Rockaway Belle (US Army T-1)

Well, it's that time of year again, time to renew the web hosting. And for those of you that don't know, that has become a lot more expensive than it used to be. Fifty dollars a year is now several hundred. Not to mention the price of domain names has gone up ten-fold.

And I just found out that the nice folks at PayPal disabled all my Support buttons, and I never got a notice (although that may be my fault.) In any case, it is all working again now, so if you would like to make a small donation to help defray these costs, it would be greatly appreciated.

At Point Pleasant, 1981

Rockaway Belle is listed as Army tug-transport T-1, built by Simms Brothers, Dorchester MA, 1942. 'T-boats' were 65-foot, 45 ton diesel-powered, passenger-cargo boats that doubled as harbor tugs. 170 of them were constructed during WWII, and many more afterwards. From 1940 through 1951 all T-Boats were built of wood, thereafter steel. Rockaway Belle was T-1 of the T-1 class, sold as surplus in 1947.

Sister T-47, wood hull

The photo above is a sister. It looks like a natural fishing boat. T-1s probably needed very little to convert them to side-trawlers, already having a sturdy-looking hull, tugboat engine and cargo boom. I can find no details or date for the sinking, but there might still be something down there, and the first person who gets to it is going to find a giant lobster.


Comments on Rockaway Belle

Questions or Inquiries?

Just want to say Hello? Sign the .

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Click image to replace if unable to read.

Enter the digits from the image above, except for the last one:

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.


Rock Crab

Lumped together here are what might be considered to be "normal" aquatic crabs. There are many other similar types. The claws of many crabs are good eating - break one off and let the crab go, it will grow a new one. Never take both - you'll kill it.

Rock Crab

Printed from njscuba.net