Essayons - A once great Tug!!

I took a walk out to the old Essayons this afternoon to see what it looked like close up. 

Essayons Ruins

Essayon pilot house, roof, stack and navigation mast

Essayons Smoke Stack

Much like going to a graveyard, the once great tug sits on the bottom of the bay, unnoticed nearly buried in the February snow drifts.

The pride of the fleet, the Essayons was the historic retired Army Corps of Engineers tugboat that had been a Twin Ports fixture since 1908. The tug's engine is on display at the Marine Museum in Canal Park.

The tug's owner was hoping to turn the boat into a floating bed and breakfast. However, vandal damage postponed the plan in 2004 and the tug was than docked near the Duluth Timber Company.

In 2009, shifting harbor ice pushed by a strong northeast wind, punctured the hull and the boat sank the the bottom, where it still rests today.

Perhaps someday it will be raised, but, for now, it quietly rests in peace, out of sight, and unnoticed.

"ESSAYONS" means - "Let Us Try" and is the branch song of the Army Corps of Engineers.


THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BRANCH SONG "ESSAYONS"

Essayons, sound out the battle cry 

Essayons, we'll win or we'll die 

Essayons, there's nothing we won't try 

We're the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 

Pin the castle on my collar 

I've done my training for the team 

You can call me an engineer soldier 

The warrior spirit has been my dream 

We are builders, we are fighters 

We are destroyers just as well 

There've been doubters who met with the sappers 

1 - We know our sappers will never fail 

OR 

2 - And then we blew them all straight to hell 

Our brothers fighting on the battlefield 

Look to us to point the way 

We get there first and then we take the risks 

To build the roads and the air strips 

And bridge the mighty river streams 

We don't care who gets the glory 

We're sure of one thing, this we know 

Somewhere out there an engineer soldier 

Designed the plan for the whole darn show 

Essayons whether in war or peace 

We will bear our red and our white 

Essayons we serve America 

And the U.S. Army Corps of engineers 

Essayons! Essayons!

Harbor Views

Evenings are a particularly nice time to watch some boats and this evening was no exception. While I was on top of the Lafarge Plant this evening trying to figure out a power supply for the webcam, I snapped a few pictures.

Sunken Tug Essayons

Yulia

Cedarglen

Cedarglen

Essayons Update

A while back I did a post about the Tug Essayons that had sunk in the harbor. Today, I turned one of the harbor cams for a closer look. Sadly, the mighty tug remains sitting on the bottom of the harbor in one of the slips near Duluth Timber.
Hopefully, someday, it may be raised and restored.  I have posted the original post at the bottom of this one.

Here is the old post! If anyone has any old photos of the Esayons, I would love to post them the the blog.
----------------------------

The other day when I happened to be out taking pictures, I ran across the remains of the old Essayons tugboat resting on the bottom of the harbor with only the pilot house and smokestack sticking out of the surface like a grave marker.

Once the pride of the fleet, the Essayons was the historic retired Army Corps of Engineers tugboat that had been a Twin Ports fixture since 1908. The tug's engine is on display at the Marine Museum in Canal Park. 

The tug's owner was hoping to turn the boat into a floating bed and breakfast. However, vandal damage postponed the plan in 2004 and the tug was than docked near the Duluth Timber Company.

In 2009, shifting harbor ice pushed by a strong northeast wind, punctured the hull and the boat sank the the bottom, where it still rests today.

Perhaps someday it will be raised, but, for now, it quietly rests in peace, out of sight, and unnoticed.

"ESSAYONS" means - "Let Us Try" and is the branch song of the Army Corps of Engineers.

THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BRANCH SONG "ESSAYONS"

Essayons, sound out the battle cry
Essayons, we'll win or we'll die
Essayons, there's nothing we won't try
We're the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Pin the castle on my collar
I've done my training for the team
You can call me an engineer soldier
The warrior spirit has been my dream
We are builders, we are fighters
We are destroyers just as well
There've been doubters who met with the sappers
1 - We know our sappers will never fail
OR
2 - And then we blew them all straight to hell
Our brothers fighting on the battlefield
Look to us to point the way
We get there first and then we take the risks
To build the roads and the air strips
And bridge the mighty river streams
We don't care who gets the glory
We're sure of one thing, this we know
Somewhere out there an engineer soldier
Designed the plan for the whole darn show
Essayons whether in war or peace
We will bear our red and our white
Essayons we serve America
And the U.S. Army Corps of engineers
Essayons! Essayons!