The Type V ship is a United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) designation for World War II tugboats. Type V was used in World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Type V ships were used to move ships and barges. Type V tugboats were made of either steel or wood hulls. There were four types of tugboats ordered for World War II. The largest type V design was the sea worthy long steel hull, V4-M-A1. The V4-M-A1 design was used by a number of manufacturers; a total of 49 were built. A smaller steel hull tugboat was the V2-ME-A1; 26 were built. The largest wooden hull was the V3-S-AH2, of which 14 were built. The smaller wooden hull was the V2-M-AL1, which 35 were built. Most V2-M-AL1 tugboats were sent to the United Kingdom for the war efforts under the lend-lease act. The Type V tugs served across the globe during World War II including: Pacific War, European theatre, and in the United States. SS Farallon, and other Type V tugs, were used to help built Normandy ports, including Mulberry harbour, on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and made nine round trips to Normandy to deliver Phoenix breakwaters.
Tugboats are used to maneuver vessels and barges by pushing or towing them. Tugs are needed to move vessels that either should not move by themselves, such as large ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal, or those that can not move by themselves, like as barges, disabled ships, or log rafts. Tugboats are powerful for their small size and are strongly built. Early tugboats used steam engines, but most have diesel engines now. Many tugboats have firefighting water cannons, allowing them to assist in firefighting, especially in harbors. Some minesweepers like , and were converted to ocean tugs for the war.
Ships in class
V2-ME-A1
Named for small US ports. They had steel hulls, with a displacement of , long, with a beam of , and a draft of . Many had Enterprise or Alco diesel engines that ranged from with electric drives. They were classified the in US Navy service, with an original designation of YT, "District Harbor Tug". On 15 May 1944, they were redesignated YTB, "District Harbor Tug, Large", before finally being designated YTM, "Harbor Tug, Medium", in February 1962. The 26 V2-ME-A1's were built by six different builders; Birchfield Shipbuilding & Boiler Co., Inc., Tacoma, Washington, 6 tugs; Canulette Shipbuilding, Slidell, Louisiana, 4 tugs; Calumet Shipyard & Drydock, Chicago, Illinois, 5 tugs; Ira. S. Bushey & Sons, Brooklyn, New York, 5 tugs; General Ship & Engine Works, East Boston, Massachusetts, 2 tugs; and Brunswick Marine Construction Corporation, Brunswick, Georgia, 4 tugs.