The wooden steam engine powered tug was built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Wolf & Davidson in 1890. The official number was 14495. The vessel was propelled by a single cylinder high pressure steam engine and a single fire box boiler both of which were built in Milwaukee.

The Knight Templar "took the place of the tug F.C. Maxon which was dismantled and abandoned in the fall of 1889 or spring of 1890 and was used in harbor towing in Milwaukee. She often towed the scow Noah's Ark (ex J.B. Prime US 13749) with brick from Schramka's brick yard from Port Washington to Milwaukee until about 1900. Later she was a scow employed in the same trade."
The Knight Templar was abandoned in about 1925 and removed from the books in 1929. The vessel was abandoned in the Kinnickinnic River, Milwaukee.
The remains of the abandoned tug Knight Templar have never been identified and may have been removed.