The Edmond J Moran, an oceangoing rescue and towing tugboat was built in 1940 in Beaumont Texas, a civilian design intended for wartime use. Edmond J.Moran was owned by the Moran Towing and Transportation Company but operated under government charter during the war. She saw service in the North and South Atlantic and the North and South Pacific, and logged more than 100,000 miles. She had many encounters with U-boats and sank one off the East coast of Florida and rammed one off Cuba.