Grampus

"They didn't blow me up today! The navy sold me to Captain Star, so I'm one of you, now!"

— Grampus, Regatta

Grampus

Affiliation: Navy (Former), Star Fleet Type: Midget Submarine

Grampus is a midget submarine, once owned by the navy. He is a grandfatherly figure and a close friend of the Star Fleet, and has helped them out on various situations. He appears for the first time in Pirate, in which he helped to prove Ten Cents' innocence. In Regatta, he saved Lillie Lightship from sinking by plugging the hole in her side with his front. Later, he was nearly blown up by Bluenose the naval tug having been branded as 'too old' for further service and was out of comission. He was thankfully swiftly rescued by the Star Fleet. On the same day, he was bought by Captain Star and joined the Star Fleet as their first Star submarine. He speaks with a Central English accent (with a noticeable lisp). In one of the TUGS 1989 Annual stories, The Race, he helps Big Mac win a race against Zorran who sabotages the race.

Grampus also has a tendency to spit water in the tug's faces, most prominently at Bluenose in Regatta and at Top Hat in Ghosts. Grampus docks near the famous Bridge Café, but due to the noise provided by the band, he often moves around the harbour, this is best shown in 'Pirate'. Nothing is said that when Grampus was bought by Captain Star to prevent his demise, that he moved to the Star Dock to rest.

Behind the Scenes

Grampus is probably based on a Plunger class submarine and is probably named after the USS Grampus (SS-4) which was one of those submarines.

A Grampus, also known as Risso's Dolphin, is also a type of blunt-nosed dolphin.

Spike Knight built Grampus based on old photos of a "Grampus" class submarine. The Grampus model used the same trolley mechanism utilised for moving the tugs, except his was able to lift up and down to surface.

Appearances

Television

Sunshine (deleted scene cameo)
Pirate
Quarantine
Ghosts
Warrior
Munitions
Regatta

Books and Annual Stories

Voice Actors

Lee Cornes (TUGS)
Brad Swaile (Salty's Lighthouse)
Sakurako Kishiro (Japan)

Trivia

His face masks were sold to The Star Tugs Company (formerly The Star Tugs Trust). The current whereabouts of his model are unknown, making him and Top Hat the only two models that haven't been found yet at the moment.
Other than his flag, Grampus is the only member of the Star Fleet to not be coated in the Star Fleet colors (Yellow, red, white and blue).