Forceful (tugboat)
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Forceful docked at the Queensland Maritime Museum in 2008
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia |
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| Operator: | Queensland Tug Company |
| Builder: | Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd, Govan, Scotland |
| Launched: | 20 November 1925 |
| In service: | 7 March 1926 |
| Out of service: | 1942 |
| Homeport: | Brisbane |
| Status: | Requisitioned by RAN |
| History | |
 Australia |
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| Commissioned: | 16 February 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 October 1943 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Returned to civilian owners |
| History | |
| Australia |
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| In service: | 1943 |
| Out of service: | 28 September 1970 |
| Homeport: | Brisbane |
| Status: | Museum ship at the Queensland Maritime Museum since 10 June 1971 |
| Notes: | Currently awaiting refit in order to return to service |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 288 gross tons |
| Length: | 36.88 m (121.0 ft) |
| Beam: | 8.26 m (27.1 ft) |
| Draught: | 4.08 m (13.4 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 1 triple expansion steam engine with 3 cylinders, 2 single ended boilers each with 2 furnaces, 1050 IHP |
| Speed: | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Armament: | One Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, one Vickers machine gun (RAN service only) |
Forceful is an ocean-going tugboat built for the Queensland Tug Company. Forceful was built by Alexander Stephen and Sons Ltd in Govan, Scotland. She arrived at her homeport of Brisbane, Queensland on 7 March 1926. While she spent most of her career operating along the coast of Queensland, she was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy during most of 1942 and 1943 as HMAS Forceful (W126).
During her war service she was based at Darwin and operated mainly in northern Australian waters. She received two battle honours for her wartime service: "Darwin 1942-43" and "Pacific 1943".[1][2]
Forceful was retired from service in September 1970 and was handed over to the Queensland Maritime Museum in Brisbane on 10 June 1971. The vessel was kept operational and used for trips along the Brisbane River and to Moreton Bay until 2006, when a hull survey revealed that the tugboat was not safe to operate, and required extensive repairs.
Following a number slippings of the vessel at the Brisbane slipway in order to preserve her in a safe condition, Forceful now has several repairs on her hull in order to keep her watertight and is currently being maintained as a static exhibit at the Queensland Maritime Museum in Brisbane. But age and lack of funding was taking its toll. In June 2012 Forceful was at risk of being condemned for scrap as a small leak had developed in the vessels stern. Forceful was given a deadline to be out of the water and repaired by Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ). With no funds available, the outlook was not good. Media attention by television and radio networks as well as maritime newsletters and social media ended up with an anonymous donation being made to facilitate the repairs Forceful needed. She came out of the water in June 2012 for repairs and returned to the Queensland Maritime Museum in July 2012.
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Forceful (tugboat, 1925). |
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