The Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District held a farewell ceremony Oct. 23 at Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia for the hopper dredge McFarland, marking the end of the vessel’s final operational mission after nearly six decades in service.
Current and former crew members, relatives of the vessel’s namesake, maritime partners and other stakeholders attended the event on the Fort Mifflin pier.
The ceremony combined Army protocol with maritime tradition. The watch was secured, and the USACE distinguishing flag was lowered and presented to family members of Arthur McFarland, for whom the dredge is named. Crew members were rung ashore, and a final whistle was sounded.
“We are joined by an extraordinary gathering of leaders, partners and friends whose presence speaks volumes about what this ship means to our region and our country,” said Lt. Col. Ryan A. Baum, commander of the Philadelphia District.
D. Lee Forsgren, the senior official performing the duties of assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, also spoke. “We honor the ship today. We honor the skill that kept her ready, the families who stood behind her crew, and the generations of mariners who gave her name its meaning,” he said.
The McFarland has moved to pierside standby status at Fort Mifflin, where it will remain while the Corps’ medium-class hopper dredge Donnelly is under construction at Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Panama City, Fla.
Bethlehem Steel launched the McFarland in 1966 at its Sparrows Point yard near Baltimore. The vessel was completed in 1967.
The dredge was first assigned to the Corps’ Galveston District, where it supported navigation work along the Texas coast. It can place dredged material by bottom discharge, sidecasting or direct pumpout. The Corps reassigned it from the Jacksonville District to the Philadelphia District in 1982, where it worked to maintain navigation on the Delaware River and Bay.
Over its service life, the McFarland dredged more than 100 million cu. yards of material. After entering Ready Reserve status in 2010, a designation under which the vessel is held available for emergency and surge dredging needs, it completed 11 Ready Reserve missions.
The crew’s work occasionally extended beyond dredging. In 2001, crew members helped extinguish a shipboard fire during an eight-hour response in the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. In 2012, the crew halted dredging near Morehead City, N.C., to rescue a boater in distress.
“Ask someone who served here what they remember, and you may hear about a difficult assignment or an emergency response,” said McFarland Capt. Mike Hass. “But you will also hear about the people.”
Arthur McFarland began his Corps career as an engineman, advanced to dredge master and later became one of the agency’s leading figures in dredging. During a 40-year career, he oversaw the design, construction, and maintenance of dredging plants in the New Orleans and Galveston districts before joining the Office of the Chief of Engineers in Washington, D.C.
His daughter, Alice McFarland Wilson, sponsored the vessel at its 1966 christening, and his wife served as matron of honor. His granddaughter, Sandra Wilson, who attended the christening as a child, returned for the farewell with her sister, Margo London; great-grandchildren Phil London and Laura London; and great-nephew James McFarland.
“It was a wonderful event,” said Margo London. “We’re so glad we could be here. It was very touching.”
The Corps said it plans to preserve the vessel’s legacy through documentation, videography, artifact curation, and public interpretation.
