USLHT Zizania

Last updated

USLHT Zizania.jpg
USLHT Zizania breaking ice
History
Pennant of the United States Lighthouse Service.png US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameZizania
Operator
  • US Lighthouse Service (1888-1917)
  • US Navy (1917-1919)
  • US Lighthouse Service (1919-1925)
BuilderH.A. Ramsey and Son
Laid down2 June 1887
Launched17 January 1888
Commissioned12 November 1888
Decommissioned18 November 1924
Identification
  • Signal Letters GVNK
  • Radio Call Sign: NZZ
FateSold, January 1925
US flag 48 stars.svg
NameZizania
Owner
  • James A. Ross (1925-1939)
  • Pan American Shippers (1939-1942)
Identification
  • Official Number 225632
  • Radio Call Sign MGCR
FateRequisitioned by War Shipping Administration, 1942
US flag 48 stars.svg
NameAdario
Recommissioned26 August 1943
Decommissioned17 April 1946
ReclassifiedYTM-743, 4 August 1945
Stricken1 May 1946
Identification
  • YNT-25
  • Radio call sign NCLE
Fatesold, likely in early 1947, scrapped likely in 1948
General characteristics
Displacement643 tons
Length161 ft (49 m)
Beam27 ft (8.2 m)
Draft9 ft (2.7 m)
Depth of hold12 ft (3.7 m)
Speed9.1 knots (16.9 km/h; 10.5 mph)
Complement5 officers, 16 men

USLHT Zizania was a steel-hulled steamship built as a lighthouse tender in 1888. Over four decades of government service she sailed for the U.S. Lighthouse Service, and the U.S. Navy. She was homeported first in Wilmington, Delaware, and then in Portland, Maine during her Lighthouse Service Years. She served the U.S. Navy in both World War I and World War II. She was renamed during her World War II service, becoming USS Adario, a net tender based at Naval Operating Base Norfolk.

Contents

The ship appears to have been largely inactive between her retirement from the Lighthouse Service in 1925 and her requisition by the War Shipping Administration in 1942. After her World War II service, she was sold by the government and likely scrapped in 1948.

Construction and characteristics

The U. S. Lighthouse Board requested bids for Zizania during the last week of December 1886. [1] Shipbuilder H.A. Ramsey and Son was the low bidder [2] and won the contract for Zizania in February 1887. [3] Her keel was laid on 2 June 1887. [4] Zizania was launched from the company's Baltimore, Maryland shipyard on 17 January 1888. [5] [6] The government revoked the contract and seized the vessel in June 1888 because H.A. Ramsey and Son went out of business. [7] Bids to complete the ship were solicited. [8] Two bids were received and rejected as too costly. The Lighthouse Board opted to finish the ship itself with day laborers. [9] The Lighthouse Board's absolute requirement, under then current law, to accept the lowest bid no matter how unqualified the bidder was a long-running issue. The Board used Zizania's history as an argument to modify the law to allow unqualified low-bidders to be rejected by the Secretary of the Treasury. [10]

Her hull and bulwarks were constructed of steel plating on angle-steel frames. The steel components were riveted together. [11] She was 161 feet (49 m) long, with a beam of 27 feet (8.2 m), a draft of 9 feet (2.7 m), [12] and a depth of hold of 12 feet (3.7 m). Her hull form was unusual for the time with several adaptations which were expected to make her more resistant to ice damage. Her twin propellers and rudders were protected by twin skegs. Her hull ended in two sternposts. [13] Her gross register tonnage was 417 and her net register tonnage was 331. [12] She displaced 643 tons. [14]

She was propelled by two double-expansion steam engines. The cylinders of the engines had diameters of 15 inches (38 cm) and 28 inches (71 cm) and a stroke of 27 inches (69 cm). The two engines drove two bronze propellers. [13] Her two engines each had an indicated horsepower of 325. [12] She had a single coal-fired boiler. Her machinery gave her a speed of 10.5 miles per hour (16.9 km/h). [15]

She had two masts and was schooner-rigged. She did sail on occasion to save fuel. [16] Her fore-mast was more frequently used as a derrick for her buoy tending duties.

