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USLHT Columbine in 1894
History
Lighthouse Service Pennant United States
NameLilac
Operator
  • US Lighthouse Service (1892-1917)
  • US Navy (1917-1919)
  • US Lighthouse Service (1919-1925)
BuilderGlobe Iron Works
Launched30 March 1892
Commissioned3 August 1892
Decommissioned18 November 1924
Identification
  • Signal letters: GVNP
  • Radio Call sign: NLL (1915)
FateSold, April 1925
United States
NameColumbine
OwnerUnion Shipbuilding Co.
Identification
  • Official Number 227053
  • Signal Letters WQBF
FateAbandoned in 1943
General characteristics
Displacement643 tons, fully loaded
Length155 ft (47 m)
Beam26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draft12 ft 3 in (3.73 m), fully loaded
Depth of hold12 ft 4 in (3.76 m)
Speed13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement5 officers, 16 men in 1909

USLHT Columbine 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.

After 32 years in government service, the ship was sold to private interests, and her name was changed to Elma. Her first owners ran a bootlegging syndicate, and the ship was used to smuggle liquor into the United States during prohibition. She was confiscated by the U.S. government and sold. During the remainder of her career she was idle much of the time. When she did sail, she carried passengers and freight, was used as a tug to tow other ships, and did various other short-term tasks.

Construction and characteristics[edit]

Lighthouse Board plan for Columbine

In 1888 the 13th Lighthouse District encompassed the coast of Oregon and Washington, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Puget Sound. The district had one tender, USLHT Manzanita, to construct, maintain, and supply all the lighthouses and buoys in this area, as well as the aids to navigation in Alaska. In its annual report in 1889, the Lighthouse Board noted that this single ship was not able to visit each buoy twice a year as required by its own regulations, and that routine supply operations had to be contracted to commercial shippers which were expensive and not always available. It requested funding to build a new tender for the district.[1] On 30 September 1890, an appropriation was passed of $95,000 each for identical tenders in the 1st and 13th Lighthouse Districts.[2]

Bids for sisterships USLHT Lilac and USLHT Columbine were opened at the Treasury Department on 23 April 1891.[3] There were fourteen bidders, of which Globe Iron Works of Cleveland, Ohio was the lowest on both vessels. Globe Iron Works bid $77,850 each to build the two ships.[4] The Pennsylvania Steel Company of Sparrows Point Maryland bid $80,000 on Columbine, and $80,300 on Lilac, but wrote in pen, on the edge of the printed bid form, that it would build both ships for $155,000. Since this amount was $700 less than the Globe Iron Works bids taken together, controversy ensued. Globe Iron Works corporate secretary, Luther Allen, met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Charles Foster, previously governor of Ohio, to argue that the Lighthouse Board had not called for a joint bid and thus it would be illegal to consider the Maryland company's joint bid.[5] Allen won the argument. Globe Iron Works was notified that it had been awarded the contract for both ships on 28 April 1891.[6] U.S. Navy Commander Charles V. Gridley was sent to Cleveland to oversee the construction of the two ships for the Lighthouse Board.[7]

Columbine was launched in August 1892.[8]

Her hull and bulwarks were constructed of mild-steel plating riveted together. She was built with a double bottom and 12 water-tight compartments as safety measures against flooding due to accidental grounding. She was 155 feet (47 m) long overall (145 feet (44 m) between perpendiculars), with a beam of 26 feet 6 inches (8.08 m) and a depth of hold of 12 feet 4 inches (3.76 m). Columbine's draft, when fully loaded, was 12 feet 3 inches (3.73 m). Her fully-loaded displacement was 643 tons, and her light displacement was 429 tons.[9][10]

She had two Norway pine masts[11] and was schooner-rigged for sailing. The foremast was equipped with a wooden boom that allowed it to be used as a derrick to hoist buoys aboard. A separate steam-powered winch drove the hoist.[12]

