S.S. Tasco: Capt. Thomas A. Scott's Salvage Vessel at Work
The screw steamship Tasco was built in New London in 1907. In 1908 it was registered to the T.A. Scott Company as a rescue and salvage vessel based in New London. From 1908 to 1914 the Tasco took part in the rescue or salvage of nearly 150 wrecked ships along the east coast of the United States from as far north as the Bay of Fundy to Key West, Florida.
In 2001, David A. Allen of Groton, Connecticut donated his collection of approximately 150 photographs, log books and photocopies of newspaper clippings relating to the activities of the Tasco to the New London Maritime Society. Mr. Allen's grandfather, David J. Hunt, had been the master of the S.S. Tasco.
The photograph album containing about 150 photographs documenting the salvage and rescue operation of the S.S. Tasco presented the most interesting challenge for preserving this collection. In its original format, the photos were pasted onto black album pages with captions written in white ink. Unfortunately, the black pages were acidic and were damaging the photographs. As part of the conservation effort, the photographs needed to be removed.
The first step in the conservation process was to have the album photocopied in its entirety to have a record of its original appearance. Then came the laborious work of carefully removing the photographs and storing them in archival photo sleeves. Some of the photos were found to have additional text on the reverse side, not visible in the original album. In those cases, photocopies were made of the verso of the photos and copies pasted to the backs of the corresponding photographs. Then an album was made for the photocopy and the original photographs in plastic sleeves were placed in an additional bound volume.
The final step in the conservation process was to scan each photograph so that they can be viewed online. To see some of the photographs and other information about the interesting career of this salvage vessel, you may view the online exhibit: S.S. Tasco: New London's Plucky Salvage Ship.