‘Perfect Storm’ Vessel Nets $60,075 at GSA Auction

The auction of a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter closed recently with a winning bid of more than $60,000 placed through GSA Auctions, the U.S. General Services Administration’s auction Web site.

Tamaroa made its debut on the site on March 14. Bidding began immediately and eventually included as many as 12 interested parties. After more than two weeks, the auction closed on March 29 with a high bid of $60,075 placed by Maritime Equipment & Sales, Inc., an Alabama-based company. GSA completed the sale of Tamaroa on April 3, 2001.

Originally the USS Zuni, a naval salvage tug during World War II, Tamaroa was later commissioned into the Coast Guard where it served for more than 50 years in search and rescue and law enforcement missions. Tamaroa was in New York Harbor for much of that time, but was sent to New Hampshire in 1984. It was during its tenure there that Tamaroa helped to rescue survivors of the so-called “No-Name Storm of Halloween 1991,” which later inspired the popular novel and film The Perfect Storm.

Reported to the U.S. General Services Administration as excess by the U.S. Coast Guard in January 1994, the decommissioned Tamaroa was initially housed at New York’s Intrepid Sea Air Museum until 1997. It was later housed at the Hudson River Park Conservancy until 2000. GSA opted to auction the tug in a final effort to find a permanent home for the vessel. Tamaroa is currently located at New York City Harbor in New York.