❖ CHICKAMAUGA ❖

CHICKAMAUGA
213069
Designed by yacht designer, sailor,
L.E. Ted Geary
Unknown photographer. Dated 1952,
from the Aurora Bridge.
From the archives of the Saltwater People Historical Society (c)

SEA CHICKEN
Lake Washington Ship Canal, 1968.
Built as CHICKAMAUGA in Seattle, 1915.
Soon after renamed SEA CHICKEN.
In this century her name reverted to her birth name.
Original photo from the archives of the S. P. H. S.©

CHICKAMAUGA
ON 213069
Built 1915 
59.5' Reg. L x 17.6' b x 8.6' d
Sturdily constructed with 10" frames and 2.75" fir planking. 
Built in Seattle, to the order of the Pacific Towboat Co. 
Designed by the well-known yacht designer, sailor L. E. "Ted" Geary.
She was the first full Diesel-powered tugboat in the US. She set a trend which, within the following forty years, would result in the virtual elimination of the steam engine in the nation's towing fleets. 

2009:
Anthony R. Smith purchases the towboat for $1,000.

1 or 2 October 2013:
CHICKAMAUGA sinks at Eagle Harbor Marina, Bainbridge Island, WA. Leaking about 400 gallons of petroleum and 10 gallons of lube oil into the waters of Eagle Harbor.
She was raised by a 100-ton barge crane and kept afloat with the aid of water pumps. The owner Anthony Smith hasn't responded to the harbormaster and the harbor fees.

January 2014:
The owner of CHICKAMAUGA was charged with three criminal counts for abandoning the boat. 
According to the Kitsap Sun, Anthony R. Smith faces one count of first-degree theft for failing to pay moorage and utility fees now totaling $8,560, one count of causing a vessel to become abandoned or derelict and one count of discharge of polluting matters into state waters. The charges were filed in Kitsap County Superior Court. 

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) takes control of the tug and has it towed by another tug out of Eagle Harbor Marina, 31 January 2014, to Boat Haven Marina in Port Townsend. As reported in the Kitsap Sun, CHICKAMAUGA made the 38-mile voyage and was hauled out. If the DNR receives no appeal, a bid to dismantle or dispose of the boat could transpire soon. They are reviewing the boat's historical significance and taking inquiries from museums and historical preservation organizations who may be interested in CHICKAMAUGA.

March 2014:
CHICKAMAUGA has been lost to scrap, according to Ethan Fowler in a special to The Kitsap Sun newspaper. There are outstanding debts owed to the State's Derelict Vessel Removal Program, fees owed to the US Coast Guard and the Dept. of Natural Resources for retrieval, utility fees for c. one year's moorage at Eagle Harbor Marina and legal fees ending with the upcoming trial in Kitsap County Superior Court.