Ship Modelers Database
Image: CC BY (Flickr-sourced, Wikimedia Commons) · commons.wikimedia.org
Marie Felling (tugboat)
Unknown (historic harbour tug; current survival status not confirmed)
The Marie Felling was a British-built harbour tug constructed for Crown Colony service, intended to support harbour operations in the colonial port of Dar es Salaam (then Tanganyika Territory, now Tanzania) under British colonial administration.
Kits of this ship
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Plans
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Build logs
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Resources
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- Wikimedia Commons: Marie Felling (tugboat, 1928) photoPhoto
Historical photograph of the real Marie Felling tug, freely licensed (CC BY) and useful as a reference image for modelers.
History
Specifications
She was built by Earls of Hall and launched in 1928, designed for general harbour work such as towing and berthing assistance. Her design was closely related to the later tug Imara, sharing the same design team and harbour-work role; design notes from her construction contract reportedly influenced accommodation improvements incorporated into Imara's later build.
Service history
Commissioned under a Crown Colonies contract, Marie Felling served as a workhorse tug in Dar es Salaam, helping to support the port infrastructure of a growing British colonial trade network in East Africa during the early-to-mid 20th century.
Notable facts
Modelers note her unusual and distinctive profile: a single lifeboat carried cross-ship atop the forward saloon, a raised bridge mounted on stilts, a cross passage through the single superstructure block, and a large plain funnel with an open funnel deck. These quirky design features make her a popular subject for detailed scale tug models, most notably produced as a 1:32 scale kit by Caldercraft/Jotika in single- and twin-screw versions.