The National, State, and Boston Historic Landmark tugboat Luna was the world’s first commercially-owned shipdocking tugboat to be propelled by diesel-electric power. The Luna was the first tug of its kind to serve the ships and barges that called in any American port. Her design encapsulated some of the most innovative technologies of the 1920s, while her machinery provided unprecedented speed and direction control.

The Luna was designed by Boston naval architect John Alden and built in 1930 in Solomons, Maryland by M.M. Davis. Equipped in Boston with two Winton engines and General Electric Corporation direct current components, she worked continuously in and around Boston waters until 1971 for the Boston Tow Boat Company. During WWII, she was requisitioned by the US Navy and participated in the launch of warships, attended ships at the Charlestown Navy Yard, assembled ships into convoys, and rescued ships torpedoed and damaged in coastal waters.

Today, she is the last full-sized (over 90 feet long) wood-hulled docking harbor tug afloat on the US Gulf and Atlantic coasts. In the 1920s and 1930s, more than 1000 wood-hulled tugs – mostly steam-powered – provided the muscle to support the industrial growth of the eastern United States. She is being restored by a small group of dedicated Luna Preservation Society volunteers.