Click on the Logo above to see
the Almon Johnson Company as it is today.
ALMON A. JOHNSON
1892 - 1987
Click
Here for a Brief Overview of Almon A. Johnson, Inc.
This page is
dedicated to The Almon Johnson Company and it's design and construction of
the automatic towing winch/engine used onboard the ATF class of vessels.
(You will see the terms "engine, winch and machine" used
interchangeably when I refer to the Almon Johnson equipment. Bear with me.
Old habits are hard to break.)
These superb shots
were provided by Jason Gasparik, Engineering Technician of the Almon-Johnson
LTD company. The Almon-Johnson Company, today, a division of Timberland
Equipment Corporation, is still in business and still making towing
engines, winches, windlass' capstans, etc., for salvage and towing ships,
tugs and other vessels. This company provided the massive towing winches
for the Navy's fleet of ATF's. To see some of the newer winches and
company projects of Almon-Johnson click on the company's corporate link at
the top of the page.
The equipment below
allowed the ATF to tow another ship, non-propelled vessel, floating crane,
Aircraft Carrier or darned near anything afloat halfway around the world
at a blazing 5 knots on a single 96,000 or so gallons of fuel. Of course,
in order to work properly a towing bridle had to be rigged (see the last
photo/diagram below for an example of a bridle) and the vessel to be towed
connected to to this mighty piece of deck gear. This required the hard
work and skill of a dedicated and superior Deck Crew in order to hook up
safely and without injury. There are no finer than those who towed.
If you've ever
served on an ATF salvage ship, the Almon-Johnson Model #222 Towing Winch
you see below will be familiar to you. After decommissioning, some of
these 222 winches were removed from various ATF's and sold to civilian
firms. It's my understanding that they are still being used. Just click on
the photo for a larger image. For those who have never seen such as this,
BEHOLD and stand in awe of the power shown below. Enjoy.
The following are
Technical/Engineering Sales Photos of the Series 222 Towing Engine with
Target Towing Drums. The only specifications I could find for the Series
"222" is from a recent product catalog and may be different from
the original design and specifications due to ongoing improvements to the
towing engine. The thing I find most intriguing about this piece of
equipment is that it can automatically pay out and retrieve cable in order
to prevent excessive slack and sagging in the tow line as the conditions
of the sea and ship's steering and manuvuering change. The outcome being a
much more stable and safe tow.
Speicifications
(Maximums): Brake Holding - 250,000 lbs., Linepull - 80,000 lbs.,
Linespeed - 30 fpm, Drum Flange diameter - 74", Drum width -
42", Drum Core Diameter - 36", Drum Capacity - 2400 ft. of
2" Wire Cable.
Standard Features:
The Almon Johnson Ltd., Towing Machine Series "222" features a
Hydraulic drive with infinitely variable speed control, Planetary drive
clutch brake system for quick release, Auxillary drum brake, electro /
hydraulic power unit and Automatic diamond leadscrew levelwind. Optional
Gypsy heads are also available.
Click for a larger
view.
Below are various
photos of vessels performing towing operations using the Almon Johnson
Towing Engine. The first photo shows as many as 5 ATF's and other towing
vessels attempting to free the USS Missouri. I have seen this photo before
but this scan was made from a copy of an original photo in the Almon
Johnson archives. The other photos show various vessels under tow by use
of vessels fitted with Almon Johnson equipment. Of interest: The last
photo is of an LST During WW-II. The LST class of vessel used to run
itself up on the beach to discharge it's cargo. Often, the LST would drop
beaching anchors behind itself and use Almon Johnson towing engines to
drag itself back off the beach and back into deep water once it's mission
was completed. The last five photos were scanned from the book "One
Man" An Oral History of Almon A. Johnson. Click on the photos for a
larger view.
Again, Thanks to
Jason Gasparik, Engineering Technician of the Almon-Johnson LTD company
for going above and beyond the call of duty in providing these materials
for presentation.
T
    
Email:
Radioman@OceanTugs.com
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