Seagoing separable tug and barge construction

In a separable tug and barge assembly having a twin hull tug unit provided with a horizontally disposed shelf element connecting the twin hulls together, a barge unit having a tongue element extending rearwardly from the aft end thereof for engagement with the shelf element of the tug unit to hold one another in tight relationship, the tug unit having a portion of the forward end of each hull shaped to conform with the curvature of a portion of the aft end of the barge unit to insure a substantially tight mating engagement therebetween, wedging means between the tug and barge units to insure a tight engagement therebetween and to eliminate any relative movement therebetween, and means for connecting and disconnecting the tug and barge units to one another, the improvement comprising a tug unit having a pair of twin diverging hulls spaced from one another at the bow end thereof such that the outboard sides are not parallel to the center line of the combined tug and barge, each of said hulls extending outwardly at its bow end forming an angle of divergence from the center line of the tug unit of between about 3.0 degrees to about 5.0 degrees thereby enhancing the flow of water along the outboard side of each hull in a converging direction towards the aft end thereof and improving the wedging effect between the tug and barge units and enhancing the connecting and disconnecting of the tug unit and barge unit to one another, each hull of the tug unit being skewed outboard at the aft end thereof at an angle to the vertical of between 15-30 degrees thereby providing an improved water flow and a reduction in the water drag and a barge shaped to conform in an integrated state with the lines of the tug.