Thea Foss

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Thea Christiansen Foss (8 June 1857 – 7 June 1927) was the founder of Foss Maritime, the largest tugboat company in the western United States, and the real-life person on which the "Tugboat Annie" series was based.

Thea came to the United States from Eidsberg, Norway and married Norwegian immigrant Andrew Foss in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1889 she started the Foss Launch Company, which eventually became the Seattle-based Foss Maritime.

Thea and Andrew Foss had three sons: Arthur, Weddell, and Henry. Henry became a civic leader in Tacoma, Washington. Thea died in Tacoma on the day before her 70th birthday.

The Thea Foss Waterway, a 1.5 mile (2.4 km) mile inlet in Tacoma's industrial area, and connected to Puget Sound, is named after Foss. The USS Amber (PYc-6), which had served as a patrol vessel in World War II, was renamed the Thea Foss after being purchased by Foss Marine Company.