During the early part of her life, Hercules was an ocean-going tug. Because of the prevailing northwesterly winds, tall ships often employed Hercules on voyages north along the coast from San Francisco. At other times, the Hercules was used to tow barges to other West Coast ports and Hawaii, and to transport equipment for the construction of the Panama Canal. In 1947, Hercules and the tug Monarch were commissioned to tow the hull of the battleship Oklahoma to San Francisco Bay for scrapping. However, 500 miles off Hawaii, they were hit by a powerful storm and Oklahoma began to fill with water and sink. The Hercules was unable to free itself until the last moment, narrowly avoiding being washed to the bottom of the sea by the Oklahoma. In 1986 it was designated a National Historic Monument.
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