Columbine had a single propeller 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m) in diameter. She had a single inverted-cylinder, surface-condensing steam engine to drive the propeller. It had two cylinders of 22 and 41 inches in diameter with a stroke of 30 inches. The engine had an indicated horsepower of 800. Steam was provided by two cylindrical coal-fired two boilers, each of which was 10 feet 9 inches (3.28 m) long and 10 feet 8 inches (3.25 m) in diameter.[9]

Running from bow to stern on the lower deck were a fore-peak storeroom, crew quarters including 12 berths, lockers, wardrobes and wash basins, the cargo hold, the coal bunkers, boiler room, and engine room. Aft of the engine room were crew quarters with another 12 berths, a pantry, and another storeroom. On the main deck forward was a room for two small steam engines to lift the anchors and run a windlass, and at the stern of the ship a room for the steam-powered steering equipment. The open buoy deck was forward of the deckhouse on the main deck. The deckhouse contained the Inspector's quarters, which consisted of two staterooms, a panty, and bathroom, three staterooms for the ship's officers, the galley, saloon, and a storeroom. The second level of the deckhouse contained the pilothouse and captain's stateroom forward, and another stateroom aft. The ship had steam heating. There were two 500 U.S. gallons (1,900 L) potable water tanks.[11]

The ship was equipped with electric power generation and lights when she was built at Globe Iron Works. She had a radio installed in 1915.[13]

Columbine's original cost was $93,993.[14]

The ship's complement varied over the years. In 1917 it consisted 6 officers and 19 crewmen.[10]

United States buoy tenders are traditionally named for trees, shrubs, and flowering plants.  Columbine is named for the Columbine, a genus of flowering plants. She was the first lighthouse tender named Columbine, but not the last. A second USLHT Columbine was launched in 1931.[15]

Columbine sailed from Cleveland on 5 September 1892, bound for the general lighthouse depot at Thompkinsville, Staten Island, New York. While proceeding south in the East River, Columbine went aground. The ship was undamaged, but the pilot aboard lost his license.[8]

Government service (1892-1925)[edit]

US Lighthouse Service, 13th District (1892-1912)[edit]

Columbine unloading construction materials at the Tillamook, Oregon lighthouse

Columbine first sailed in the fleet of 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. In her first assignment, Columbine supported the Inspector of the 13th Lighthouse District, based at Portland, Oregon.[16] To support the Inspector, however, she had to get to Portland.

Columbine sailed from New York on 30 October 1892.[17] Since the Panama Canal was still in the future, she made her way to the Pacific via the Strait of Magellan. There were several stops along the way for coal and provisions. Columbine arrived at Bahia, Brazil on 19 November 1892.[18] She stopped at Montevideo, Valparaiso, and Callao[19] finally arriving in San Francisco on 28 January 1893. She underwent numerous repairs in San Francisco to fix both the issues with her original construction, and the wear and tear of her long voyage from Cleveland. She was repainted, as her white hull showed a great deal of rust. A new propeller was fitted with a greater pitch in hopes of greater fuel efficiency.[20] The drafts and grates of her furnaces were modified to improve the efficiency of her coal burning.[8] She was dry-docked to clean the marine growth from her bottom. Before leaving the Bay Area, Columbine boarded a cargo of 200 tons of buoy mooring chain at the Mare Island Navy Yard to take with her to her new assignment.[21] Columbine finally reached her base in Portland on 21 April 1893.[16]

Columbine, right, and USLHT Manzanita at the lighthouse depot in Astoria, Oregon in 1894

Supporting the District Inspector, Columbine had a number of missions. She placed new buoys, cleaned and maintained existing buoys, reset buoys that were moved off-station by storms and removed buoys that were worn out. In one of her first working trips for the 13th Lighthouse District, for example, she sailed for Southeast Alaska on 26 May 1893. In the 25-day round trip she placed 12 new buoys, cleaned and painted 47 buoys, and repaired 12 beacons.[16] Columbine towed lightships, including Light Vessel 50,[22] into position and into port for maintenance. She was also used to deliver food, water, wood, coal, lantern fuel, and other supplies to lighthouses and lightships.[23] In 1894, for instance, she delivered 150 tons of coal, 13,000 board feet of lumber, and about 200 tons of other material.[24]

