OcCre 1/50 Hercules Tugboat Wooden Boat Kit OC61002

The Hercules is a steam tug built in 1907 for the San Francisco Shipowners and Merchants Tug Company, as part of its Red Stack Fleet.

During the first part of her life, Hercules was an ocean tugboat. Due to the prevailing northwesterly winds, sailing ships often employed the Hercules on voyages north up the coast from San Francisco.

On other occasions, the Hercules was used to tow barges to other West Coast ports and to Hawaii, and to transport equipment for the construction of the Panama Canal.

In 1947, the Hercules and the tug Monarch were tasked with towing the hull of the battleship Oklahoma to San Francisco Bay for scrapping. However, 500 miles from Hawaii, she was hit by a powerful storm and the Oklahoma began to fill with water and sink. The Hercules was unable to break free until the last moment, narrowly avoiding being dragged to the bottom of the sea by the Oklahoma.

In 1986 she was designated a National Historic Monument. She is now one of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park exhibits and is moored at the Hyde Street Pier.

Technical sheet of the model Hercules Tugboat

• Scale: 1/50
• Width: 163mm
• Height: 420mm
• Length: 915mm