Built in 1975 in a shipyard in [[Orange, Texas]], the tug measured {{convert|94|x|27|ft|m|abbr=on}}, displaced 99 tons and carried a crew of 7. She was last owned by S.C. Loveland Co. of [[Pennsville, New Jersey]].
The sunken vessel was found intact, still attached by a steel cable to the floating barge that she had been towing. The cable showed traces of metal that some believe came from the hull of another vessel, suggesting that a submarine snagged the tow cable, pulling the tug under, in an incident similar to that of {{USS|Houston|SSN-713|6}} sinking the tugboat ''Barcona'' in 1989.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://njscuba.net/sites/chart_deep_sea.html#Hebert |title=Thomas Hebert |website=Scuba Diving – New Jersey & Long Island New York |accessdate=2013-07-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tugboatdown.com/ |title=Tugboat Down – The Controversial Sinking of the Thomas Hebert |website=Tugboat Down |accessdate=2013-07-07}}</ref> However alternate theories surmise that the tug was some how tripped by it's own tow, either by the tug losing power or suffering a steering failure. The Hebert on previous occasions had suffered from steering problems.
