Founded in 1897, Liverpool Screw Towing & Lighterage Co. operated a fleet of cock tugs – no laughing, please – which are smaller tugboats used in ports where larger tugs would be tough to maneuver like the port of Liverpool. These were called cocks, or cockboats, and the people in charge of them were called coxswains, which is now a term used in rowing. Screw towing is moving ships with tugs and lighterage is when you transfer cargo from a larger ship to a smaller one. Liverpool’s entire fleet included ‘cock’ in each ship’s name like ‘Crested Cock,’ ‘Black… ok, now feel free to laugh
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