R. W. Sesler was constructed in 1979 as an articulated push tug by Atlantic Marine in Fort George Island, Florida. Sesler is 100′ long, 35′ wide, and 22′ 06″ deep, propelled by a pair of GM EMD 16-645-E7B diesel engines producing 5,750 BHP. She is originally fitted with a Bludworth type Articulated Tug-Barge connection system. She pushed barges for Atlantic Marine for 12 years.

In 1991, the Sesler was sold to Dixie Fuels of Houston, Texas, and renamed Invincible. She was employed pushing tank barges for Dixie Fuels.

In 1999, Invincible was purchased by Grand River Navigation of Traverse City, Michigan, to push the barge McKee Sons, which they had recently chartered. The pair entered service together on September 4, 2000.

McKee Sons / Invincible were laid up at Erie, Pennsylvania, in late 2012 after it was decided that the repairs needed aboard the barge were too costly at the time to be justified. The charter to Grand River Navigation ended in late 2014, and the tug pushed the McKee Sons to Muskegon, Michigan, where the barge was laid up on December 20, 2014. Invincible then proceeded to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for continued layup, arriving on December 21, 2014.

In August 2018, Invincible was towed to Ashtabula, Ohio, for preliminary work for being rebuilt to push the barge Menominee. Work was supposed to consist of the removal of her Bludworth connection system, addition of sponsons on her hull to house a new Hydraconn Articulated Tug-Barge connection system, and her pilothouse heightened. The project was put on hold and she has remained in layup in Ashtabula.

Written by Brendan Falkowski