For those curious about the Salvage Chief
Thought the Salvage Chief deserves her own thread.
Her method of pulling is quite powerful.
After the Second World War came to a close, hundreds of shallow-draft LSTs - 200-foot tank landing craft with bow ramps - returned from the Pacific theater and were decommissioned. Most were scrapped, but Devine put the class’ shallow hull form to a new use. In 1948, Divine bought one of these ships, LST-380. He paid for extensive modifications, including the installation of six surplus Almon Johnson winches, three on the bow for salvage anchors and three on the stern for pulling. When she dropped her anchors and took up the slack, the Salvage Chief was capable of developing more than 300 tons of line pull, equivalent to the towing force of three modern ASD tugs.
The Chief also has a ducting director on the stern to direct her prop wash down for dredging soft bottoms. Highly effective.
My uncle was a deckhand on her in the 1950s. Got a tour when she stopped by San Francisco.
Cheers,
Earl