In 1895 a larger propeller was installed in a further effort to improve fuel efficiency.[25]

On 1 January 1897 Columbine was transferred from the Inspector to the Engineer of the 13th Lighthouse District. Her primary mission became the construction and maintenance of lighthouses, fog signals, and related civil works.[26] She continued to tend some buoys and deliver some supplies for the Inspector.[27]

In June 1898, Columbine hosted Rear Admiral John G. Walker, chairman of the Lighthouse Board, on an inspection trip of Southeast Alaska.[28] The ship reached 59° 29′ north latitude, the furthest north any lighthouse tender had sailed at the time. This was considered remarkable, but also implied that there were no maintained aids to navigation on the entire Alaskan coast north of the panhandle. Also notable on this trip was that the first navigation beacon in Alaska was erected. This was a modest light on Castle Hill in Sitka.[29] A similar inspection trip took place aboard Columbine in 1899 when Brigadier General John M. Wilson, Chief of Engineers of the United States Army, inspected army installations on Puget Sound.[30]

In August 1896 gold was discovered in the Klondike. Tens of thousands of would-be prospectors sailed up the Inside Passage to begin their trek to the gold fields. Noting that there were only 58 buoys in all of Alaska to guide the influx of marine traffic, in 1898 the Lighthouse Board recommended that Congress appropriate $100,000 for a new tender to focus on Alaska.[31] Later that year, gold was discovered in Nome, creating an increase in Alaskan ship traffic in an area where there were no aids to navigation at all. In the summer of 1900, Columbine's annual trip to Alaska was notable for two reasons. First, Alaska was of sufficient priority that both the Inspector and Engineer of the 13th District were aboard. Second, Columbine reached Dutch Harbor, the first Lighthouse Service vessel to reach into the Aleutians.[32]

Congress enacted the requested appropriation on 3 March 1899. Regrettably, all of the bids that the Lighthouse Board received for the new tender exceeded the appropriation and were rejected in February 1900.[33] Additional funding was granted by Congress and USLHT Heather was finally completed in 1903. She assigned to the 13th District and based in Seattle where politicians had sought a dedicated tender for years.

In 1903, the Lighthouse Board was transferred to the newly created U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor.[34][35] Since the Lighthouse Board still had operational control of the U.S. Lighthouse Service, little changed in Columbine'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.[36]  This change did impact the ship's work in that District Inspectors and Engineers were replaced by a single District Superintendent. All ships did any construction, maintenance, or buoy tending they were assigned.[37]

US Lighthouse Service, 16th District ([edit]

US Lighthouse Service, 19th District (1915–1917)[edit]

On 2 February 1915, Columbine sailed from Ketchikan for the last time, bound for San Francisco, where she arrived on 15 February 1915.[38] There, she went into the shipyard for repairs. At San Francisco she swapped crews and missions with USLHT Kukui, which was judged to be more capable of withstanding the rigors of Alaska.[39] On 12 May 1915 Columbine sailed for Honolulu to replace Kukui, but with Kukui's former crew.[40] She arrived at her new base on 20 May 1915.[41]

