Greetings!
Excuse the length of this intro post.
This is a build log for a very personal endeavour. I am building a model of the tugboat HS Perseus (A429, Ρ/Κ Περσεύς /ΠΕΡΣΕΥΣ) of the Hellenic Navy, which my late dad was captain during his service in the Navy in the late 60s at Souda bay, Crete, Greece. Perseus was one of the US made DPC tugboats for the Army, and saw service during WWII.
My dad was an officer in training for the merchant navy and in those years officers in training had the chance to commander in the Hellenic Navy on various support vessels during their military service. Suda is one of the most important naval bases of Greece and host to a large USN base. According to a good friend of my father's who served together, during the late 60s Souda had 3 larger Greek tugs: the Perseus, Gigas and Romaleos.
My model is based on the classic Revell model and it is still hard to believe that a) this kit is still in production after so many decades and b) Revell would choose the DPC small tugs as a base for its template. When I decided to build a model of this tug and started doing my research I knew nothing about the Revell model so imagine my surprise, that out of all the possible tugs of that era, Revell decided to immortalise the DPC! I just had to build it!!
I should also add that this is my first model in 33 years so I am connecting to my teenage shelf, before I left the hobby. I will also need tons of help and it will take a while.
Now back to the boat. Perseus was acquired by Greece following WWII and served with the Navy for at least 40 years. It was one of the 100 tugs ordered by the US Army and delivered to the Defence Plant Corporation. Perseus was originally DPC-58 and was designated ST-772. The DPC tugs were different from small tug 257 design and unfortunately there are probably a handful left in the world, if any in 2026.
I have been able to verify Perseus' exact fate. It was sunk on 21st May 2020 after being used as a target during a Navy exercise. It is a very sad end for a historic tugboat that was also a War Tug that took part in the Normandy landing.
https://thamestugs.co.uk/MULBERRY-TUGS-[US][2].php
It would have made a great museum piece next to the Hellas Liberty in Piraeus…But this is the fate of old boats and probably a better use for it than being sent for scrap. At least its name has been passed on to the Hellenic Navy's most advanced support vessel that came into service a couple of years ago, so that's some form of consolation…
I have done a thorough research, acquired literature and have collected dozens of photos from DPC and ST tugboats. I acquired a copy of wartugs dvd that also includes an electronic version of the wartugs book. The DVD is a great watch and brilliant to see the tugs in action with the Mulberry harbours at Normandy. I have also got a copy of ST Tugs by J.O Bijl and of Little Ships by G. Reminick which are great resources. On the latter there is also an account of Normandy by Vernon “Jack” Boggs, a crew member with the ST 772 (later Perseus). I will be sharing interesting stories from my research on this boat, as I progress with the build.
For Perseus itself, I have five pictures from my dad’s archive and a couple of pictures from the web. One in particular from the web was of immense value as it was in colour and taken in 1971 by D. Boyd onboard the USS America (no less!) only a couple of years after my dad’s service with the tug. This photo confirmed colours and fittings and is my main reference and can be found at shipspotting.com
This photo is funny as the whole crew is on deck to marvel USS America. Great photo!
Another set of extremely valuable photos was from the OLP 1 (ΟΛΠ) tug which was another DPC boat aquired by Greeks and used at the port of Piraeus for many decades. The US Army story of OLP1 is still not clear, but in time I will investigate and get to the bottom of it. Some confuse it with ST772 and Perseus but it's not true, these were two different boats.
However the amazing OLP photos are the only I could find of the boat's interior and were the basis for my main modification of the kit which was to reconstruct the pilothouse and captain's cabin. With those photos and an extremely valuable plan of the boat I found online, I designed the layout. The good friend of my dad’s that served with him, confirmed with me the colours and layout of the pilothouse.
In the course of doing my research I now have a collections of hundreds of DPC pictures from across the web and a few that I bought and will be used as reference.
The plans are also not perfect but it's a great reference. I scaled them in the printer the best way I could and it was clear that I would need to introduce changes to the pilothouse and the boat. I also found a German modelling forum where a very talented modeler named Harald went through a similar process and has excellent documentation of the changes he employed. Very inspiring built.
