(Words by Greg Rourke – Photos by Unknown) – Here on BangShift we see all sorts of great drivers making all sorts of brilliant saves on drag strips, oval tracks, and autocross events. Today we’re telling the story of a towboat pilot who had a day he’ll never forget.

First off, they call them tug boats or tow boats. But they mostly push barges on our waterways. Massive amounts of grain, coal, and chemicals are moved this way. It’s actually the most efficient way to move a ton of freight. Barges are lashed together, sometimes three wide and six long, incredible skill is required to maneuver these through locks and open draw bridges. One fine day in 1979 things didn’t goas planned for the M/V Cahaba.

Coal was being moved on this day, down the Tombigbee River in Alabama. The river was at an all timehigh, well above flood stage. That would mean the currents were swift. The Cahaba had six barges intow, loaded with 2,000 tons of coal each. The Cahaba was powered by two 16V149 Detroit Diesels, 1800horsepower each. There was a drawbridge on US Highway 80 over the river. The entire span didn’t open, just the west side. It was also on a bend on the river, it was tricky maneuvering the tow through the open span. It was common practice to release the barges from the tow boat, they would float under the non opening span. The towboat would then go through the open span, as it needed the extra height. They would then chase down the barges and hook them back up, just as nice as you please. But not this day.

As we said, the river was high and fast. The pilot had the deckhands get onto the barges and release the tow. He misjudged the current, and was going faster than normal. Also, one of the lines didn’t get released from the Cahaba, and the whole shootin’ match was headed for the low part of the bridge. The cable finally snapped, but it was too late. The current pushed the Cahaba into the span, then sideways, then completely underwater and under the bridge. Lights out, right? Not so fast…here she comes out the other side of the bridge! She’s rising! And look at that…diesel smoke! At least one of the Screamin’Detroits is still running. Water is rushing out of the upper deck doors, even washing the pilots chair right out the door. The pilot then tried catching his tow, but ran into them causing more damage. Luckily another towboat was nearby who corralled the Cahaba and shoved it into a flooded field.

How did the Cahaba pull this off? A perfect storm of luck. They had just topped off the diesel tanks 14 miles upriver. That aided buoyancy. In addition, Warrior and Gulf Navigation Company, who owned the Cahaba, would ballast the bottom of their vessels with up to four feet of concrete. Therefore the Cahaba did like any good rubber ducky, and remained upright. The general consensus is if the fuel tanks had been half full the Cahaba would have gone straight to the bottom.

Why haven’t you heard of this? The lucky photographer who was stuck in traffic by the open drawbridge had the photos and negatives (remember those?) purchased by the shipping company and locked away. Somehow they got out a few years ago. The Cahaba survived the incident, was repowered and is still shoving barges around today.

HERE’S THE ENTIRE, INCREDIBLE SEQUENCE OF THE CAHABA BECOMING A MOMENTARY SUBMARINE –