DeLand, Fla. – A trip down the St. Johns River can be like going back in time. And for Dan Friend, the clock stops in 1944.
Friend sat at the front of a pontoon boat as it glided across the glassy surface of Lake Beresford in DeLand.
“It’s always fun to visit Tiger,” he said as the pilot house of a vintage World War II-era tugboat could be seen poking up above the tree line ahead.
“Tiger” is ST 479, one of 29 tugboats built in the 1940s on Lake Beresford by the American Manufacturing Corporation in Orlando as part of the war effort.
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“Tiger has come home after 80 some years, and we’re extremely happy to have it,” Friend said, pulling up beside the 86-foot-long vessel.
The retired history teacher has become perhaps the world’s best, and only, expert on these World War II tugboats. His research started 12 years ago when he found what turned out to be a builder’s plaque from another DeLand tugboat (ST 679) in an antique shop.
Friend knew exactly what it was, but didn’t realize then how much it would direct his life moving forward.
“It’s interesting to say this, but this boat has kind of taken over my life,” Friend said. “This project has a mind of its own.”
ST 479 and a fleet of more than 70 other tugboats are believed to have been used to move equipment after the D-Day invasion at Normandy, France.
“The tugs were used to haul bits of the portable docks, the mulberries, over to Omaha Beach,” Friend said. “There was a constant stream of tugboats bringing parts and bits of pieces of all the portable docks over.”
Friend says documentation for these boats was destroyed long ago, but he believes there is a good chance this one played an integral part in the war effort.
“Believe it or not, this is the original anchor mechanism,” Friend said as he leaned against a giant set of gears and cables rusting after being exposed to years of sea air.
Tiger is temporarily anchored in Beresford Bend, less than a mile from where it was built.
Friend is working tirelessly to find a location where the ship can be taken out of the water and permanently displayed as a monument to local World War II history.
ST 479 “Tiger” was found three years ago decaying in a canal in Stockholm, Sweden. After a lot of hard work, and fundraising, friend and the West Volusia Historical Society were able to ship it back across the Atlantic where he hopes it will be restored.
It’s one of only a handful known to still be around.
“This is the only one that was still original, it made all the difference in the world to us in terms of a collectible,” Friend said, adding that it still had its original Clark diesel engine in place.
But years on the water have taken their toll.
“The entire superstructure has bits and pieces of rust, this is the worst. It’s not leaking but rust never sleeps,” Friend said, pointing to prominent holes in the side of the “super structure” of the ship.
Restoration efforts can’t start until it’s taken out of the water.
“We’re three years into it and I have no idea how much longer it’s going to take, but we’re going to keep plugging along until we make it happen,” he said.
Friend’s latest effort is a letter-writing campaign to state officials. He’s asking for public lands where “Tiger” can be displayed.
He’s hoping for a state grant or private donations to help with funding.
“Every time I come on board I feel like saying ‘Hello’ to the ghosts of all the men that were here,” Friend said, looking out from the pilot room.
After years of chasing the past, Friend’s focus is now on the future.
“I just wish I had a clearer vision on exactly how this is going to play out,” he said. “It’s been in the water 80 years so it’s time to bring her out.”
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