Type: shipwreck, Tugboat

Built: 1960, Wilmington DE USA

Specs: (105 x 24 ft )

Sunk: Friday February 14, 1986

Sponsor: Spentonbush Red Star Company (Hess Oil)

Depth: 80ft.

For 127 years the Cornell Steamboat Company dominated traffic on the Hudson River with its large fleet of steamers, tugs, and barges. In 1958, Cornell was bought out by Trap Rock Industries, their biggest customer, and by 1960 the once-proud Cornell fleet was reduced to a single vessel - the Rockland County. The Rockland County's sole duty was to move Trap Rock's stone barges between quarries along the upper Hudson River and docks in New York Harbor.

The Rockland County was the first pusher-type tugboat ( or "towboat" ) in the northeast. Such vessels are common on the Mississippi and other western rivers, but not here along the stormy east coast, and even today there are not many. A towboat differs from the more common type of tugboat in having a flat bottom and a square bow with large "knees" or vertical frames. Instead of pulling its barges behind it, a towboat pushes the barges ahead. Usually, many barges are lashed together into a large raft ( ironically called a "tow" ) which is pushed and steered as a unit.

Today, the cut-down remains of the Rockland County lie upright on a muddy bottom in 80 feet of water. Unfortunately, almost anything of interest was removed prior to sinking, including the wheelhouse, engines, propellers, and rudders. Except for the large push-knees that mark the bow, the Rockland County is indistinguishable from a barge. The forward part of the heavy hull is sunk well into the silty mud, leaving few places for lobster to burrow under; there is better hunting around the stern. The deckhouse is easily penetrated from the sides or the roof, and is home to some very big Blackfish. The site is often used for training dives.