Her officers' quarters were on the main deck. The district inspector's cabin was about 33 feet (10 m) in length and covered the full width of the deck in the aft part of the ship. In this cabin were two staterooms on the starboard side, and a small office, locker, pantry, toilet, and wash stand on the port side. Forward of the inspector's cabin, her galley was equipped to serve fifty people. Adjacent to the galley was the officers' mess room and pantry. The engineer, assistant engineer, and mate all had separate cabins, each with a small desk and washstand, forward of the officers' mess. Zizania's captain had a cabin immediately aft of the pilot house. [11]

Aft, below the main deck, was an after cabin with four bunk beds and clothes lockers. Forward, below the main deck, was enlisted crew berthing in a cabin 17 feet (5.2 m) long. Ten bunks with appropriate lockers for clothes storage were in this forecastle cabin. [11]

Zizania's original cost was variously reported as $48,739.14 [12] and $66,173.30. [14]

Over her decades of service, many repairs and upgrades were done to the ship. Her original coal-fired boiler was replaced in November 1893. [17] Electric lights were installed in February 1900. [18] The ship was equipped with a radio by 1920. [19] Her boiler was converted from burning coal to oil in 1939. [20]

Zizania's namesake was a species of wild rice eaten by Native Americans. [15] Adario's namesake was Adario, a leader of the Wendat people. [21]

The ship's complement as a lighthouse tender in 1907 was 5 officers and 16 men, [14] and rose to 6 officers and 22 men by 1922. [22]

Government service (1888-1925)

US Lighthouse Service, 4th District (1888-1913)

Zizania was commissioned on 12 November 1888. She sailed from Baltimore to her new homeport in Delaware Bay on 23 November 1888. [23] The ship was assigned to the 4th Lighthouse District and homeported at Wilmington, Delaware. She replaced USLHT Geranium there. [24] [14]

Zizania first sailed when the U.S Lighthouse Service was controlled by the U.S. Lighthouse Board, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this quasi-military organization, each Lighthouse District had an Inspector, typically a Naval officer, and an Engineer, typically an officer from the Army Corps of Engineers.  While the Engineer was primarily responsible for the construction and maintenance of lighthouses, piers, and other structures, the Inspector was primarily responsible for supplying lighthouses and lightships, and maintaining buoys and lightships in their assigned locations. The inspector was charged with visiting each lighthouse and lightship four times per year and reporting on their condition to the Lighthouse Board. [25] Zizania supported the Inspector of the 4th Lighthouse District. [26] In 1903, the Lighthouse Board was transferred to the newly created U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor. [22] [27] Since the Lighthouse Board still had operational control of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, little changed in Zizania's operations. In 1910, Congress abolished the Lighthouse Board and replaced it with the all-civilian Lighthouse Bureau of the Department of Commerce and Labor. [28]   This change did impact the ship's work in that District Inspectors and Engineers were replaced by a single District Supervisor. All ships did any construction, maintenance, or buoy tending they were assigned. [29]

Miah Maull Shoals lighthouse. Zizania assisted in constructing this lighthouse in 1909. Miah Maull Shoal Light (34838470910).jpg
Miah Maull Shoals lighthouse. Zizania assisted in constructing this lighthouse in 1909.

Supporting the District Inspector, Zizania had a number of missions in Delaware Bay, the Delaware River, and nearby waterways. She placed new buoys, [30] cleaned and maintained existing buoys, reset buoys that were moved off-station by storms, and ice, [31] and removed buoys that were worn out. [32] Every fall she would swap large iron buoys, which could be damaged by ice, with small, light wooden spar buoys. In the spring, she would swap them back. [33] She supported lightships, both by towing them into position [34] and by bringing them supplies. [35] Lighthouses were operated by lighthouse keepers, who kept the lanterns fueled, their wicks trimmed, and their lenses clean. Many lighthouses were inaccessible from land, so lighthouse keepers depended on lighthouse tenders for supplies.  Zizania was used to deliver food, water, wood, coal, lantern fuel, [36] and other supplies to lighthouses. [37]

Zizania required many repairs in her early years. One 1893 newspaper article reported that, "the cost of the frequent repairing of this boat almost equals her original cost." [38] In 1905 the Lighthouse Board requested an appropriation of $125,000 for a new tender to replace her, noting, "The Zizania, which was built in 1887-1888, is no longer sufficiently seaworthy to send safely with a light-vessel in tow to ocean stations Cape May, Winter Quarter Shoal, and around the New Jersey seacoast to New York..." [39] In 1907 Zizania was replaced by the newly-built USLHT Sunflower as the District Inspector's tender. She remained in the 4th Lighthouse District but, as of 10 April 1907, supported the construction and maintenance efforts of the District Engineer. [40] [41] In this capacity, she hauled material for the construction of the Elbow Cross Ledge, and Miah Maull Shoals lights. [42]

