| Mystic Steamship Company Boston Tow Boat Company T-Wharf Towing Company | |
| Foundation: | in Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Defunct: | 1985 |
| Area Served: | Eastern United States |
| Industry: | Shipping, Tug towing |
| Key People: | Frederick B Craven, James Lorin Richards, Robert Winsor |
| Parent: |
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thumb|Mystic Steamship Company's Tug Luna, at Chelsea, Massachusetts, October 2015Mystic Steamship Company, also known as Boston Tow Boat Company was a Boston, Massachusetts shipping company named after the Mystic River. The company was founded in 1854 as the T-Wharf Towing Company. Boston Tow Boat Company was an operator of ship salvaging, icebreaker shipping, and a tugboat operator. The other major operation was transporting coal. Mystic Steamship Company operated collier ships and coal barges. Coal was load at Newport News, Virginia and delivery to New York Harbor, Philadelphia and Baltimore. Mystic Steamship Company was also a bulk grain transporter. Eastern Gas & Fuel Associates, which is now Eastern Enterprises, purchased and ran Mystic Steamship Company.[1] [2] [3] [4] T-Wharf Towing Company merged into the Boston Gas Eastern Enterprises Incorporated, its parent company, on June 30, 1917. Boston Gas Eastern Enterprises reformed the shipping lines as the Boston Towboat Company Incorporated. Boston Fuel Transportation Company purchased Boston Towboat Company in 1985. Boston Fuel renamed the company the Boston Towing and Transportation Companies.[5] In 1940, the company became the Mystic Steamship, a Division of Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates.
During World War I, Mystic Steamship Company operated Merchant navy ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II, Mystic Steamship Company was active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.
Post Mystic Steamship purchased some World War surplus Liberty ships, both tankers and colliers types.[6]