Another inspiring built was from this forum by Edmund
So I scrapped what I had done and started almost from scratch. I say almost, as by then I had already successfully filed out two doors, so I can have them open to increase the chances of seeing better the internal details and etched with a pin the door frames internally. I had also built the cabin furniture, the two engine telegraphs, the wheel, radio, binoculars, clock and various other fittings. I also made windows from old-school presentation sheets.
Regarding the pilothouse wheel I was very happy with the result. This came out of an etched product, designed to be a fire reel for 1/350 that I came about by chance and did my measurements and took a chance and bought it.
The binnacle was an amazing 3d print by Mark on eBay aka mustangmark67
Simply amazing custom scale print at an amazing price, great guy!
At the moment the pilothouse internals are almost final but there is still work on the pilot house roof. I also increased the sizes of the window as they are smaller than actual.
Next the hull will need extending by about 5mm so will the accommodation. The front mirror will need be done from scratch as its shape is incorrect. I am planning to file away all details in the model and remake them from scratch close to the real thing.
I hope with your help to get through this fairly big project for such a small boat. Enjoy some pictures of the progress so far.
The state of the pilothouse after enlarging the windows (compare with portside)
Extending the hull by 5mm
the fantail will need some enlargement as well on the sides
to be continued with a bit more detail on the work so far
ST-772
US Army tug. Worked positioning Mulberrys and Gooseberrys.
Built 1943 by Ira S. Bushey & Sons Inc., Brooklyn. YN 543. DPC tug. 146 GRT, 99 NRT. L81.1'. B24.0'. D9.8'. 700bhp V8cyl GM Detroit type EMD 8-567ATS Diesel engine.
1943 Delivered to Defense Plant Corporation named DPC58. 1944 Transferred to the US Army renamed ST 772. 11-5-1944 Departed Liverpool for Southampton. 1947 Sold to Greek Navy , renamed A 429 Perseus. 2010 Still listed on Hellenic Navy website.
Excuse the length of this intro post.
This is a build log for a very personal endeavour. I am building a model of the tugboat HS Perseus (A429, Ρ/Κ Περσεύς /ΠΕΡΣΕΥΣ) of the Hellenic Navy, which my late dad was captain during his service in the Navy in the late 60s at Souda bay, Crete, Greece. Perseus was one of the US made DPC tugboats for the Army, and saw service during WWII.
My dad was an officer in training for the merchant navy and in those years officers in training had the chance to commander in the Hellenic Navy on various support vessels during their military service. Suda is one of the most important naval bases of Greece and host to a large USN base. According to a good friend of my father's who served together, during the late 60s Souda had 3 larger Greek tugs: the Perseus, Gigas and Romaleos.
My model is based on the classic Revell model and it is still hard to believe that a) this kit is still in production after so many decades and b) Revell would choose the DPC small tugs as a base for its template. When I decided to build a model of this tug and started doing my research I knew nothing about the Revell model so imagine my surprise, that out of all the possible tugs of that era, Revell decided to immortalise the DPC! I just had to build it!!
I should also add that this is my first model in 33 years so I am connecting to my teenage shelf, before I left the hobby. I will also need tons of help and it will take a while.
Now back to the boat. Perseus was acquired by Greece following WWII and served with the Navy for at least 40 years. It was one of the 100 tugs ordered by the US Army and delivered to the Defence Plant Corporation. Perseus was originally DPC-58 and was designated ST-772. The DPC tugs were different from small tug 257 design and unfortunately there are probably a handful left in the world, if any in 2026.
I have been able to verify Perseus' exact fate. It was sunk on 21st May 2020 after being used as a target during a Navy exercise. It is a very sad end for a historic tugboat that was also a War Tug that took part in the Normandy landing.
https://thamestugs.co.uk/MULBERRY-TUGS-[US][2].php
It would have made a great museum piece next to the Hellas Liberty in Piraeus…But this is the fate of old boats and probably a better use for it than being sent for scrap. At least its name has been passed on to the Hellenic Navy's most advanced support vessel that came into service a couple of years ago, so that's some form of consolation…
I have done a thorough research, acquired literature and have collected dozens of photos from DPC and ST tugboats. I acquired a copy of wartugs dvd that also includes an electronic version of the wartugs book. The DVD is a great watch and brilliant to see the tugs in action with the Mulberry harbours at Normandy. I have also got a copy of ST Tugs by J.O Bijl and of Little Ships by G. Reminick which are great resources. On the latter there is also an account of Normandy by Vernon “Jack” Boggs, a crew member with the ST 772 (later Perseus). I will be sharing interesting stories from my research on this boat, as I progress with the build.
