St. Louis Ship Delivers New
Towboat/Snagboat ROS To
U.S. Army Engineers, Mobile
The Army Corps of Engineers' newest ves-
sel, the Ros, was recently commissioned in
Mobile, Ala. Design of the modern workboat,
to be used on inland waterways in the central
southeast under the jurisdiction of the District
Engineer at Mobile, was by the Philadelphia
District.
The vessel's keel was laid at the St. Louis
Ship Division of Pott Industries on April 17,
1969, and the launching took place April 3,
1970. Delivery to the Mobile District of the
Corps of Engineers was at the U.S. Coast
Guard Dock at Mobile, where the commission-
ing ceremony took place. The vessel under-
went rigorous testing and sea trials before
formal acceptance.
The Ros has an overall length of 170 feet
6-5/16 inches, with a beam amidship of 42 feet
inches and a molded depth of 7 feet 8
inches. The vessel draws 5 feet and displaces
850 long tons.
Two 500-hp Caterpillar diesels, Model D-
379, with Caterpillar 3192 reverse reduction
gears with Twin-Disc clutches propel the ship
at 10.6 mi es per hour. The ship's power is
provided by two 100-kw Cummins diesel gen-
erator sets. The American Whirley Crane,
powered by a Cummins diesel engine, has a
106-foot boom with a 270 degree swing and
a lifting capacity of 69 tons at 26-foot radius
and 32 tons at 56-foot radius. The crane op-
erator has full visibility.
Steering and flanking rudders are controlled
by an electro-hydraulic steering system manu-
factured by Propulsion Systems, Inc. Three
remotely controlled 40-foot spuds facilitate the
ship's operation in maintaining the navigation
channel in the area's busy inland waterways.
Although the Ros is designated a snagboat,
this prosaic appellation conjures up a picture
which is a far cry from the accommodations
and equipment of the modern vessel. All interior
areas are air-conditioned with the exception
of the engine room, which has an air-condition-
ed enclosed space for the engineer on duty.
There are three remote- power and steering
control consoles—one in the pilothouse and
one each in the port and starboard bridge to
enab'e exact positioning and maneuvering of
the vessel and the barges in its tow. The Ros
presently has a crew of 14, of whom 4 are li-
censed and 10 are rated civil service workers.
It has accommodations for 26 men.
The Ros will be based at Tuscaloosa, Ala., on the Black
Warrior River, where the Mobile District maintains a
facility to service inland waterway vessels.
The vessel will be used primarily in remov-
ing snags and deadheads from navigation
channels. However, the boom can handle both
dragline and clamshell dredging equipment for
the emergency removal of shoaling. In addition
to snagging and towing, the vessel will also
place stop logs when necessary at nine naviga-
tion locks on the Black Warrior, Tombigbee,
and Alabama Rivers for dewatering for main-
tenance and repairs. Each stop log, a segment-
ed cofferdam-type bulkhead, weighs 45 tons
with its strong-back lifting beam.
Taking part in the commissioning ceremony
were Edward Renshaw, president of St. Louis
Ship, Pott Industries, who presented the com-
missioning sponsor, Mrs. L.H. Roberts Sr.,
daughter of the vessel's namesake, with a sil-
ver tray; District Engineer, Col. James A.
Johnson of the Philadelphia District, who re-
ceived the vessel from Mr, Renshaw; District
Engineer Col. Harry A. Griffith of the Mobile
District to whom Colonel Johnson conveyed
it; and Capt. Willie A. Gantt, the newly ap-
pointed master, to whom Colonel Griffith pre-
sented the ship's flag as a symbol of his com-
mand.
The vessel is named for the late R.E. Ros, a
native of Pascagoula, Miss., and a long-time
Corps of Engineers official. Some 20 members
of the Ros family attended the commission-
ing and presented the ship with a gift of china.
The increasing importance of inland water-
ways to the area's economy is reflected in wa-
terborne commerce statistics for 1969, when
the Black Warrior-Tombigbee system carried
10,587,423 tons of barged commodities. Naviga-
tion on the Alabama River to Montgomery,
Ala., is scheduled for late 1971, when the last
of three navigation locks becomes operational.
The Alabama River carried 1,096,070 tons in
1969.
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38 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
Digital Wave Publishing