and firefighting tugs. The tugboat Luna was designed by John G. Alden Co., a Boston naval architectural firmlocated on Commercial Wharf, constructed byM.M. Davis & Sons, Solomons, Maryland in 1930, and launched the same year (Photos #2 and #3). She was built for the Mystic Steamship Co.

and operated by the Boston Tow Boat Company, working out of Boston Harbor during her forty-one years of service from 1930 to 1971. From her com- mission to 1940 the Commodore of the Company's tugboat fleet, Captain David Cunningham, was the Luna's master. (He was noted for his strict and regimental discipline.) (Continued) 9.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References See continuation sheet. 10. Geographical Data N/A Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle rameton South, Mass. UT M References A 19 / 13|3,42,0,9 Zone Easting 14,6|92/2,19 Northing Quadrangle scale 1 :25000 Zone Easting LTLIL Northing E GLUJLILAd LILILAJ LUL HLULUbOd LLL Verbal boundary description and justification This nomination consists of the tugboat Luna structure. Please refer to Abstract of Title. 03003.00 List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state code county code N/A state code county code 11. Form Prepared By Virginia A. Fitch, Preservation Planner, with Anita Petricone and name/title Terra/Mare Research & Education Society, Inc. organization Massachusetts Historical Commissiondate June 1983 street & number 294 Washington Street telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town Boston state Massachusetts 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national .State X local As the designated.State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion inthe National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to treacriteria and procedures setforth by the National Park Service.er.y State Historic Preservation Officer signature Netum LWestowski State Historic Preservation Officer title Massachusetts Historical Commission date 8/29/83 For NPS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register olone Entered in the eeper of the National Registe Nattonat Register date 10/6/83 Attest: Chief of Registration date 0-82 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Tugboat Luna, Boston Continuation sheet Harbor, Massachusetts Item number 8 Exp.

10-31-84 Fan NPS usaronly) racaived. cate antered Page 1 The Luna was a typical 1930s harbor tugboat with several exceptional qualities that made her outstanding in comparison to other contemporary tugs. Her diesel-electric drive was the latest "state-of-the-art" method of propulsion at the time, having been used on railroad tugs in New York for only six years. She was thus the first tugboat built for and owned by a commercial tugboat company to utilize this method. The Luna and her sister ship, the Venus (see last paragraph of Description) proved that diesel-electric drive tugboats were far easier to control and maneuver while also requiring a smaller crew to run the vessel. Being bridge- controlled eliminated delays (from full ahead to full astern) and the communication of orders to the engineer as required on the steam tugs and direct reversible tugs.

Hailed by the press as a "Super Tug," the Luna received worldwide publicity and became the prototype for subseguent diesel-electric tugs, notably those built in England by Robinson and Crosthwaite, oldest tugboat company in the world. Although early diesel-electric tugs were more economical to build and maintain as well as providing more sensitivity of control than their steam-driven counterparts, they had somewhat less power and ship owners were generally suspicious of their radical drive mechanism. Consequently, many steam tugs were converted to diesel without removing the tall, thin stack that is indicative of a steam tug. Similarly, John G. Alden Co.

designed the Luna with a small version of the requisite Photo #4 for comparison), but graced her with the classic lines of the traditional steam tug: white wooden hull, elliptical stern, straight stem, varnished house, hand-woven manilla bow fender and wooden side fenders. Unusually careful attention was also given to her interior fittings with wainscoting in the cabins and galley, brass on the portholes and water faucets, and an elaborate inlaid wheel. Although steel-hulled tugboats were beginning to supercede wooden ones at the time, a wooden hull was selected both for its traditional qualities and its resiliency to impact. The Luna and her sister ship, the Venus, were, therefore, among the last ana nor ele sister shipi, che y wooden-hulled, classic-design tugboats to be built.

