"He's still a useful submarine! He does lots of things for us!"

— Ten Cents protesting Grampus' destruction, Regatta

Grampus
TUGS Other Media
Type: Midget Submarine Affiliation: Star Fleet, formerly Navy

Grampus is a midget submarine, who was 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.

Bio

He appears for the first time in the epsiode Pirate, in which he helped to prove Ten Cents' innocence. Then in the episode 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 Ten Cents, Big Mac, O.J. and Top Hat. 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 the 1989 Annual story 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 the episode Regatta and at Top Hat while he was napping in the episode 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.

Grampus's whistle is really Sunshine's in a higher pitch.

Livery

Grampus is painted grey with his name painted on in white.

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. This submarine was sunk as a target in January 1922.

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
Regatta
Munitions
Warrior
Quarantine
Ghosts

Books and Annual Stories

Voice Actors

Lee Cornes (TUGS)
French Tickner (Salty's Lighthouse)
Sakurako Kishiro (Japan)
Pauli Virta (Finland)

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 of the Star Fleet that haven't been found or sold.
Grampus has a special mechanism that makes his squirt water from his mouth whenever he surfaces
His Whistle is Sunshine's sped up by 2.00%.