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The Detroit Marine Historian Journal of Marine Historical Society of Detroit Volume 35, No. 3 - November, 1981 Published Monthly Annual Dues $8.00 Rev. Peter Van der Linden, Editor - 29825 Joy Road - Westland, Michigan 48185 THE V-4 TUGS By Rev. Edward J. Dowling, S.J. POINT LOMA at Milwaukee Collection of the late Captain Earl C. Palmer Early in World War II the United States Maritime Commission ordered fifty large tugs that were built by various shipyards, including two on the Great Lakes. Eighteen of the fifty tugs were built in these two Great Lakes yards at Milwaukee and Superior. The tugs, officially designated as class V4-M-Al, were among the largest in the world as of 1943. The principal dimensions of the V-4s were: 194 feet length over all, 37 feet 6 inches beam and 21 feet depth. Gross tonnage was listed as 1,120. Twin diesel engines geared to a single screw gave these tugs 2,300 horsepower, which was a great deal of power in the 1940s. The tugs were very attractive in appearance, with two heavy masts and a very large stack located nearly amidships. With one exception, all 50 V-4 tugs carried the names of well-known American lighthouses. One tug, GREAT ISAAC, bore the name of a lighthouse not in the United States.