hsclasstug

A classic British coal-fired single screw steam tug design that was built in quantity to replace losses during the 1914 -1918 war. All began life in Naval service, mainly towing barges laden with supplies such as fuel and munitions between the UK and the French channel ports, as well as along some of the larger French inland waterways. In wartime service all H.S. tugs would have been painted grey, but almost all of those that survived the war were sold to civilian users, which means that many alternative colour schemes can be used to depict these tugs in post-war service. Model displacement is about 20lbs (9.1kg) and the hull is spacious enough to carry several of the smaller steam plants.The first photo shows a very nice model in a fairly typical post war colour scheme. The next two photos show my own prototype on the maiden voyage in the salt water boating lake at Poole, powered by an early and very well-used Cheddar Pintail, not quite finished, and looking rather bare at this stage with no fenders fitted, and still awaiting several other small parts. The next photo shows the bare hull, plenty of room inside with no bulky frames or bulkheads to hinder access, and a superstructure lifting off in one piece will make operating the finished model at the pond side relatively easy. The last photo depicts a standard H.S. tug in Naval service.