Swiftsure

Lightship No. 83, built at Camden, New Jersey in 1904 with an auxiliary sailing rig, is the oldest lightship in the United States and the last with its original steam engine. It traveled around South America to take station on the West Coast before the Panama Canal was completed. Lightships were seaworthy vessels anchored offshore as floating lighthouses to guide shipping through safe harbor channels or mark dangerous reefs, with crews of 10-15, mast-top beacon lights, fog signals, bright paint, and later radio beacons. One of about a dozen surviving examples of this extinct vessel type, Lightship No. 83 served for 55 years, including duty as a US naval patrol vessel during World War II, rescuing shipwreck survivors, surviving a near collision, changing from oil lanterns to electricity, weathering storms, joining US-Canadian bathythermographic surveys, and guiding thousands of ships along the coast. Retired in 1960 after its last station at Swiftsure Bank at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, it later became part of efforts to preserve the history of Pacific Coast navigation and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

Seattle, Washington · United States