Public safety

By law and custom, Lighthouse Service vessels aided ships and mariners in distress, and Zizania was no exception. Here are a few of her rescues while assigned to the 4th Lighthouse District:

The schooner USC&GS Drift, on loan to the Lighthouse Board, was used as a lightship at Winter Quarter Shoal off Assateague Island, North Carolina. In October 1891 she lived up to her name when her mooring line snapped during a gale and she began drifting along the coast. She was disabled, leaking, and her pumps were inoperable. [43] Since this was prior to shipboard radio, nobody knew where she had gone, or indeed if she was still afloat. Zizania was sent to look for Drift. The bark Daisy Reed found Drift about 25 miles ESE of Bodie Island and took her in tow for 21 hours. She turned Drift over to Zizania, which took her crew aboard, and towed the ship back to Fortress Monroe. [44] [45]

In June 1893, the pilot boat W. W. Ker went aground at Cape May. Zizania was able to tow her off without damage. [46]

The British-flagged tanker Weehawken was sailing down the Delaware River on 10 October 1898 when she began to burn. Her cargo was 1.3 million gallons of refined oil. The fire went out of control and her 26 crewmen escaped in two lifeboats. They were rescued by Zizania. [47]

The ship rescued six men who had been thrown into the Delaware River when their sailboat capsized in September 1899. [48]

Notable events

A steam pipe burst on Zizania on 1 April 1898. Fireman George McCulloch was scalded to death. [49]

The Delaware river was mined in 1898 in a defensive action in the Spanish-American War. Zizania laid the mines off Fort Delaware. [50]

Zizania towed Relief Light Vessel No. 16 from her station at Fenwick Island Shoal to the light-house depot in Thompkinsville, New York in 1907. [41]

US Lighthouse Service (1913-1917), 1st District

In 1912 Zizania took over USLHT Lilac's work in Portland, Maine on a temporary basis while she was out of service for repairs. [51] In July 1913 Zizania was permanently reassigned to the 1st Lighthouse District and moved her homeport to Portland. [14] Her duties were similar to those she performed in Chesapeake Bay, tending buoys, [52] and supplying lighthouses. [53]

As in Delaware Bay, Zizania assisted many ships and mariners in distress. She towed the dismasted sloop Mildred Goudy to a dock in Portland in 1914. [54] In 1914 she rescued two men whose launch, Mineola, was trapped in ice. [55] In 1916 Herman M. Ingalls, long-time captain of Zizania, received a letter of commendation from the Secretary of Commerce for the rescue of two men who had fallen off a dock in Portland, Maine. [56] In two separate incidents in 1917 Zizania rescued four men from drowning. [57]

US Navy (1917-1919)

On 11 April 1917 President Wilson issued Executive Order 2588 [58] transferring a number of lighthouse tenders to support the American effort in World War I. Zizania was transferred to the U.S. Department of War, which placed her under the operational control of the 1st Naval District. [59] In April 1917 she was fitted with mine-laying equipment at the Charleston Navy Yard, [60] but otherwise her naval service consisted of continuing her work as a lighthouse tender.

In December 1917 and January 1918, the Navy dispatched Zizania to break ice on the Kennebec River, [61] and the harbors at Belfast, Searsport, Machias, Stockton Springs, and Rockland. [62] Her commanding officer received a letter of commendation for the work on the Kennebec, which freed two coal barges. [63]

After the war, on 1 July 1919, [64] the components of the Lighthouse Service which had become part of the Navy were returned to the supervision of the Department of Commerce. Zizania was struck from the Navy List.

Zizania, sketched in 1924 Sketch of USLHT Zazania in 1924.png
Zizania, sketched in 1924

US Lighthouse Service (1919-1925), 1st District

Back in civilian control, Zizania remained homeported in Portland, and continued her buoy tending and lighthouse keeping duties. In the winter months she was frequently used as an icebreaker so that communities dependent on marine transport for fuel, food, mail, and other supplies could be served. [65] Like modern icebreakers, Zizania found it more effective to ride up over the ice and crush it with her weight than simply smashing into it with her bow. To achieve this, she loaded as much as 13 tons of stone and buoys on her aft deck, raising her bow enough to present the ice with the gentler angle of her keel. [66]

Lighthouse Commissioner George R. Putnam announced the retirement of Zizania in July 1924, explaining that Portland required a larger ship to get all the work done. [67] She was decommissioned on 18 November 1924 and replaced by USLHT Ilex. [68] [22]

