Dockyard VIII

No tugs for Murmansk.            

The Rotterdam Drydock Company received an orderjust before the Second Worldwar for
about 9 tugs for the port of Murmansk. Due to the outbreak of the war they were never delivered. So the yard decided to use them for their own purposes.
They were powerfull steam tugs with 500 hp and a funnel half inside the steering house. So heating free, not a bad idea for a port at the polar circle. Many years the “DOCKYARDS” with their typical red funnel with black/white bands were synonymous with the Rotterdam harbour scene. The “DOCKYARD VIII” was constructed in 1940 and scrapped in 1980. Nowadays three of these boats still exists. Two of them are lying at the Rotterdam Maritime Museum.
Rotterdam without Dockyards? Unimaginable!