Eppleton Hall, Restored paddle tugboat at Hyde Street Pier, San Francisco, United States

Eppleton Hall is a restored paddle tugboat with twin steam-powered wheels and side-lever engines that powered it for moving large ships. It sits at Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park where visitors can see its exterior structure.

Eppleton Hall was built in 1914 by Hepple and Company of South Shields for the Lambton and Hetton Collieries, to tow colliers on the Rivers Wear and Tyne. Sold in 1945 to France, Fenwick Tyne and Wear, it worked from Sunderland until 1964, then lay half-scrapped at Dunston. Rebuilt at Bill Quay in 1969 and converted to diesel firing, it sailed on 18 September 1969 and reached San Francisco in March 1970.

The tug is named after Eppleton Hall, a house near Penshaw owned by the Hetton Coal Company, not a Lambton family estate. Its name ties the vessel to the collieries it served, and the wooden paddle-wheel housing on the stern carries the inscription "EPPLETON" above "NEWC".

The boat sits at a public pier where you can view it from the outside and see the steam engines and paddle wheels from the dock. Take your time walking around to examine the different parts and details of the hull and machinery.

Eppleton Hall was rebuilt at Bill Quay on the Tyne in 1969 and fitted with an enclosed wheelhouse, radio and diesel-oil firing for the crossing. It sailed on 18 September 1969, ran out of fuel in the Bay of Biscay, rescued a fishing vessel off Mexico and reached the Golden Gate in late March 1970, six months and nine days later.