Zizania was condemned as unseaworthy by a board of survey in December 1924. She was sold in January 1925 for $5,180 to the Boston firm of Thomas Butler & Co, [69] which specialized in scrapping old ships to recover their iron and other valuable materials. [70] The ship was towed from Portland to Boston by the tug Neponset, arriving 7 February 1925. [71]

Private ownership (1925-1942)

Zizania escaped being scrapped by Thomas Butler & Co. and was instead sold to Captain James A. Ross. He was Zizania's registered owner from 1926 to 1938. [72] [73] It appears he did little with the ship. A newspaper article from 1932 reported that the ship had been tied up at the Battery Wharf for five years. [74] In 1933 Zizania took fishermen on day trips to try their luck. Fishing tackle and bait were included in the $1.50 fare. Luncheon was served, and there was a "beautiful salon for ladies." [75] It appears that this business was short-lived as there is no mention of it in newspapers except in 1933.

Zizania was acquired by Pan American Shippers, Inc. of Miami in 1939. She sailed from Boston on 24 June 1939 [76] for Miami, but ran out of coal and had to be towed in to Hampton Roads by USCGC Mendota. [77] Once she reached Miami, her new owners converted her into a freighter, and converted her coal-fired boiler to oil. [20] The work was contentious as the shipyard and other vendors sued Pan American Shippers for payment. These suits were settled in December 1939. [78] Newspaper reports stated that the ship was sold to the Santa Maria Timber Company of Panama City, Panama in April 1940, [79] but it is unclear if this sale ever took place. Her U. S. Coast Guard documentation shows the ship as owned by Pan American Shippers from 1939 to when she was acquired by the US War Shipping Administration in 1942. [80] [81] [82]

World War II service (1942-1946)

Zizania was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration from Pan American Shippers, Inc. on August 20, 1942. On January 9, 1943 she was assigned to the Philadelphia Derrick & Salvage Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania under a general agency agreement. [83] She was towed to her new assignment by the tug Kelvin Moran. [84]

Zizania was inspected for suitability for Naval service on 2 July 1943 at Cape Henry, Virginia. [85] She was purchased by the Navy on 9 August 1943 [83] for use at the Net Depot at Naval Operating Base Norfolk. On 26 August 1943, the ship was renamed USS Adario, classified as a net tender, and designated YNT-25. [86] She spent the remainder of World War II operating at Norfolk under the control of the Commandant, 5th Naval District. Among her chores as a net tender, Adario removed the skeleton net and boom defense on the York River in September and October 1944. [87] [88] During her term of service, Adario probably performed more tug duties than net tender chores for, on 4 August 1945, she was redesignated a medium tug, YTM-743. [89]

While most of her Navy career was routine, Adario was called upon in a few unusual events. US Coast Guard cutter CG-83503 was being swept into the nets in Hampton Roads in January 1944. Adario passed her a line that held her off until a tow could be arranged. [90] In February 1944 the Fleet Oiler USS Aucilla fouled an Army cable in Hampton Roads. Adario and two other net tenders came to her assistance and were able to free her. In a similar incident, Adario assisted tug USS Pinto which fouled the net. [91]

The U.S. Navy dramatically reduced its fleet after World War II, and Adario was part of this downsizing. She was placed out of service on 17 April 1946, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 May 1946. [89]

Disposal of Zizania

The ship was transferred to the War Shipping Administration, which was responsible for disposing of surplus ships. It solicited bids on the ship, then in Claremont, Virginia, in November 1946. [92] She was acquired by ship broker W. B. Fountain of Norfolk, Virginia. [93] It was reported that after approximately two years he sold her to a Baltimore salvage company which scrapped her. [94]

Related Research Articles

United States lightship <i>Chesapeake</i> (LV-116)

United States lightship Chesapeake (LS-116/WAL-538/WLV-538) is a museum ship owned by the National Park Service and on a 25-year loan to Baltimore City, and is operated by Historic Ships in Baltimore Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. A National Historic Landmark, she is one of a small number of preserved lightships. Since 1820, several lightships have served at the Chesapeake lightship station and have been called Chesapeake. Lightships were initially lettered in the early 1800s, but then numbered as they were often moved from one light station to another. The name painted on the side of lightships was the short name of the Light Station they were assigned to and was the daytime visual aspect of the many Aids to Navigation on board lightships. The United States Coast Guard assigned new hull numbers to all lightships still in service in April 1950. After that date, Light Ship 116 was then known by the new Coast Guard Hull number: WAL-538. In January 1965 the Coast Guard further modified all lightship hull designations from WAL to WLV, so Chesapeake became WLV-538.

