The story of ‘BARGE 1’

Foss Senior Petroleum Coordinator Patrick Mulcahy tells the story of an old WWII barge from his office on its deck.

By Hilary Reeves
When Patrick Mulcahy joined Pacific Towboat & Salvage Co. ( PacTow ) in 1991 he was assigned an unusual office space on the acme pack of cards of the 265-foot “ BARGE I, ” an honest-to-god World War II barge moored in the Port of Long Beach .
During the bounce of the follow class, during a particularly belated night in the function, he decided to go explore .
“ I ’ molarity a morsel of a history buff, ” said Mulcahy, Foss Maritime ’ s Senior Petroleum Coordinator in San Francisco Bay. “ It was, like, two ( o ’ clock ) in the morning. I remember walking down a set of stairs from the upper berth pack of cards – where all the administrative offices were located – to the main deck where most of the machine shop make was done. The independent deck is covered with hatches. On pack of cards, I came across a cabinet full of old vacuum-tube radios, and tooling kits used to change the barrels of machine guns. I popped a hatch, looked toss off, and found miles of erstwhile, hard-hat diving air hoses and sail suits used for salvage work. BARGE 1 was a living history ledger back then. ”

The new steel

During World War II, peculiarly after the fail of Pearl Harbor when the United States entered the war, the nation ’ s fabricate sector grew exponentially, consuming traditional steel outputs and leading to a dearth of materials. Experiments began with the finish of creating ships and barges out of ferro-cement as an option to steel .
“ After the war, people continued building recreational boats out of Ferro, ” said Mulcahy. “ It makes for a very heavy displacement boat, but for people sailing around the global – if you ’ re sailing into a coral reef in a wooden boat, it might sink it. With cementum, it barely takes a lump out and you can patch it. ”
The military commissioned Ferro vessels at three locations during the war years : McCloskey & Co.built 78 barges in Tampa, Florida ; Barret & Hilp Co. built vessels at Belair Shipyard in San Francisco ; and Concrete Ship Constructors built 22 barges in National City, California, near San Diego .
“ Concrete Ship Constructors produced two hulls in National City, numbers 48 and 49, named ‘ CERIUM ’ and ‘ RADON, ’ ” said Mulcahy. “ CERIUM ” was designated B5-BJ3 – the “ B ” indicates a MARAD designation as a World War II barge. It was delivered in March of 1945, and by and by became FMS1 – Floating Machine Shop 1. RADON was designated BJ-BJ3, delivered in May of 1945 and became FSM2. I ’ meter 99.9 percentage certain BARGE I is either CERIUM or RADON. ”

After the war

The doubt of what happens to decommissioned military vessels is a complicate one for BARGE I. She was built as a aimless machine shop, used to rebuild engines and electric motors. like barges were used as bases for “ PBRs ” ( Patrol Boat Riverine ) during the Vietnam War.

There are rumors, Mulcahy said, that BARGE 1 had at one point been converted into a gambling casino and taken offshore to avoid local ordinances against gambling – a rumor he has been unable to prove, although there is ample testify that it housed some sort of restaurant .
“ During one of my many deck-diving expeditions, I found boxes upon boxes of restaurant paperwork, including receipts, and even commercial crockery and crockery, ” he laughed .

Foss in the Bay

several years after joining PacTow/Dillingham Marine Co., by then owned by Foss Maritime, Mulcahy took a problem in San Francisco. And BARGE 1 followed. nowadays, moored off a pier at Point Richmond on the northeasterly side of the San Francisco Bay, sits BARGE 1. And on most days, in an agency on her top deck, sits Mulcahy .
“ It ’ s strange how it happened, ” he laughed. “ I like to say that I started my career on BARGE 1 in Long Beach, and she followed me north. She ’ s like an honest-to-god friend. ”
Foss Maritime has several lines of business in the Bay, escorting loaded oil tankers, ship assists, a dredge operation that mines sand for practice as construction materials. Mulcahy coordinates with Chevron Marine Products, transporting remainder fuel left over from refining blunt, to tank farms in Richmond – where it is blended into bunker fuel for ships calling San Francisco Bay.

“ The lower deck of BARGE 1 is still used by our mechanics to repair the tugs, ” he said. “ I think it ’ south great that BARGE 1 is calm serving in the way it was intended to about 75 years ago. ”
Editor’s Note: Weeks after this fib was written, a previously spiritual world historical photograph confirmed to Mulcahy that BARGE 1 is, in fact, the CERIUM, Hull No. 48 .