United States lightship Swiftsure (LV-83)
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Light Vessel Number 83 (LV-83) ''Swiftsure '' is a lightship and
museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
owned by
Northwest Seaport Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center is a nonprofit organization in Seattle, Washington dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Puget Sound and Northwest Coast maritime heritage, expressed through educational programs and exper ...
in
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. Launched in 1904 at
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...
and in active service until 1960 after serving on all five of the American west coast's lightship stations, it is the oldest surviving lightship in the United States, the only one still fitted with its original steam engine, and the last lightship with wooden decks. LV-83 was designated a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1989, and has been undergoing major restoration since 2008. and


Description

As built, LV-83 was one of the nation's new third-generation lightships, with an all-steel hull, wooden decks, and a powerful double-expansion steam engine. It measured on the keel, 133 feet overall, with a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
of , and was rated at 668 tons. The beakhead roller on the bow was later removed, reducing length overall to 129 feet 6 inches. The ship's aids to navigation currently include a 1,000-watt beacon light, a 140-decibel
Diaphone The diaphone is a noisemaking device best known for its use as a foghorn: It can produce deep, powerful tones, able to carry a long distance. Although they have fallen out of favor, diaphones were also used at some fire stations and in other situ ...
horn, and a foredeck fog bell. At the time of launching, however, the beacon consisted of a chandelier of three oil lamps that could be hoisted up the masts from the deck. These were originally powered by
whale oil Whale oil is oil obtained from the blubber of whales. Whale oil from the bowhead whale was sometimes known as train oil, which comes from the Dutch word ''traan'' ("tears, tear" or "drop"). Sperm oil, a special kind of oil obtained from the ...
, then first converted to
kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
, and finally electrified in 1930. A 12-inch diameter steam whistle was the primary sound signaling device on board with the 1,000-lb bell standing by as the auxiliary. For a time, LV-83 was also fitted with an underwater bell with a mechanical striker that would strike out the ship's identity as a submarine signal. Sound carries much farther in water, extending the range of the ship's signals. The underwater bell was removed when a radio beacon was fitted on the ship for long-range signaling. For propulsion, LV-83 was driven by a single 8-foot diameter screw powered by a 375-horsepower marine steam engine, originally fed by a pair of coal-fired fire-tube Scotch boilers. The ship had two coal bunkers, each with a capacity of 75 tons, and freshwater tankage for more than 11,000 gallons. In 1934, the Scotch boilers were replaced with modern oil-fired watertube boilers, improving endurance, speed of bunkering, and speed in raising steam while simultaneously reducing the size of the boiler room crew. During active service, LV-83's normal crew complement was 15, with 10 on duty at any given time. The others were on shore leave rotation. Crew size did fluctuate slightly with technological modifications such as the labor saving oil-fired boilers or the successive waves of new electronic devices like radio and radar. During World War II, the ship's complement increased to more than 30 to man the guns fitted aboard for war duty.


History

LV-83 was launched in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...
in 1904, and was deployed to the West Coast to serve on the Blunt's Reef lightship station. Since the Panama Canal would not be completed for another decade, LV-83 (accompanied by LV-76) had to steam around the tip of
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
and north to San Francisco to reach its first station assignment at
Blunts Reef Blunts is a hamlet southeast of Quethiock in the civil parish of Quethiock in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated west of the River Lynher valley about 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Saltash on the road from Quethiock villag ...
off Crescent City,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. While there, the ship rescued 150 people from the steamer ''Bear'' after that ship ran aground on the reef in dense fog. Formerly known as ''Relief'', LV-83 had numerous names on its sides, all of which indicated the location of its station. ''Swiftsure'' refers to the
Swiftsure Bank Swiftsure may refer to: * HMS ''Swiftsure'', the Royal Navy has had ten ships named HMS ''Swiftsure'' since 1573 * ''Swiftsure'' (1811 brig) * ''Swiftsure''-class submarine, a class of nuclear-powered fleet submarines in service with the Royal Navy ...
near the entrance to the
Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...
, which separates
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
from
Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are o ...
. She also guided ships near Umatilla Reef and the
Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
Bar. The ship was decommissioned in 1960, and purchased by
Northwest Seaport Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center is a nonprofit organization in Seattle, Washington dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Puget Sound and Northwest Coast maritime heritage, expressed through educational programs and exper ...
in 1966. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
, was declared a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1989, and is on the
Washington State Heritage Register The Washington Heritage Register is an official list of sites and properties found throughout Washington state, United States. The Washington Heritage Register is administered by the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservat ...
. LV-83 is docked on
Lake Union Lake Union is a freshwater lake located entirely within the city limits of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a major part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which carries fresh water from the much larger Lake Washington on the east to ...
, in Seattle, Washington, where a long-running restoration was begun in 2008. LV-83 is open to visitors on most summer weekends, or by appointment.


See also

*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Washington (state) This is a complete List of National Historic Landmarks in Washington. The United States National Historic Landmark program is operated under the auspices of the National Park Service, and recognizes structures, districts, objects, and similar resou ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Seattle, Washington This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Seattle, Washington. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in the city of Seattle, Washington, U ...
*
Northwest Seaport Northwest Seaport Maritime Heritage Center is a nonprofit organization in Seattle, Washington dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Puget Sound and Northwest Coast maritime heritage, expressed through educational programs and exper ...
*
Arthur Foss ''Arthur Foss'', built in 1889 as ''Wallowa'' at Portland, Oregon, is likely the oldest wooden tugboat afloat in the world. Its 79-year commercial service life began with towing sailing ships over the Columbia Bar, Columbia River bar, and ended ...
*
Wawona (schooner) ''Wawona'' was an American three-masted, fore-and-aft schooner that sailed from 1897 to 1947 as a lumber carrier and fishing vessel based in Puget Sound. She was one of the last survivors of the sailing schooners in the West Coast lumber trade to ...


Notes


External links

* * * * *
Lightship Swiftsure LV 83
at Lighthouse Friends {{DEFAULTSORT:Swiftsure (LV-83) 1904 ships Historic American Engineering Record in Washington (state) Lightships of the United States Museums in Seattle Museum ships in Washington (state) National Historic Landmark lighthouses National Historic Landmarks in Washington (state) National Register of Historic Places in Seattle Ships of the United States Lighthouse Service Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Washington Heritage Register South Lake Union, Seattle Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation