You will see Royal Navy ship HMS Belfast being taken to London to become a floating museum back in 1971, several tugs helping HMS Eagle to the dockside as she was to be scrapped back in 1972, a fabulous image of HMS Invincible being nudged info place as massive crowds watched her return from the Falklands in 1982 and the sad tale of HMS Gladiator back in 1908. A larger vessel, the SS Saint Paul, collided with her in a snowstorm off the Isle of Wight, she was brought into Portsmouth and assisted by several tugboats and other vessels as people mourned the loss of some of the crew.
5. Tugboats assisting in the past
The Royal Navy Town-class light cruiser HMS Belfast is waved away under tow from tugboats on her last voyage from Portsmouth Dockyard to her new berth in London as a floating museum on 2 September 1971 in Portsmouth, United Kingdom. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Photo: The News archive
6. Tugboats assisting in the past
Paddle tug in No.2 dry dock Portsmouth dockyard. Picture: Barry Cox postcard collection. Photo: The News archive
7. Tugboats assisting in the past
HMS Gladiator passing Victoria Pier en-route to Portsmouth Dockyard. Being assisted by tugs and associated vessels HMS Gladiator is assisted into Portsmouth Harbour. People watch on from Victoria Pier. HMS Gladiator Portsmouth-based cruiser and American steamer SS Saint Paul collided in a snowstorm off the Isle of Wight on April 25 in 1908. One officer and 28 men in total had died, most of them drowned. Strangely, the SS Saint Paul capsized and sank in New York Harbour on 25 April, 1918, exactly 10 years after HMS Gladiator sank. Picture: Paul Costen collection Photo: The News archive
8. Tugboats assisting in the past
Stuck in mud. HMS Vanguard surrounded by tugs and sightseer in their boats Picture: Barry Cox collection Photo: The News archive