Edna G

Type

Tugboat

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: Edna G is a coal-fired steam tugboat built in 1896 that worked the Great Lakes iron ore trade out of Two Harbors, Minnesota, and is now preserved as a museum ship. She holds the distinction of being the last coal-fired, steam-engine tug in service on the Great Lakes when retired in 1981. Specifications: The tug is 110 feet long, with a 23-foot beam and a 15.5-foot draft, and was built with a steel deck and hull with a wooden superstructure (later replaced with steel before WWI service). She carried a 1,000 horsepower engine generating roughly 30 tons of bollard pull, and burned about 25 tons of coal per week, shoveled by hand into the boiler. Interior fittings were notably lavish for a working tug, featuring polished birch paneling and brass fittings. Service History: Built by the Cleveland Shipbuilding Company for the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad, she spent nearly her entire career assisting ore boats in and out of Two Harbors harbor, aside from 1917-1919 when the U.S. government requisitioned her to move barges and troop ships on the East Coast during WWI, and a period of idling during the Great Depression (1931-1933). She was also involved in dramatic rescues, including aiding survivors of the 1905 Mataafa storm shipwreck of the Madeira, and assisted in firefighting on burning ore docks and vessels. Notable Facts: She was named after the daughter of D&IR Railroad president Jacob Greatsinger. During the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial, she competed in and won a one-mile race against a Coast Guard cutter and a diesel-powered tug. Edna G was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 (some sources cite 1974) and made her final tow on December 30, 1980, after which she was donated to the City of Two Harbors as a floating museum ship; ongoing hull corrosion has since prompted studies into moving her to permanent dry-land display.