DeLAND, Fla. – It took years of work for a group of history buffs in Volusia County, but finally, a World War II-era tugboat that was built in DeLand is now back in the U.S.
On Tuesday, the city commission started discussions about where the boat could go once it’s finally back in DeLand, floating some ideas about putting it in a park along the river. Nothing has been decided yet, though, as the boat sits outside of Jacksonville waiting to come home.
“It’s a completely unknown part of American World War II history. The tug that’s coming back is the only one to ever return home out of the 550 U.S. Army World War II S.T. tugboats,” said Dan Friend, President of the DeLand Historic Trust, Inc.
Its name is the S.T. 479 Tiger - the S.T. stands for small tug.
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“It’s a harbor tug. 86 feet long, 23 feet wide but it weighs 140 tons because it was made of steel,” Friend said.
It was one of 29 of those tugboats built in a factory on Lake Beresford in DeLand. Friend said there’s about a 90% chance it was used in Normandy.
“They had to have them to build the docks off the French coast, to recover bodies. There were so many things. The tugs were essential,” he said.
Friend started research on the tugboats decades ago, even creating a website about them.
About a year ago he got a call from a couple in Sweden. He said they had the Tiger and would give it to him, but he had to pay for transport. The group started raising money. Then, what he calls an anonymous ‘angel’ came along.
“A local patriotic angel who said ‘I will give you $200,000 to bring the boat home to Jacksonville. After that, you’re on your own,’” he said.
On July 10, it was brought back to the U.S. Right now, it’s being held outside of Jacksonville.
Friend and the other volunteers working to bring the tug to DeLand will know next week if it can come down by itself.
“We’re going to bring her home on her own power. We’re 90% certain. It’s a diesel and those old diesels, even after 20 years they’ll crank right up,” he said.
How soon it gets to DeLand also depends on funding. The DeLand historic trust is fundraising again for paint, transportation, and monument costs but Friend said one way or another, the Tiger is coming home.
“This goes past the city of DeLand. Past the county. This is the only U.S. Army S.T. tugboat to ever come back to America — to the very place where it was built. The only one. That’s extraordinary,” he said.