The Relentless Fate of the Tug Blanche
For the fourth time in a single year, a local tugboat has met a watery end at the Seattle Lumber company wharf.
The tug Blanche, for the fourth time within a year, went down yesterday and is partly submerged, now lying on the bottom at the plant of the Seattle Lumber company, where she was trying to get a tow of logs. The tug ran aground and stuck and when the tide went out she rolled over. Then it filled up as the tide came in.
“For the fourth time within a year, went down yesterday.”
Then · 1909117 years apartNow · 2026
Accidents involving tugs and log tows were common in the early 20th century, as industrial pressure to process timber surged. The fate of the 'Blanche' highlights the dangerous, recurring nature of maritime labor in Seattle’s early working waterfront.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.