USCGC <i>Mesquite</i> Seagoing buoy tender scuttled in Lake Superior

USCGC Mesquite (WAGL/WLB-305) was the lead ship in the Mesquite class of seagoing buoy tenders operated by the United States Coast Guard. She served in the Pacific during World War II, and spent the rest of her Coast Guard career in the Great Lakes. She ran aground and was wrecked in December 1989 off the Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. She was scuttled nearby as a recreational diving attraction.

USCGC <i>Maple</i>

USCGC Maple (WLB-207) is a Juniper-class seagoing buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. She was based at Sitka, Alaska for 16 years and is currently homeported at Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. Her primary mission is maintaining aids to navigation, but she also supports search and rescue, law enforcement, oil spill response, and other Coast Guard missions.

USCGC <i>Fir</i> (WLM-212) Lighthouse tender

The United States Coast Guard Cutter Fir was the last lighthouse tender built specifically for the United States Lighthouse Service to resupply lighthouses and lightships, and to service buoys. Fir was built by the Moore Drydock Company in Oakland, California in 1939. On 22 March 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Fir was launched. She was steam driven with twin screws, 175 feet (53 m) in length, had a beam of 32 feet (9.8 m), drew 11 feet 3 inches (3.43 m) of water, and displaced 885 tons. Fir was fitted with a reinforced bow and stern, and an ice-belt at her water-line for icebreaking. She was built with classic lines and her spaces were lavishly appointed with mahogany, teak, and brass. The crew did intricate ropework throughout the ship. The cost to build Fir was approximately US$390,000. Fir's homeport was Seattle, Washington for all but one of her fifty one years of service when she was temporarily assigned to Long Beach, California when USCGC Walnut was decommissioned on 1 July 1982.

USLHT <i>Azalea</i> US Lighthouse Tender

USLHT Azalea was built as a lighthouse tender and performed in that role on the Massachusetts coast from 1891 to 1917 and again from 1919 to 1933. During World War I, she served in the United States Navy as USS Azalea. Between the wars she was a commercial freighter in Chesapeake Bay, and later between Florida and The Bahamas. During World War II, she was reacquired by the U.S. Navy and served as USS Christiana, a seaplane tender which supported advanced bases in The Bahamas. Declared surplus in 1946, she was sold to Banana Supply Company, and spent a decade transporting bananas from the Caribbean to Miami. After 1956 her history is uncertain until she became a half-sunk derelict and was scrapped in Miami in 1965.

USCGC <i>Lilac</i> US Coast Guard Buoy Tender

USCGC Lilac (WAGL/WLM-227) is a former Coast Guard buoy tender which is now a museum ship located in New York City. Lilac is America's only surviving steam-powered buoy tender, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

USCGC Acacia (WAGL-200) was originally built for service by the U.S. Army as a mine planter shortly after World War I and later transferred to the U.S. Lighthouse Service, which became part of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1939; when transferred the ship was redesignated as a Speedwell-class buoy tender. She was sunk in 1942 by a German U-boat.

USLHT <i>Armeria</i>

USLHT Armeria was a lighthouse tender in commission with the United States Lighthouse Board from December 1890 to March 1898. After Spanish–American War service in the United States Navy as USS Armeria from May to August 1898, she resumed her lighthouse tender duties, first with the Lighthouse Board from 1898 to 1910 and then with its successor organization, the United States Lighthouse Service, from 1910 until she was wrecked in 1912. She was the first lighthouse tender assigned to permanent duty in the Territory of Alaska.

USLHT <i>Cedar</i>

USLHT Cedar was a lighthouse tender in commission in the fleet of the United States Lighthouse Service in 1917 and from 1919 to 1939, and – as USCGC Cedar (WAGL-207) – in the fleet of the United States Coast Guard from 1939 to 1950. She was in commissioned service in the United States Navy as the patrol vessel USS Cedar from 1917 to 1919 during and in the immediate aftermath of World War I. She also saw service in World War II under U.S. Navy control while in the Coast Guard fleet. She spent her career in the Pacific Northwest and the Territory of Alaska.

USCGC Alder (WAGL-216) was a wooden-hull lighthouse tender in commission in the fleet of the United States Lighthouse Service as USLHT Alder from 1924 to 1939, and in the fleet of the United States Coast Guard as USCGC Alder from 1939 until 1948. During World War II, she was given the additional designation (WAGL-216).

