AH-WR-0741

Anna Foss

Tugboat · United States · Lost 1969 · Puget Sound & Discovery Bay

A 1907 Tacoma-built tug, renamed Anna Foss during decades of Puget Sound towing service, that sank at her Vashon Island moorings in 1969 and now lies as a shallow dive site.

Become Captain of Record See Shipwreck on Map

Artistic recreation based on recorded historical documents. See the documented evidence.

Interpretive Reconstruction, drawn to convey the vessel's era, type and general form. See the documented evidence.

The Vessel and Her Loss

Built in 1907 by the Wallace Towboat Company of Tacoma as the steam tug Vigilant, the vessel worked for several Puget Sound towing companies before being converted to diesel power and, in 1933, acquired by Foss Launch and Tug Company and renamed Anna Foss. After 35 years of towing service she was sold in 1968 to her chief engineer, Everett Atkinson, and renamed Vigilant I. Anchored off his home on Vashon Island for conversion, she sank on September 16, 1969, after her bilge pump failed. The wreck, still popularly known by her Foss-era name, now lies as a shallow dive site in Colvos Passage.

Vessel

Built: 1907
Registry: USCG Doc. No. 204707
Builder: Wallace Towboat Company
Yard: Tacoma, Washington
Material: Wood
Length: 69 ft
Beam: 18 ft
Tonnage: 59
Propulsion: Diesel, single screw (originally steam)
Owners: Wallace Towboat Company; Cascade Tugboat Company; Foss Launch and Tug Company; Everett Atkinson

Loss

Date: September 16, 1969
Cause: Mechanical failure
Location: Colvos Passage, off Vashon Island, Washington
Water: Puget Sound
Voyage: Not established
Cargo: Not established
Aboard: Not established
Lives lost: Not established
Master: Not established

The Wreck Today

Depth: 40 ft
Condition: Deteriorating wooden hull; engine and salvage pontoons visible amid disintegrating structure
Orientation: Not established
Discovered: Not established
Protection: Not established

Position

Coordinates: 47.44° N 122.52° W
Accuracy: Reported, unconfirmed
Nearest: Vashon Island, Washington
Region: Puget Sound & Discovery Bay

Dive-resource descriptions place the sunken tug in shallow water (about 25 ft) in Colvos Passage on the west side of Vashon Island, north of Sandford Point; coordinates given are for Sandford Point as no precise wreck fix was published.