The Luna's contribution to Boston Harbor as a working tugboat during her forty-one years of service was vital and important to the port's progress and development. In addition to her basic task of docking and undocking commercial ships, the Luna supplied electricity to different companies along the waterfront in emergencies, helped extinguish numerous fires and carried out search and rescue work. She was also called down to New York City to welcome the Normandie on her maiden voyage on June 2, 1935 (Photo #4) and was there again to help dock the Queen Mary when she visited the United States for the first time on June 1, 1936. In Boston, the Luna docked the U.S.S. Constitution on May 7, 1934, following her final voyage around the country and has since towed her around Boston Harbor and turned her on numerous occasions (Photo #6).

The Navy would request Boston Tug Boat's diesel-electric tugs as they could provide the gentle and careful assistance the U.S.S. Constitution required. Requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration during World War II, the Luna helped dock and undock (Continued) 0-2 Exp. 10-31-84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Far NPSi usaianiy: received. date antered Tugboat Luna, Boston Continuation sheet Harbor, Massachusetts Item number 8 Page 2 ships in repair and launch newly-built Navy warships at the Charlestown Navy Yard and the South Boston Naval Annex (Photo #5) . She also parti- cipated in the assembly of convoys and day and night "on call" duty with the Coast Guard. Without the efficient and expedient help of the Luna and other tugs of her class, costly delays would have occurred.

By the 1960s, the presence of steel-hulled tugboats with much greater horsepower and lesser crew reguirements brought an end to the Luna's term of active duty. She retired March 30, 1971, narrowly escaped disposal by the Army Corps of Engineers, and remained on the downtown Boston waterfront being used as an office and residence by several owners. In 1979, a group of volunteers working under the direction of Captain Francis R. Cage began restoring her engines, hull and deckhouse. The nucleus of the group incorporated as Terra/Mare Reseanch and Education Society, Inc., a non-profit corporation, to purchase the Luna and rehabili- tate her as a living museum (Photo #1) . NPS Form 10-900-8. (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Tugboat "LUNA" Continuation sheet: Item number 9 OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp.

10-31-84 Far NPS usa anly rocsived. date entered Page 1 MacDonald, Stephen D., Harbor Escort Fleet, Boston Business, Sept. 1954 Zakon, David L., Ile de France Docked by Tugs of Boston's O1dest Towboat Company, submission to the Workboat magazine, Mandeville, La., 1949. The Latest Development in the Port of Boston, Mystic Steamship Co., Boston, 1930. LUNA papers. Boston Tow Boat Company records. THIS NOMINATION SEEMS TO BE MISSING A CONTINUATION SHEET FOR PART 7. Mank2.

Boke 8/29/84 Missing Core Documentation Property Name Luna (tugboat) County, State Suffolk County, Massachusetts Reference Number 83004099 The following Core Documentation is missing from this entry: X Nomination Form (section 7 continuation sheet[s]) _Photographs .USGS Map WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET LUNA (tugboat) Suffolk County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: - sample Reviewer's comments: -request Lappeal Working No.. SEP 9 1983 Fed. Reg.

Date: , 5,83 Date Due: 10/6/83 - 10/24/83 Action: L ACCEPT 1016/83 Intered in -RETURN Nat1onal Begistor-REJECT- Federal Agency: - -NR decision Recom./Criteria_ Reviewer - Discipline Date - see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: _ technical corrections cited below substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one J unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one original site J moved date 8.

Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature date title 13.

Other - Maps J Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Signed Date Phone: _ Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet C6LUN ECONOMY DESK TUGBOAT LUNA in Fort Point Channel, Boston, July 4, 1982. Museum Wharf buildings and Hood "milk bottle" restaurant in background. Negative with photographer Photo by Carolyn Royal Photo 10f6 #2 THE LUNA READY FOR LAUNCHING AT THE DAVIS+SONS SHIPYARD IN SOLOMONS, MARYLANO, 1930 Luna, Solomons, Maryland Photographer unkonwn, 1930 110 Grover Ave. Winthrop, MA 02152 Photo #2 076 3. THE LUNA ON HER MAIDEN VOYAGE ENTERING PRESIDENT ROADS (BY NUN #2) IN BOSTON HARBOR, 1930 Luna, Boston Harbor Photographer unknown, 1930 110 Grover Ave. Winthrop, MA 02152 Photo #3 PORT WELCOME THE LUNA IN NEW YDRK HARBOR WELGOMING THE NORMANDIE ON HER MAIDEN VOYAGE.