USCGC <i>Ironwood</i> US Coast Guard ship

USCGC Ironwood (WAGL-297/WLB-297) is a former Mesquite-class sea-going buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. She served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War as well as a variety of domestic missions. She currently serves as a seamanship training vessel for Job Corps.

USCGC <i>Planetree</i>

USCGC Planetree (WAGL/WLB-307) was a Mesquite-class seagoing buoy tender operated by the United States Coast Guard. She served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, as well as in a variety of domestic missions.

USCGC <i>White Heath</i> White-class buoy tender of the United States Coast Guard

USS YF-445 was a U.S. Navy covered lighter built in 1943 for service in World War II. Her most significant action during the war was to supply ships with food and water at the landing beaches of Operation Dragoon, the allied invasion of Southern France in 1944.

USLHT <i>Jessamine</i> US lighthouse service ship

USLHT Jessamine was a steam-powered sidewheel lighthouse tender built in 1881 for the United States Lighthouse Board. She spent forty years in government service, homeported in Baltimore, Maryland as part of the 5th Lighthouse District. Her primary mission was to build and maintain lighthouses in Chesapeake Bay and nearby waterways in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. Some of the lighthouses she built still stand.

USLHT <i>Shrub</i> US Navy minesweeper, US Coast Guard buoy tender

F. Mansfield and Sons Co. was built in 1912 for use as an oyster boat for a company of the same name. She had a varied career, serving as a U.S. Navy minesweeper in World War I, briefly as F. Mansfield and Sons Co. and then as Mansfield. She was transferred to the U.S Lighthouse Service where she became USLHT Shrub. After the Lighthouse Service was absorbed by the U.S. Coast Guard, she became USCGC Shrub. Shrub left government service in 1947. She was in use as a private yacht when she sank in a storm in the Bahamas in 1963. Her crew drifted to Cuba where they were briefly imprisoned as spies.

USLHT <i>Arbutus</i> (1933 ship) US Lighthouse Tender

USLHT Arbutus was built as a lighthouse tender for the Massachusetts coast. She served in that role from her launch in 1933 until World War II. In 1939, the Lighthouse Service was merged into the United States Coast Guard and the ship became USCGC Arbutus. During the war she was under United States Navy control. She served as an anti-submarine net-tender at Newport, Rhode Island. After the war she was posted to New York and resumed her buoy tender responsibilities. She was decommissioned in 1967 and sold in 1969.

USLHT <i>Arbutus</i> (1879 ship) US Lighthouse Tender

USLHT Arbutus was a wooden-hulled, steam-powered lighthouse tender built for the United States Lighthouse Board in 1879. She served on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts in this role until 1925. During World War I, she was transferred to the United States Navy and was commissioned as USS Arbutus, but her duties largely remained those of a lighthouse tender.

USLHT <i>Iris</i> (1897 ship) US Lighthouse Tender

USLHT Iris was a steel-hulled, steam-powered ship built in Philadelphia in 1897. She began life as an excursion boat for day trips between Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts as Plymouth. She was purchased by the Lighthouse Board and became a lighthouse tender in 1899. She was transferred to the United States Navy during World War I and became USS Iris. She returned to her duties with the United States Lighthouse Service in 1919. She was sold in 1939 and became a collier and bulk freighter named Big Chief. In 1942, after the American entry into World War II, the ship was requisitioned into military service with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. She was transferred to the Navy for the second time in 1943 and became USS Big Chief (IX-101). Declared surplus after the war, she was sold back into private hands in 1948 and became a fishing boat for the remainder of her career. Her name was changed yet again after a 1954 refit to B. O. Colonna. She was scrapped in 1973.

USLHT <i>Lilac</i> (1892 ship) Tender of the United States Lighthouse Service

USLHT Lilac was a steel-hulled steamship built as a lighthouse tender in 1892. During her career in the United States Lighthouse Service her longest assignments were at Portland, Maine, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. During World War I she was transferred to the United States Navy and became USS Lilac.

USLHT <i>Columbine</i> (1892) Tender of the United States Lighthouse Service

USLHT Columbine was a steel-hulled steamship built as a lighthouse tender in 1892. During her career in the United States Lighthouse Service she was based in Portland, Oregon, Ketchikan, Alaska, Honolulu, Hawaii, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Baltimore, Maryland. During World War I she was transferred to the United States Navy and became USS Columbine. She returned to the Lighthouse Service in 1919. The ship was decommissioned and sold by the in 1927.

