Bouker No. 2 (Id. No. 1275)
1917-1922
Bouker No.2, a wooden hulled steam tug was built in 1904 at Tottenville on Staten Island, N.Y., by A. C. Brown and Sons, as Robert Rogers, was inspected by the Navy in the Third Naval District for use as a minesweeper; acquired by the Navy on 14 December 1917 from the Bouker Towing Co.; designated Id. No. 1275; and placed in service in the Fifth Naval District.
Bouker No. 2 operated as a district craft, towing in the Hampton Roads area until the spring of 1921. During this period, she received the identification number YT-30 on 17 July 1920. Bouker No. 2 was ordered inspected for sale on 23 April 1921, but was withdrawn from the sale list within three months. Instead, she was transferred to the city of Norfolk, Va., in August 1921 for use as a fireboat. Less than a year later, the city government decided that it could not use Bouker No. 2 "for fire purposes" and returned the tug to the Navy at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 15 June 1922.
Bouker No. 2 was sold to the New York Marine Co., of New York City, on 25 July 1922. Her name was stricken from the Navy list simultaneously.
Robert J. Cressman
20 December 2005
