My uncle Rudy Sommer had the Sea Fox for years. She was a lucky boat and was a good puller. Hillstorm built two of them, the Fox and the Captain, both real good boats." - Captain Harold Sommer, former Sea Fox mate.
The Sea Fox, a Miki class tug, was built for the Army Transport Service as LT 519. She was purchased by Tom Crowley in 1946 and served on San Francisco Bay as part of the "Red Stack" fleet. Sea Fox was me of twelve Mikis owned by Crowley.
The first of the Miki boats, the Mikimiki, was built in Seattle in 1929. The successful design was adopted for 61 boats built for the government during World War II.
Sea Fox was a hero in the rescue of the wine tanker Angelo Petri in 1960. Fighting gale conditions, she was the first tug to get a line aboard the disabled ship, saving her from destruction off Ocean Beach. Sea Fox was retired after being damaged in a collision in the mid-1960s.
BASIC FACTS:
Built: 1944, North Bend Oregon
Builder: Hillstrom Shipbuilding Co.
Length -118 feet Beam 28 feet
Draft - 14 feet
Engine Type - 8 Cylinder Enterprise Diesel, 1200 BHP
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