JUNE 2,1935 Luna and Normandie, New York Harbor Photographer unknown, 1935 110 Grover Ave. Winthrop, MA 02152 Photo # 4 07 6 +J5 - 415 711-39 Navy Yard Boston, 20 Oct 1939 USS O'BRIEN DD 415 and USS WALKE DD 416 after undocking. #5 COURTESX OF V,S. NAVY Luna, U.S.S O'Brien, and U.S.S. Walke U.S. Navy, 1939 Boston National Historical Park (Collection #8), Charlestown Navy Yard Boston, MA 02129 Photo #5of6 #6 THE LUNA TURNING THE USS. CONSTITUTION ARDUND AT THE CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARDI 1959 Luna and U.S.S. Constitution, Boston Inner Harbor U.S. Navy, 1959 110 Grover Ave. Winthrop, MA 02152 Photo #6 ot 6 NORMAN F. FAY 15 LAUREL CIRCLE NEEDHAM. MASSACHUSETTS 02192 (617) 444.4210 Luna- Suppert RECEIVED JUN 211983 MASS. HIST. COMM. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: The Anna D. Wilcox Trust of 8/21/63 holds a mortgage on the tugboat LUNA.

I am a Trustee for this Trust and am pleased to report that this mortgage is being paid off. I was very much in favor of the transfer of the LUNA to Terra/Mare Research & Education Society, Inc. and wholeheartedly sup- port the restoration program which the group has undertaken. The nomination of the LUNA to the Federal Registration of Historic Places is well deserved. I hope that it will be approved. Normon FFay Norman F. Fay June 14, 1983 P.O. Box 448, Boston, Massachuetts 02102- June 20, 1983 RECEIVED JUN 211983 MASS. HIST. COMM. Massachusetts Historical Commission 294 Washington Street Boston, MA 02108 Dear Commissioners: The officers and directors of Terra/Mare Research & Education Society, Inc., owners of the Tugboat Luna, are very supportive of the nomination of the Luna to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Luna represents a grand period in the history of Boston and its harbor - the 1930s, when the famous ocean-going passenger liners docked at the many active piers, and the early 1940s, when warships were being launched or repaired and troop convoys were heading overseas under cover of night. She is the only true Boston Harbor workboat from those periods that has been preserved and is still running. Our goal is to restore the Luna, faithful to her appearance in 1930 when she was built. She will then become a living museum, contrib- uting to the architectural and commercial history of the harbor and preserving part of Boston's history. Thankyouvery much for your consideration of this nomination. TUG BOAT LUNA Công Kgah Chairman of the Board of Directors Terra/Mare Research & Education Society, Inc. BOSTON, Mass- "LUNA" (Resource Name) SUFFOLK (County) STATUS: 1. MISSING 2.

REMOVED/ DEMOLISHED 3. NHL X 4. TR. 5. MRA _ EXPLANATION: 1. Missing Status: Entire Folder ( ); Nomination ( ); Map(s) ( ); Photos () Available on: Microfiche ( ); Optical Disk ( ) 2. (Cause for removal) 3. 83004099 (Reference Number(s]) MASSACHUSETTS (State) 6. OVER-( SIZED 7. NPS -. UNDOCUMENTED 17 1 jul 11569 (Date form completed) Mach 2. Bahe (Completed by) 8. DOE - OWNER OBJECTION 9. RESTRICTED (NHL Name, if different than NRHP Name) / (Date Removed) 4 1 1| 189 (Date Designated) (If multi-state/county TR, state/county where filed and location) 5. 6. 7. (TR or MRA Name) (If multi-state/county MRA, state/county where filed and location) (Location of oversize file) (Current source of partial documentation) COMMENTS: / (Target Date) (Where found, or source of replacement) (Date Found/Replaced) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE National Register of Historic Places Locator Card WASO 21 JAN.