British Yeoman in 1911, prior to her rescue by Columbine

On 17 January 1916, the barquentine British Yeoman anchored off Port Allen, Kauai as a Kona storm began to lash the area. Her anchor drug in the wind and she was driven toward the beach. Her stern hit the reef at least nine times jamming her rudder. Columbine, on the other side of the island at Kilauea, received a radiogram warning of trouble at Port Allen and went to help. Using one of her ship's boats, Columbine managed to run a hawser to British Yeoman and began to tow her away from the shore. Progress was fitful. While Columbine was able to tow the much larger ship far enough offshore to prevent her from being destroyed, the towing cable parted in the high winds and seas. Once the line broke, British Yeoman was adrift until a new line could be rigged. Ultimately, five towing cables were rigged, one after the other, as the previous line broke. The fifth cable was the last aboard either of the two ships, so when it broke, Columbine radioed for assistance. The Navy tug USS Navajo was dispatched from Oahu. She managed to tow the disabled ship into port after overcoming additional challenges. When Columbine was finally able to anchor, her crew had been at their stations for 55 hours.[42]

Praise for Columbine's role in the rescue was effusive. President Woodrow Wilson wrote to Commerce Secretary William C. Redfield, "Thank you for letting me see the report of the heroic services of the officers and crew of the Columbine. I have read it with quickening pulse. If you have the opportunity, will you not convey to these men my personal congratulations?"[43] The Secretary complied, and wrote a letter of commendation to the crew that stated, in part:

I take special pleasure in commending you for your gratifying exhibition of seamanship in connection with this rescue, and also desire to express my high appreciation for the services of all on board during the rescue, in which the best traditions of the Lighthouse Service have been upheld so well.[44]

US Navy (1917-1919)[edit]

On 11 April 1917 President Wilson issued Executive Order 2588[45] transferring a number of lighthouse tenders to support the American effort in World War I. Columbine was transferred to the United States Navy. She was commissioned as USS Columbine, the second U.S. naval vessel of that name.[46]

During her Navy service Columbine and Kukui swapped back to their original missions, with Kukui going to Hawaii and Columbine to Alaska.[47] By January 1918 she was in Portland, Oregon for repairs, and shortly after back to Alaska.[48][49] On 8 May 1918 she sailed from Astoria, Oregon for Baltimore, to which she had been transferred.[50]

After the war, on 1 July 1919,[51] the components of the Lighthouse Service which had become part of the Navy were returned to the supervision of the Department of Commerce. Columbine was struck from the Navy List.

Columbine in 1922

US Lighthousse Service, 5th District (1919–1924)[edit]

US Lighthouse Service, 9th District (1924-1927)[edit]

During the evening of 6 November 1925 the U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat 245 was attempting to enter San Juan Harbor in heavy seas when one of her crew fell overboard. His shipmates threw him a line which tangled in the boast's propeller rendering her helpless. Columbine came to the boat's rescue, and despite the seas managed to save all seven of the boats crew. Columbine's captain, M. C. Manion, received the gold lifesaving medal for his heroism.[52]

Disposal of Columbine[edit]

Columbine arrived at Portsmouth on 8 April 1927. Her crew was transferred to USLHT Acacia who sailed her to San Juan to replace Columbine.[53] She was sold through a sealed bid process. Bids were opened on 22 July 1927 by the Superintendent of the 5th Lighthouse District.

Private ownership (1927-1942)[edit]

