Believe it or not, the first ship recorded with the name Ocmulgee was a 454-ton whaling ship, based in Edgartown, Mass., that was captured by the Confederate raider the CSS Alabama on Sept. 5, 1862.
    The second Ocmulgee was another 2,667-ton 313-foot-long passenger steamers custom built in 1907 for the New Brunswick Steamship Company at the Quincy Fore River Ship & Engine Company yards in Boston.
    On June 23, 1909, local newspapers reported that "The Brunswick Steamship Company's Ochmulgee ... has arrived at Galveston with cargo on fire ... (and is) ... in very bad order." Not surprisingly, the ship was sold for scrap in Danzig in 1929.
    The next two Ocmulgees were Navy tugs. The first, U.S. Navy Yard Tug (YT) #532, was a 325-ton tug that was 100 feet long.
Built by Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation in Morris Heights, New Jersey, the Ocmulgee was launched on Dec. 30, 1944.
    She worked in the Third Naval District until being placed in the Navy's Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, Fla., in March of 1946. The Ocmulgee was reactivated in May 1947 and sent to work in the Sixth Naval District.
    In February 1962, the Navy gave the Ocmulgee the new designation of Yard Tug Medium (or YTM). She remained on active duty as YTM-532 until being sold by the Navy on March 1, 1978. The Ocmulgee was bought and sold several more times, being renamed the Breton, Lynx, Neptune, and lastly the Neptune V.
    The second Navy tug was the new District Harbor Yard Tug (YTB) #765. Built by the Southern Shipbuilding Corporation in Slidell, Louisiana, this vessel name was spelled Okmulgee.
    The tug weighed 283 tons, was 109 feet in length, and 31 feet across, and was launched on April 18, 1963. The Okmulgee served in the Fifth Naval District at Naval Station Norfolk until it was decommissioned and removed from the Naval Register on May 25, 2005.
    The last vessel known to have been named the Ocmulgee was the private motor yacht Ocmulgee. This 10-ton, 31-foot long vessel was launched in 1986 by the C.E. Ryder Corporation of Bristol, R.I.
   
    Roger Allen is a local lover of history. Allen provides a brief look at the area's historical past. Email Roger at rwasr1953@gmail.com.