References

  1. ↑ "Proposals". Baltimore Sun. 31 December 1886. p. 2. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ↑ "Other Government Contracts". Baltimore Sun. 22 January 1887. p. 5. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Miscellaneous". Baltimore Sun. 11 February 1887. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "News Of The Ships". Baltimore Sun. 3 June 1887. p. 5. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Telegraphic Summary, Etc". Baltimore Sun. 18 January 1888. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Telegraphic Summary, Etc". Baltimore Sun. 17 January 1888. p. 1. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Miscellany". Philadelphia Inquirer. 29 June 1888. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Port Paragraphs". Baltimore Sun. 14 June 1888. p. 6. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Bids on Zizania". Baltimore Sun. 7 July 1888. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1889. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1889. pp. 17, 18.
  11. 1 2 3 Specifications for Twin-Screw Steamer "Zizania". Washington, D.C.: U.S. Lighthouse Establishment. 1887.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1910. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1910. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Lighthouse Steamer Zizania". Baltimore Sun. 20 August 1887. p. 6. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "Zizania, 1888". United States Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 26 September 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  15. 1 2 "A New Lighthouse Tender". Delaware Gazette and State Journal. 29 November 1888. p. 5. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  16. ↑ "One of Uncle Sam's Boats to be Repaired and Improved Here". Delaware Gazette. 9 November 1893. p. 6. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  17. ↑ "Along the River Front". Daily Republican. 7 November 1893. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  18. ↑ "Zizania Has Electricity". Evening Journal. 2 March 1900. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  19. ↑ Commercial and Government Radio Stations of the U.S. United States Dept of Commerce Radio Division. 30 June 1920. Archived from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  20. 1 2 "Old Lighthouse Tender Becoming a Freighter". Miami Herald. 5 August 1939. p. 2. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  21. ↑ Mooney, James L., ed. (1991). Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Vol. 1-Part A. Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. p. 54. ISBN   978-0-16-002055-1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  22. 1 2 3 Peterson, Douglas (2000). United States Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840-1939. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing. ISBN   1-885457-12-X.
  23. ↑ "Marine Matters". Evening Journal. 24 November 1888. p. 3. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  24. ↑ "Marine Matters". Evening Journal. 6 December 1888. p. 3. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  25. ↑ "The U.S. Lighthouse Service". Gloucester County Democrat. 28 July 1904. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  26. ↑ "Lewes". News Journal. 6 February 1895. p. 2. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  27. ↑ "First Annual Report". Evening Star. 10 December 1903. p. 12. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "36 Stat. 534" (PDF). 17 June 1910. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  29. ↑ "Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1916". HathiTrust. hdl:2027/nyp.33433087568980. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  30. ↑ "Marine Matters". Evening Journal. 6 April 1889. p. 3. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  31. ↑ "Shipping News From New Castle". Morning News. 8 March 1889. p. 2. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  32. ↑ "Lighthouse Tender Here". Morning News. 24 June 1904. p. 8. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  33. ↑ "Notice To Mariners". Morning News. 17 April 1890. p. 7. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  34. ↑ "Marine Matters". Evening Journal. 20 March 1889. p. 3. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  35. ↑ "United States Tender Zizania". Evening Journal. 26 December 1888. p. 2. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  36. ↑ "The Lighthouse Tender Zizania". Philadelphia Inquirer. 18 June 1903. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  37. ↑ "Lewes Notes". Morning News. 17 June 1889. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  38. ↑ "Repairing Lighthouse Tenders". News Journal. 7 November 1893. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  39. ↑ Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, Transmitting Estimates of Appropriations Required for the Service of the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1905. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1903. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  40. ↑ "Boat For Engineer". Morning News. 11 April 1907. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  41. 1 2 Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1907. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1907. Archived from the original on 21 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  42. ↑ "Captain Rand Defends Flagler". Evening Journal. 2 August 1909. p. 2. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  43. ↑ "Overdue Vessels Arrive In Port". Philadelphia Inquirer. 20 October 1891. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  44. ↑ "A Good Achievement". Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. 21 October 1891. