USLHT ''Armeria'' was a

lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lighthous ...

in commission with the

United States Lighthouse Board The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 1852 ...

from December 1890 to March 1898. After

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

service in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

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 The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of the ...

, from 1910 until she was wrecked in 1912. She was the first lighthouse tender assigned to permanent duty in the

Territory of Alaska The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; the ...

Construction and commissioning

''Armeria'' was constructed by

Dialogue & Company Dialogue & Company was a shipbuilding firm located in the Port of Camden on the Delaware River in New Jersey. It was founded by John H. Dialogue. Born in 1828, Dialogue moved at age 30 to Kaighn’s Point in Camden. In 1862, he and several part ...

in Camden,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, for the

.McLean, Bruce D., "The U. S. Lighthouse Service," spanamwar.com, Retrieved 28 February 2019
/ref> Intended for lighthouse tender service along the

United States East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

and

United States Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...

, she was commissioned into service in the Lighthouse Board's fleet as USLHT ''Armeria'' on 4 December 1890.

Service history

1890–1898

Upon commissioning, ''Armeria'' was assigned to the 3rd Lighthouse District, with her home port at

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Spanish–American War

As U.S. relations with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

deteriorated in 1898, ''Armeria'' was transferred to the

on 24 March 1898 for anticipated war service. She was converted for naval service – including the installation of two guns – at the

Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. The

broke out in April 1898, and on 5 May 1898 ''Armeria'' was commissioned into U.S. Navy service under the command of

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

Leavitt Curtis Logan. She was assigned to the

North Atlantic Squadron The North Atlantic Squadron was a section of the United States Navy operating in the North Atlantic. It was renamed as the North Atlantic Fleet in 1902. In 1905 the European and South Atlantic squadrons were abolished and absorbed into the Nort ...

. In early June 1898, ''Armeria'' was operating off the north coast of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

with the armed

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

and the steamer when the

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

misidentified them as a

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...

; the mistaken report delayed the departure from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

's Fifth Army Corps for landings on Cuba by six days while U.S. Navy forces verified the actual location of Spanish Navy warships. As the war continued, ''Armeria'' made two voyages from the United States to Cuba carrying ammunition for U.S. Army forces fighting Spanish forces there. She arrived at

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, on 9 August 1898 and the Navy transferred her back to the Lighthouse Board on 11 August 1898, two days before the war ended.

Later service

After her return to the Lighthouse Board, ''Armeria'' resumed her duties in the 3rd Lighthouse District. In 1907, she was reassigned to the 13th Lighthouse District in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. The U.S. Lighthouse Board was abolished in 1910 and replaced by the new

, and she became part of the Lighthouse Service fleet. She was transferred to the 16th Lighthouse District at

Ketchikan Ketchikan ( ; tli, Kichx̱áan) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic District. With a population at the 202 ...

Southeast Alaska Southeast Alaska, colloquially referred to as the Alaska(n) Panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian province of British Columbia (and a small part ...

in 1911, becoming the first lighthouse tender to be permanently assigned to operations in the

Loss

''Armeria'' was wrecked in May 1912 under circumstances related to the wreck that month of the

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

''Haydn Brown''. Sources agree that the

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Pioneer'' cut ''Haydn Brown'' loose in the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska (Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the east, ...

during a storm and that ''Haydn Brown'' drifted for two days with ''Pioneer'' in pursuit before being wrecked on rocks at the southern tip of Montague Island on the coast of

Southcentral Alaska Southcentral Alaska (russian: Юго-Центральная Аляска) is the portion of the U.S. state of Alaska consisting of the shorelines and uplands of the central Gulf of Alaska. Most of the population of the state lives in this regio ...

with the loss of seven of the eight people on board.alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (H)
/ref>alaskashipwreck.com Alaska Shipwrecks (A)
/ref> They also agree that ''Armeria'' arrived on the scene and rescued ''Haydn Brown''′s lone survivor but was herself wrecked soon thereafter. Otherwise, sources differ on the details of the wreck of ''Armeria''. According to one source, ''Pioneer'' cut ''Haydn Brown'' loose on 10 May 1912, and ''Haydn Brown'' came ashore on Montague Island on 12 May; ''Armeria'' picked up the lone survivor from the beach on 15 May, but then herself was wrecked that day on an uncharted submerged rock off Montague Island while maneuvering after the rescue. According to this version of events, the steamer ''Admiral Sampson'' responded to ''Armeria''′s

distress signal A distress signal, also known as a distress call, is an internationally recognized means for obtaining help. Distress signals are communicated by transmitting radio signals, displaying a visually observable item or illumination, or making a soun ...

and rescued ''Armeria''′s entire crew of 36 plus the ''Haydn Brown'' survivor she had taken aboard. In a different account of events, other sources claim that ''Pioneer'' cut ''Haydn Brown'' loose on 16 May, that ''Haydn Brown'' was wrecked on Montague Island on 18 May, and that ''Armeria'' successfully rescued ''Haydn Brown''′s lone survivor; ''Armeria'' then proceeded to Cape Hinchinbrook Light near the south end of

Hinchinbrook Island Hinchinbrook Island (or Pouandai to the Biyaygiri people) is an island in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It lies east of Cardwell and north of Lucinda, separated from the north-eastern coast of Queensland by the narrow Hi ...

off Southcentral Alaska to deliver

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

and supplies and was herself wrecked when she struck an uncharted submerged rock off Hinchinbrook Island on 20 May 1912. In this version of events, the

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

crew assisted the crew of ''Armeria'' and ''Haydn Brown''′s lone survivor in getting ashore on Hinchinbrook Island, and '' Admiral Sampson'' picked them up there. Regardless of the date and location of ''Armeria''′s demise, some of her $70,000 cargo of coal,

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...

s, and supplies was salvaged. However, ''Armeria'' herself – valued at $344,000 – was deemed a

total loss In insurance claims, a total loss or write-off is a situation where the lost value, repair cost or salvage cost of a damaged property exceeds its insured value, and simply replacing the old property with a new equivalent is more cost-effecti ...

, and her wreck was sold at

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

Commemoration

In accordance with a proposal by the

United States Hydrographic Office The United States Hydrographic Office prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It was transfe ...

, Armeria Point () on the northwest coast of

Agattu Island Agattu ( ale, Angatux̂; russian: Агатту) is an island in Alaska, part of the Near Islands in the western end of the Aleutian Islands. With a land area of Agattu is one of the largest uninhabited islands in the Aleutians. It is the secon ...

in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

was named for ''Armeria'' in 1938.''Decisions of the United States Board on Geographic Names: Decisions Rendered Between July 1, 1937 and June 30, 1938'', Washington, D.C.:United States Government Printing Office, 1938, p. 4 Retrieved 28 February 2019
/ref>

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armeria Ships of the United States Lighthouse Service Lighthouse tenders of the United States Spanish–American War ships of the United States Auxiliary ships of the United States Navy 1890 ships Ships built by Dialogue & Company Maritime incidents in 1912 Shipwrecks of the Alaska coast