| Swiftsure | |
|---|---|
 Lightship No. 83, also known as Swiftsure, 2007 | |
| Career (USA) |  |
| Name: |
Lightship No. 83 Lightship WAL-508 |
| Launched: | 1904 |
| Acquired: | c. 1905 |
| Decommissioned: | 18 July 1960 |
| Out of service: | 1960 |
| Status: | Museum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 668 tons |
| Length: | 129 ft (39 m) |
| Beam: | 28 ft 6 in (8.69 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Installed power: | 2 × boilers |
| Propulsion: | Compound reciprocating steam engine; Sail |
| Speed: | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
Lightship No. 83, also known as Swiftsure, is a lightship launched in Camden, New Jersey, in 1904 and now moored in Seattle, Washington. She steamed around the tip of South America to her first station at Blunts Reef in California, where she saved 150 people when their ship ran aground in dense fog. Formerly known as Relief, Number 83 had numerous names on her sides, all of which indicated the location of her station. Swiftsure refers to the Swiftsure Bank near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates Washington from Vancouver Island. She also guided ships near Umatilla Reef and the Columbia River Bar.
Swiftsure is one of the oldest lightships in the country and the only one to have her original steam engines. She is 129 feet (39 m) long, with a beam of 28 feet 6 inches (8.69 m) and a draft of 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m). Her displacement is 668 tons. Her aids to navigation include a 1,000 watt primary light, a 140-decibel Diaphone horn, and a 1,000-pound (450 kg) foredeck fog bell.
The ship was decommissioned in 1960, and purchased by Northwest Seaport in 1969. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989,[1][2] and is on the Washington State Heritage Register. She is moored on Lake Union, in Seattle, Washington, for restoration.
Notes[]
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namednhlsum - ↑
Delgado, James P. (9 July 1988). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form / Lightship No. 83 "Blunts" "San Francisco" "Relief" / Lightship "Relief"". National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/89002462.pdf. Retrieved 2012-09-17. and
"Accompanying 6 photos, from 1988 and undated". National Park Service. http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/89002462.pdf. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- "Vessel Designation LV 83/WAL 508". U.S. Coast Guard Lightships & Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service. United States Coast Guard. http://www.uscg.mil/History/weblightships/LV83.asp. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swiftsure (ship, 1904). - "Lightship No. 83 Swiftsure". Northwest Seaport. http://www.nwseaport.org/lightship83.html.
- "Lightship Swiftsure (LV-83, then WAL-508)". Historic Naval Ships Association. http://www.hnsa.org/ships/swiftsure.htm.
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. WA-175, "Lightship No. 83, South Lake Union Pier, Seattle, King County, WA", 37 photos, 6 measured drawings, 8 data pages, 5 photo caption pages
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The original article can be found at Swiftsure and the edit history here.