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  45. ↑ "Maritime Miscellany". Morning News. 26 October 1891. p. 7. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  46. ↑ "Pilot Boat Ker Ran Ashore". Morning News. 3 June 1893. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  47. ↑ "An Oil Steamship Ablaze". News Journal. 10 October 1898. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  48. ↑ "Saved From Drowning". Morning News. 4 September 1899. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  49. ↑ "Willington Man Killed". Evening Journal. 2 April 1898. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  50. ↑ "Mines In The Delaware". News Journal. 6 May 1898. p. 8. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  51. ↑ "New Buoy Boat". Times Record. 10 June 1912. p. 2. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  52. ↑ "In The River And Bay". Bangor Daily News. 21 November 1912. p. 2. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  53. ↑ "Oil For The Lights". Times Record. 10 October 1912. p. 2. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  54. ↑ Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1914. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  55. ↑ "Local Notes". Times Record. 18 December 1914. p. 3. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  56. ↑ "Bravery Of Lighthouse Employees". Buffalo Times. 8 November 1916. p. 10. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
  57. ↑ "Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1917". HathiTrust. hdl:2027/nyp.33433087568980. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  58. ↑ Executive Order 2588. 1917. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  59. ↑ "Zizania (Tender)". NHHC. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  60. ↑ "Maine News". Biddeford-Saco Journal. 26 March 1917. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  61. ↑ "As Icebreakers Hibiscus, Zizania Will Try Open River". Times Record. 7 December 1917. p. 1. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  62. ↑ "Marine News". Biddeford-Saco Journal. 28 January 1918. p. 4. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  63. ↑ "U.S. revenue cutter Seminole THRU SS Zuiderdijk". National Archives. p. 1377.
  64. ↑ Henry, Ellen (Winter 2014). "Lighthouses in World War I: Transition into War" (PDF). American Lighthouses. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  65. ↑ "Lighthouse Tender To Break Blockade Lower Bay By Ice". Evening Express. 27 January 1920. p. 2. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  66. ↑ "Ossipee Has Five Days Work In Ice". Evening Express. 30 March 1923. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  67. ↑ "Larger Craft To Displace Zizania In Service Here". Evening Express. 21 July 1924. p. 1. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  68. ↑ "Former Mine Layer Ilex Will Replace Zizania". Evening Express. 7 October 1924. p. 20. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  69. ↑ "Tender Zizania Sold To Boston Concern". Portland Press. 15 January 1925. p. 3. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  70. ↑ "Minnesota Doomed". Boston Herald. 27 August 1901. p. 10. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  71. ↑ "Ship News". Boston Herald. 8 February 1925. p. 26. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  72. ↑ "Merchant Vessels Of The United States for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1926" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  73. ↑ "Merchant vessels Of The United States for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 1938" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  74. ↑ "Elderly Man Drowns At Battery Wharf". Boston Herald. 3 October 1932. p. 17. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  75. ↑ "Ocean Fishing". Boston Herald. 12 August 1933. p. 16. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  76. ↑ "Ship News". Boston Herald. 25 June 1939. p. 43.
  77. ↑ "Cutter Aids Helpless Steamer". Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. 29 June 1939. p. 18. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  78. ↑ "Libel Filed Against Old Boat Dismissed". Miami Herald. 22 December 1939. p. 8. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  79. ↑ "Along the Waterfront". Miami Herald. 9 April 1940. p. 4. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  80. ↑ "Merchant Vessels of the United States 1939" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  81. ↑ "Merchant Vessels of the United States 1941" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  82. ↑ "Merchant Vessels of the United States 1942" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 November 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  83. 1 2 "ZIZANIA". vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  84. ↑ COMGULFSEAFRON - War Diary, 9/1-30/42. U.S. Navy. 1942. p. 106.
  85. ↑ COMTASK-GROUP 02.5 - War Diary, 7/1-31/43. US Navy. p. 19.
  86. ↑ "NYd NORFOLK - War Diary, 10/1-31/43".
  87. ↑ "COMTASK-GROUP 02.5 - War Diary, 9/1-30/44". p. 19.
  88. ↑ "COMCHESAPEAKE GR ESF - War Diary, 10/1-31/44". p. 9.
  89. 1 2 "Adario (YNT-25)". NHHC. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  90. ↑ "COMTASK-GROUP 02.5 - War Diary, 1/1-31/44". p. 233.
  91. ↑ "COMTASK-GROUP 02.5 - War Diary, 2/1-29/44". pp. 21, 353.
  92. ↑ "Proposals". Boston Globe. 18 November 1946. p. 14. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  93. ↑ "2 Lighthouse Tenders Sold To Individuals". Virginian-Pilot. 1 May 1948. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  94. ↑ "Old Pamlico, Famed Cutter Is Now Barge". Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. 21 March 1950. p. 27. Archived from the original on 26 December 2023. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.