Chug Chug Goes the Tug

From the Kahlenberg web site:

Established in 1895 as Kahlenberg Brothers Company, Kahlenberg Industries, Inc. has been continuously family owned and managed since its founding over a century ago.

The original three Kahlenberg brothers, Otto, William, and John, began by constructing small steam engines for marine and stationary work. From this early beginning the company expanded, eventually manufacturing and selling gasoline and diesel marine engines across the globe. During World War II, Kahlenberg was the recipient of the Army-Navy “E” (Excellence) Award as the company worked around the clock for the war effort. Engine manufacturing was discontinued in 1960.

William and Otto Kahlenberg opened a machine shop in Two Rivers, Wisconsin in 1895. The brothers installed their first gasoline motor in a fishing boat in 1897 with great success. The Kahlenberg gasoline engines were two-stoke make-and-break designs and quickly established a reputation of dependability and economy. Manufacturing was done using jigs and standardization to create easily interchangeable parts, a practice that was relatively new at the time.

In 1914 William began development of a hot-bulb or semi-diesel engine, the first of which was put to work in 1916.  A new line of semi-diesel engines was introduced in 1922.  It was this product family, referred to as the Kahlenberg Oil Engine, which led the company to tremendous success.  These two-stroke engines came in two, three or four cylinders with horsepower ranging from 20 to 200.  The Kahlenberg oil engine is largely responsible for eliminating sail and steam power in the Great Lakes commercial fishing industry due to outstanding reliability, speed and efficiency.  For many years there were more Kahlenberg-powered fishing vessels than all other types put together.  They remained the dominate engine power until the 1970’s when more modern high-speed diesels became widely adopted.

Kahlenberg remains in business today in other commercial marine segments including air horns, commercial propellers and low volume custom manufacturing.

 

 

Last Boat of the Line

The 41-foot United Coast Guard Boat Large (UTB) has been one of the most successful boats in Coast Guard history.  

Constructed of a welded aluminum hull and molded fiberglass superstructure this vessel was powered by twin Cummins diesel engines with conventional shafts and propellers. Over the course of 41 years this was the general workhorse for the Coast Guard. A three person crew performed law enforcement, search and rescue and firefighting duties.  

In all, 207 UTBs were built at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, from 1973 to 1978. They have been credited with saving thousands of lives and millions of dollars in property.  Cost new (1979): $235,000. 

The last operational United States Coast Guard UTB is on permanent display in front of the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay, WI. The exterior is accessible to visitors and the interior for special events.  

CG-41410 went into service on July 1, 1977 at Station Milwaukee and served at a number of Lake Michigan stations in the succeeding 37 years. That included twice being stationed at the Sturgeon Bay Canal Station from April 26, 2002 until August 15, 2003 and again from June 12, 2007 until August 6, 2007. It was last stationed in Muskegon, Michigan. 

In keeping with standard USCG practice - boats of this size are numbered and not named. The hull number begins with the length followed by a sequential number. If you look closely the hull numbers on this vessel are colored gold. This signifies that it is the very last boat of it's class in service. 

Beginning in 2008 the aging UTB fleet was gradually retired and replaced with the 45 foot USCG Response Boat – Medium (RB-M). Half of the fleet is built here in northeast Wisconsin by Fincantieri Marinette Marine. Cost new: $2.4 million. 

Plenty of rich maritime history around these parts.

 

 

New Ferry On Deck

In local maritime news it was announced last week that the fifth and largest Washington Island Ferry will be built in Door County.    

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding of Sturgeon Bay will construct the vessel - named Madonna - making it the company's third ferry for Washington Island.     

All current ferry vessels were built in Sturgeon Bay – two by Peterson Builders and this will be our third here at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding. Our past work is indicative of the quality and attention to detail the Ferry Line and all of our customers have come to expect from our seasoned workforce. This contract will add to the steady work relied upon by the hundreds of women and men we employ from across the region, said Fincantieri's vice president and general manager, Todd Thayse.  

Fincantieri Shipbuilding

 

The new ferry will be 124 feet long, capable of hauling up to 28 vehicles and 150 passengers.  Amenities will include outdoor, upper-deck seating and an enclosed indoor cabin with two restrooms.  Designed for year-round sailing the boat will also be capable of busting ice.  

Learn more here.

Spring Buoys

It is spring buoy-tending time.

And the U.S. Coast Guard working boat USCGC Mobile Bay has been out marking the shipping channels. 

By the middle of this month they'll have installed five-dozen buoys between Sturgeon Bay and Escanaba, MI.

The Door County Advocate has a most excellent photo array and story about life on a working boat here.

Wisconsin Ship Building

Bay Ship announced that they've secured a contract to build a couple of these boats.

This is a PSV - Platform Supply Vessel - to be built for delivery to the Gulf Coast supporting off-shore drilling activities.

Fincantieri Marine - the Italian owner of Bay Ship - is doing pretty well.  Sister company - Marinette Marine - is building ten of these.

This is an LCS - Littoral Combat Ship - built for delivery to the US Navy.  One of two LCS designs - this boat will support littoral (close to shore) operations.  It's a stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats with an emphasis on speed and flexible mission capability.

This puppy can move at a walloping 50 knots at sea!  That's a mouthful - but you can get the straight scoop here.

Then there is this vessel.

This is a 60 foot research vessel  - designed by naval architects at SeaCraft Design in Sturgeon Bay and built by Burger Boat of Manitowoc - for delivery to the State of Wisconsin.

Sturgeon Bay will be home port to the R/V Coregonus.  Duties will be conducting research in Lakes Michigan and Superior to support commercial and sport fishing. 

Sport fishing alone generates about $420 million annually and sustains 5,000 jobs.

The Coregonus will replace the the aging research vessel Barney Devine - originally a fishing tug - also built by Burger 75 years ago.

Research Vessel Coregonous is a thoroughly modern vessel.  Powered by a pair of Caterpillar C12 diesels its semi-planning hull will allow it to cruise at up to 20 knots.  It also sports modern safety features such as watertight bulkheads and compartments, an automatic fire suppression system in the engine compartment, heated rear deck (to prevent icing), cold water survival suits, a USCG-approved ten man life raft and emergency positioning beacon. 

Learn more about the Coregonus here and be sure to click on the videos detailing the assembly process.

Boat building in northeast Wisconsin appears to be doing fine.