By Ethan Fowler

Special to the Kitsap Sun

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND – The derelict historic tugboat Chickamauga is set to be towed out of Eagle Harbor Marina at 6 a.m. Friday, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday afternoon.

The abandoned tug, which sank in the harbor Oct. 2, leaked oil and diesel fuel, and was raised by a crane Oct. 10, will be towed to Boat Haven Marina in Port Townsend.

DNR took custody of the tugboat — the country’s first full diesel-powered tugboat when it was built in 1915 — on Jan. 16 after the owner didn’t to remove the vessel from Eagle Harbor Marina. The state attorney general’s office also filed three criminal charges against the owner on Jan. 15.

“Hooray! We’ll probably have cheerleaders with pompoms to wave it goodbye,” said Doug Crow, harbormaster of Eagle Harbor Marina, of the news the tugboat would be towed away Friday. “It’s a major step in our history. Now I wish the (state) attorney general lots of luck prosecuting the owner for abandonment, pollution and stealing moorage from the marina.”