Johnny Cuba

Johnny Cuba is a notorious and violent tramp steamer gangster from TUGS. His strong accent and dialect indicate that he is from Australia. He made his only appearance in High Winds. He is voiced by Sean Barrett.

Johnny had arrived at Bigg City Port to make plans with fellow criminal friends during a period of strong and troublesome tempest weather. He threatened Zebedee and manipulated him into helping him into the port.

Johnny sent Zebedee on an errand to steal a barge of coal, and threatened to sink him if he landed either of them in trouble. Due to a feud between Johnny and Captain Zero that occurred in the past, Zebedee was placed in an awkward and dangerous situation, until Hercules discovered Johnny's hide-out in an abandoned dock. He attemped to escape, but Zebedee stuck up courage to ram him against the keyside and then take him to the authorities. Despite Johnny's claim that "they can't hold Johnny Cuba!", they did.

He later appeared in the annual story 'The Missing Barge' waiting for goods in the estuary, but Sunshine gave the crates to the customs Launch and while Sunshine was given praise, Johnny Cuba was once again arrested.

Despite his notorious persona, in the buzz book 'Nothing to Declare', it was shown that Johnny Cuba had a good streak in him as he stopped a submarine from foiling Bluenose's inspection and the arrival of the top secert navy vessels.

It is a mystery where Johnny Cuba comes from. The TUGS Board Game states that Johnny Cuba comes from Cuba, after his surname, though in the television series, he speaks with an Australian accent, so the TUGs board game was incorrect about Johnny Cuba's nationality.

Behind the Scenes
His model made six more cameos in Sunshine, Ghosts, High Tide, Munitions, Regetta and a deleted scene in Bigg Freeze. In Regatta it sank in Dender Rocks after colliding with Lillie Lightship. He is voiced by Sean Barrett.

In Salty's Lighthouse, he was called "Steamer" and was shy and bashful and is voiced by Michael Donovan.

His model is believed to have been reused in the dock scenes in the sister series, but this is just a rumor. However, several different ships that appeared on the show had a hull of similar design.

Voice Actors

 * Sean Barrett (TUGS)
 * Michael Donovan (Salty's Lighthouse)

Parody Appearences
Johnny Cuba's personality reflects that of:
 * Diesel 10 or George - Thomas & Friends
 * Gerald Robotnik - Sonic The Hedgehog
 * Snake Jailbird - The Simpsons
 * The Hooded Claw - The Perils of Penelope Pitstop