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11 Most Endangered
Tugboat Hoga
Year Listed: 1995
Location: Suisun Bay , California
Current Status: Favorable
Threat: Deterioration
Significance
At the height of the December 7, 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, the tugboat Hoga helped beach the USS Nevada, preventing the Japanese from sinking the battleship and blocking the channel. The Hoga then went on to gallantly fight the fires on the blazing hulk of the USS Arizona. In 1948, she was leased to the Port of Oakland, California and renamed the City of Oakland. After 45 years of service as a fireboat, she was returned to the Navy and was placed on the Naval Inactive Vessel Register.
Updates
After publicizing the plight of the U.S.S. Hoga, five groups across the country began vying to give it a new home. Groups in Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, and California lobbied the Navy to become stewards of the historic vessel. Plans for the tug ranged from visitor attraction at Little Rock's Clinton Presidential Library, to bringing it back to Hawaii to display next to the U.S.S. Missouri. In 2004, the Navy selected the Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum in North Little Rock, Arkansas to take ownership of the Hoga, and transferred the vessel to the organization in 2005. Unfortunately, transport of the vessel from the west coast to Arkansas has been delayed by Hurricane Katrina, finding a vessel to transport the Hoga at a reasonable price, and weather delays. The museum continues to work to bring the Hoga to Arkansas.
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