In case you didn’t notice last Friday, there was a large Coast Guard vessel being towed right through the center of downtown on Commercial Street. It was the Triumph II, on its way to its new home, in the foundation of what will be the new Mariners Hall at the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

“After being towed to the Port of Astoria on March 25, Triumph underwent the first phase of restoration,” the CRMM posted on its Facebook page. “Mahogany name boards were refinished, fresh life rings were installed, and plenty of scraping and painting were done!  

“A huge thank-you to our incredible restoration team of volunteers Doug Taylor, Lloyd Bowler, and Susan Hinton and Alicia Palmer of Destiny Boatworks.” A restoration of Triumph II’s below decks, and reinstalling a mast, are also planned.

Casey Onsgaard of Drift Co. Boat Hauling loaded the 59,000 pound vessel for its downtown afternoon tour. A crew from Omega Morgan, under the direction of Rickenbach Construction, hoisted the vessel, “spun her 180 degrees, and gently set her into her custom boat pit — never to move again.” 

The Triumph II once braved the perils of the mouth of the Columbia River, and “was a star player in as many as 3,000 search and rescue cases between 1961 and 2021, operating out of Station Cape Disappointment,” according to a story in the Chinook Observer.  

“When you’re on the Triumph you can feel it in the bones of the vessel — all the rescues and the lives saved,” Coastie Tom Molloy told Chinook Observer columnist Cate Gable. “ You know you’re riding a piece of history.” (Main photo: Skipper Scott Silverman, Astoria Sea Scouts Ship 635 Flying Cloud; inset photo: Columbia River Maritime Museum)