Zwarte Zee

Zwarte Zee is the name carried by a line of Dutch ocean salvage tugs of L. Smit, the Rotterdam towage and salvage firm. The most famous, built by L. Smit en Zoon at Kinderdijk and launched on 2 June 1933, was the most powerful tug in the world from 1933 until 1957 and the first major ocean tug with diesel rather than steam power, 4,200 hp and about 793 tons displacement. Requisitioned in May 1940, it towed warships to Britain; it served the worldwide deep-sea towing and salvage trade until 1966.