Columbine was abandoned, likely scrapped, in 1942.[54]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1889. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1889. pp. 172, 173.
  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, 1890. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1890. p. 19.
  3. ^ "To Ship-Builders:". Times Record. 6 April 1891. p. 2.
  4. ^ "Bids of the Pusey and Jones Company". Morning News. 24 April 1891. p. 1.
  5. ^ "Big Contest For The Contract". Cleveland Plain Dealer. 26 April 1891. p. 5.
  6. ^ "Another Government Boat". Cleveland Plain Dealer. 29 April 1891. p. 8.
  7. ^ "Marine Notes". Detroit Free Press. 4 June 1891. p. 2.
  8. ^ a b c "The Columbine". San Francisco Chronicle. 29 January 1893. p. 22.
  9. ^ a b Appendix No. 1, Relative to the Tenders Lilac and Columbine... Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1891. pp. 183–187.
  10. ^ a b Annual Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1917. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1917. p. 43.
  11. ^ a b "Light House Steamer Lilac". Portland Daily Press. 25 April 1892. p. 5.
  12. ^ McClure, Samuel G. (6 May 1892). "Inland Shipbuilding". Lima News. p. 6.
  13. ^ "Local Notice To Mariners". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 1 May 1915. p. 6.
  14. ^ Annual Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1915. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1915. pp. 20, 51.
  15. ^ "Columbine, 1931 (WLI-208)". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
  16. ^ a b c Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1893. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1893. pp. 36, 181.
  17. ^ "Columbine's Long Voyage". Evening World. 31 October 1892. p. 5.
  18. ^ "Trip Of The Columbine". New York Times. 28 November 1892. p. 5.
  19. ^ "Blown Down South". San Francisco Examiner. 17 January 1893. p. 4.
  20. ^ "Wharf and Wave". San Francisco Chronicle. 22 February 1893. p. 2.
  21. ^ "Sailors Drowned". San Francisco Chronicle. 6 April 1893. p. 5.
  22. ^ "Around Town". Morning Astorian. 24 March 1899. p. 4.
  23. ^ "Around Town". Morning Astorian. 30 October 1900. p. 3.
  24. ^ Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1894. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1893. p. 200.
  25. ^ "The Columbine's Wheel Off". Tacoma Daily. 24 October 1895. p. 2.
  26. ^ Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1897. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1897. pp. 188, 189.
  27. ^ Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1899. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1899. p. 194.
  28. ^ "The Columbine At Vancouver". San Francisco Call. 29 June 1895. p. 3.
  29. ^ Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1895. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1895. p. 180.
  30. ^ "Gen. Wilson's Visit". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 24 May 1899. p. 5.
  31. ^ Annual Report of the Light-House Board of the United States to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1898. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1898. p. 203.
  32. ^ "Columbine Sails Today". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 23 June 1900. p. 10.
  33. ^ "Appropriation Too Small". Post-Intelligencer. 5 March 1900. p. 7.
  34. ^ Peterson, Douglas (2000). United States Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840-1939. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing. ISBN 1-885457-12-X.
  35. ^ "First Annual Report". Evening Star. 10 December 1903. p. 12. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  36. ^ "36 Stat. 534" (PDF). 17 June 1910. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  37. ^ "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 2023-11-30.
  38. ^ "Shipping News". San Francisco Journal. 16 February 1915. p. 8.
  39. ^ "Columbine Starts On Way To Honolulu". Cordova Daily Times. 2 February 1915. p. 3.
  40. ^ "Light Tenders Transfer". San Francisco Examiner. 13 May 1915. p. 19.
  41. ^ "Crew Of Kukui Comes To Port In Columbine". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 20 May 1915. p. 2.
  42. ^ "Bark British Yeoman Brought To Port". Honolulu Advertiser. 20 January 1916. p. 9.
  43. ^ "Columbine's Heroic Sea Work Is Recognized By President Wilson". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 3 April 1916. p. 1.
  44. ^ "Is Praised For Work Of Saving British Yeoman". Honolulu Star Bulletin. 10 May 1916. p. 1.
  45. ^ Executive Order 2588. 1917. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  46. ^ "Columbine II (Lighthouse Tender)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  47. ^ "All Along The Waterfront". Oregon Daily Journal. 17 October 1917. p. 14.
  48. ^ "All Along The Waterfront". Oregon Daily Journal. 12 January 1918. p. 11.
  49. ^ "News Of The Port". Oregon Daily Journal. 13 February 1918. p. 12.
  50. ^ "Portland". San Francisco Examiner. 7 May 1918. p. 21.
  51. ^ 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.
  52. ^ "Captain M.C. Manion Of Lighthouse Tender Columbine Is To Be Given Congressional Medal". Portsmouth Star. 13 April 1927. p. 11.
  53. ^ "Columbine Reaches Port". Ledger-Star. 9 April 1927. p. 20.
  54. ^ Merchant Vessels of the United States (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1943. p. 761.


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