For Perseus itself, I have five pictures from my dad’s archive and a couple of pictures from the web. One in particular from the web was of immense value as it was in colour and taken in 1971 by D. Boyd onboard the USS America (no less!) only a couple of years after my dad’s service with the tug. This photo confirmed colours and fittings and is my main reference and can be found at shipspotting.com
This photo is funny as the whole crew is on deck to marvel USS America. Great photo!
Another set of extremely valuable photos was from the OLP 1 (ΟΛΠ) tug which was another DPC boat aquired by Greeks and used at the port of Piraeus for many decades. The US Army story of OLP1 is still not clear, but in time I will investigate and get to the bottom of it. Some confuse it with ST772 and Perseus but it's not true, these were two different boats.
However the amazing OLP photos are the only I could find of the boat's interior and were the basis for my main modification of the kit which was to reconstruct the pilothouse and captain's cabin. With those photos and an extremely valuable plan of the boat I found online, I designed the layout. The good friend of my dad’s that served with him, confirmed with me the colours and layout of the pilothouse.
In the course of doing my research I now have a collections of hundreds of DPC pictures from across the web and a few that I bought and will be used as reference.
The plans are also not perfect but it's a great reference. I scaled them in the printer the best way I could and it was clear that I would need to introduce changes to the pilothouse and the boat. I also found a German modelling forum where a very talented modeler named Harald went through a similar process and has excellent documentation of the changes he employed. Very inspiring built.
Another inspiring built was from this forum by Edmund
Revell's Harbour Tug in 1:108 scale [COMPLETED BUILD]
When I saw tugboat models made by Barry (Mighty Mite) and Careloo (Ulysses), I also wanted to build an interesting old tugboat. I started looking for a kit and came across a Revell model: It is as old as the World model. Not the best quality but I could not find any other old plastic tugboat...
shipsofscale.com
So I scrapped what I had done and started almost from scratch. I say almost, as by then I had already successfully filed out two doors, so I can have them open to increase the chances of seeing better the internal details and etched with a pin the door frames internally. I had also built the cabin furniture, the two engine telegraphs, the wheel, radio, binoculars, clock and various other fittings. I also made windows from old-school presentation sheets.
Regarding the pilothouse wheel I was very happy with the result. This came out of an etched product, designed to be a fire reel for 1/350 that I came about by chance and did my measurements and took a chance and bought it.
The binnacle was an amazing 3d print by Mark on eBay aka mustangmark67
Simply amazing custom scale print at an amazing price, great guy!
At the moment the pilothouse internals are almost final but there is still work on the pilot house roof. I also increased the sizes of the window as they are smaller than actual.
Next the hull will need extending by about 5mm so will the accommodation. The front mirror will need be done from scratch as its shape is incorrect. I am planning to file away all details in the model and remake them from scratch close to the real thing.
I hope with your help to get through this fairly big project for such a small boat. Enjoy some pictures of the progress so far.
The state of the pilothouse after enlarging the windows (compare with portside)
Extending the hull by 5mm
the fantail will need some enlargement as well on the sides
to be continued with a bit more detail on the work so far
ST-772
US Army tug. Worked positioning Mulberrys and Gooseberrys.
Built 1943 by Ira S. Bushey & Sons Inc., Brooklyn. YN 543. DPC tug. 146 GRT, 99 NRT. L81.1'. B24.0'. D9.8'. 700bhp V8cyl GM Detroit type EMD 8-567ATS Diesel engine.
1943 Delivered to Defense Plant Corporation named DPC58. 1944 Transferred to the US Army renamed ST 772. 11-5-1944 Departed Liverpool for Southampton. 1947 Sold to Greek Navy , renamed A 429 Perseus. 2010 Still listed on Hellenic Navy website.
