If you ask, Savannah businessman Howard Morrison will tell you he’s retired, but he’s never without multiple projects in the works.
Morrison, who has always had a fascination with all things maritime, was instrumental in the creation of the Savannah Ocean Exchange, is a big supporter of Savannah’s Ships of the Sea Museum and was on hand for much of the Tall Ships festivities.
So it comes as no surprise to learn that Howard is behind the city’s latest maritime coup — a collection of authentically detailed models of ships from the 20th century and beyond to be displayed at the Savannah Maritime Trade and Convention Center.
“The Tall Ships Festival was wonderful, and the Ships of the Sea is doing a beautiful job of telling the story of Savannah’s maritime history in the 18th and 19th centuries,” he said recently.
But, with the museum already bursting at the seams, Morrison had to find another way to highlight the nautical history of the 20th century and beyond.
The trade center fit the bill perfectly.
In May, Morrison was on hand for the Trade Center Authority’s monthly meeting to see his friend, Remer Lane III, donate the first model — the Navigator Pluto, one of five petrochemical tankers he helped build at the turn of the 21st century while working for Navigator Gas.
The second model — the CPO Savannah — was donated last month.
A modern container ship built in 2009 by Claus-Peter Offen Shipping Co. of Hamburg, Germany, this model came courtesy of Savannahian Chris Desa, a former merchant marine captain who’s been involved in the shipping industry for more than 40 years.
The CPO Savannah, currently trading for the United Arab Shipping Co. as the UASC Shuiaba, calls regularly on the Port of Savannah.
This month’s model offering is the William T. Moore, a steel-hulled, ocean-going tug with close Savannah ties.
Acquired from the U.S. Navy by C.G. Willis Inc. after World War II, the tug, then named Patricia, was used to tow barges on the Intracoastal Waterway until purchased in 1961 by Capt. J. Lewis Moore as the first vessel for his new Moore Towing Line in Norfolk.
Capt. Moore renamed the tug after his 13-year-old son, William T. Moore, and converted her to ocean service, where she served the entire U.S. East Coast as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean.
Unlike the more familiar Moran and Crescent tugs that dock the big ships on our river, the 116-foot-long William T. Moore towed such large barges as converted Liberty ships and Navy Landing Ship Tanks on long-distance voyages.
The tug made a number of calls on Savannah before being decommissioned in the 1970s, according to her namesake, Ted Moore of Statesboro, who had the model made some 15 years ago.
Moore and his wife, who live in Statesboro, have placed the model on long-term loan to the Trade Center.
“We wanted to share her and this is such an appropriate setting,” he said.
Senior business reporter Mary Carr Mayle covers the ports for the Savannah Morning News. She can be reached at 912-652-0324 or at mary.mayle@savannahnow.com.