1 86 Book of Steamships 



most unwieldy tow imaginable, right across 

 the Atlantic, down one side of South 

 America and up the other, rounding the 

 dreaded Cape Horn. 



Later, some Admiralty tugs took an 

 even larger floating dock round to Malta, 

 a journey not so far, but dangerous in the 

 extreme, with the Bay of Biscay to be 

 crossed and treacherous currents encoun- 

 tered off the coast of Spain. 



The tug may be seen at its best when 

 a party of them takes charge of a big liner, 

 and tow her from the loading berth into 

 the fairway. 



They not only have to tow her, but some 

 of them actually dig their noses into the side 

 of the mammoth liner and push her out. 



Then they seem to run round the liner 

 and fasten on her at a fresh place, to give 

 a tow after a push. 



The latest feat of the tug family is the 

 taking out of the huge floating dock for 

 the Singapore naval base to its resting- 

 place. The contract was awarded to a 



