The gasoline engine driven tug Clarence was built in 1930 at Bayfield, Wisconsin as a fishing tug for the Bayfield Fish Compnay and measured 34 feet X 9.9 feet X 4.5 feet.. The Clarence was used around the harbors of Superior and Duluth as a harbor supply boat, or bumboat, selling to vessels various items such as tobacco, cigarettes, shirts, overalls, gloves and mittens, and various notions.
Clarence burned and exploded at Superior, Wisconsin on June 30, 1938 after filling her 150-gallon gasoline tank. A short in the starting motor was thought to have caused the blaze, which destroyed the vessel. Captain A.B. Kaner received some bruises and burns about the head, but survived the ordeal. The nearby tanker Red Crown had some exciting moments as the blazing gas tank came back to earth just a short distance away. Lake Superior Shipwrecks. Julius F. Wolff Jr.

The final location of the remains of the Clarence is unknown.