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Lighthouse Tenders Built in the 18th and 19th Centuries

Most recent update: October 31, 2011.

This table lists those vessels built or acquired by the Light House Service in the 18th and 19th centuries, ordered by the year in which they entered service.  It does not include chartered vessels and it does not include vessels that are known to have been less than 50 feet in length, unless they are among the very early, historically significant, vessels.  There are many gaps in the historical data and in some cases a vessel's size is not known or it is not clear whether it was built for the Service or acquired from a commercial owner.  If anyone can add to or correct the data in this table, please send your info to timcolton@aol.com

Name Class Built By Location LDT LOA Built Disposition
Sunbeam   Unknown Unknown 100     Acquired 1852, sold 1870
Franklin Pierce (ex-Zendrico)   Unknown Unknown 80     Acquired 1853, sold 1865
Heroine   Unknown Unknown 70     Acquired 1853, returned 1855
Lookout   Doyle & Irwin Elizabeth City VA     1853 Sold 1858
Spray   Unknown Unknown 48     Acquired 1853, sold 1879
Wave   Unknown Unknown 77 65 1853 Sold 1861
William R. King (ex-The Knight)   Unknown Unknown 81   1853 Acquired 1853, captured by CSA 1861
Elizabeth   Unknown Unknown       Acquired 1854, disposition unknown
Fairy   Unknown Unknown 30     Acquired 1854, lost 1854
George Steers   Unknown Unknown 61 63 1854 Sold 1861
Pharos (ex-H. H. Talman)   Unknown Unknown       Acquired 1854, sold 1908
Aiken (ex-Eclipse)   Unknown Unknown 83     Acquired 1855, captured by CSA 1861
Alert (ex-Lookout)   Unknown Unknown       Acquired 1855, captured by CSA 1861
Bowen   Unknown Baltimore MD 75 77 1853 Acquired 1855, lost 1872
Governor Aiken   Unknown Unknown     1855 Sold 1858
North Wind   Unknown Unknown       Acquired 1855, captured by CSA 1861
Active   Unknown Unknown     1856 Sold 1866
Challenge   Unknown Unknown       Acquired 1856, later Lamplighter, sold 1862
Delaware   Unknown Unknown 138   1856 Later Wave, sold 1879
Lenox   Unknown Unknown 710   1850 Acquired 1856, sold 1857
Vigilant (ex-Mirror)   Unknown Unknown     1856 Acquired 1856, sold 1866
Watchful (ex-Skylark)   Unknown Unknown 146   1856 Acquired 1856, sold 1867
Howell Cobb   Unknown New York 90   1857 Captured by CSA 1861
Firefly   Unknown Unknown 85 75   Acquired 1852, later Jasper, captured by CSA 1861
Minot   Unknown Unknown 60   1857 Sold 1860
Ranger   Unknown Unknown 77     Acquired 1857, sold 1865
Shubrick   Philadelphia NSY Philadelphia PA 305 141 1857 Sold 1886
Van Santvoort   Unknown Unknown 110 100 1853 Acquired 1857, later Coeur de Lion, sold 1866
Appleton   Page & Allen Portsmouth VA 35   1858 Wrecked 1861
Helen   Unknown Unknown       Acquired 1858, captured by CSA 1861
Granite   Unknown Unknown 75   1860 Sold 1866
Chase   Unknown Unknown 57   1856 Acquired 1861, sold 1860
Martha   Unknown Unknown 40     Acquired 1862, captured by CSA 1864
Belle (ex-Belle Stevens)   Unknown St. Joseph MI 115 88 1863 Acquired 1863, sold 1874
Dupont (ex-Anna Deane)   Unknown Unknown       Captured from CSA 1863, sold 1870
Cactus (ex-Polar Star)   Unknown Brooklyn NY 242 141 1863 Acquired 1865, sold 1909
Chaos   Unknown Unknown 57   1865 Sold 1866
General Putnam (ex-Putnam)   Unknown Brooklyn NY     1957 Acquired 1865, sold 1893
Geranium (ex-John A. Dix)   Unknown Newburgh NY 356 128 1863 Acquired 1865, sold 1910
Heliotrope (ex-Maggie Baker)   Unknown Unknown 239 134 1863 Acquired 1865, sold 1881
Iris (ex-Willet Rowe)   Unknown Brooklyn NY 281 87 1863 Acquired 1865, sold 1892
Haze (ex-Merchant)   Henry Mallory Mystic CT 328 137   Acquired 1867, sold 1905
Narragansett   Unknown Unknown     1862 Acquired 1867, later Mignonette, lost 1887
Sunrise Sunrise Unknown Unknown 12   1867 Sold 1875
Sunset Sunrise Unknown Unknown 12   1867 Sold 1875
Susan Sunrise Unknown Unknown 12   1867 Sold 1875
Maggie   Unknown Unknown 95 81   Acquired 1868, sold 1879
Tulip (ex-Seymour)   B. C. Terry Keyport NJ 169 120 1860 Acquired 1865, sold 1881
Alanthus Alanthus Cramp SB Philadelphia PA 295 135 1870 Sold 1882
Verbena Alanthus Cramp SB Philadelphia PA 295 135 1870 Sold 1911
General Poe   Birely, Hillman Philadelphia PA 231 60 1870 Unknown
Ivy (ex-Commodore)   Unknown Unknown 231 60 1865 Acquired 1870, sold 1875
Rose   Unknown Unknown 36 64 1870 Sold 1881
Arbutus (ex-Aaron Wilbur)   B. C. Terry Keyport NJ   125 1862 Acquired 1871, sold 1875
Magnolia (ex-George E. Smoot)   Unknown Unknown 118 97   Acquired 1871, sold 1882
Violet (ex-Martha Washington)   Unknown Elizabethport NJ 231 107 1864 Acquired 1871, sold 1910
Warrington   J. M. Jones Detroit MI 410 260 1868 Acquired 1870, sold 1910
Dandelion (ex-C. W. Thomas)   Unknown Boston MA 264 132 1863 Acquired 1872, sold 1878
Mistletoe   Robinson Hoffman Chester PA 476 137 1872 Sold 1922
Myrtle   Birely, Hillman Philadelphia PA 542 140 1872 Sold 1922
Atlantic   Unknown Unknown     1873 To Coast Survey
Daisy (ex-On Time)   Unknown Unknown 44 91 1869 Acquired 1873, to Coast Survey 1885
Dahlia   Neafie & Levy Philadelphia PA 426 141 1874 Sold 1909
Lily   Unknown Jeffersonville IN 507 178 1875 Wrecked 1911
Laurel    Columbian IW Baltimore MD 320 134 1876 Sold 1909
Pansy   Baird & Huston Philadelphia PA 454 152 1878 Sold 1933
Pink (ex-Louisa)   Unknown Unknown 23 74 1875 Acquired 1878, sold 1881
Arbutus   William T. Maister Baltimore MD   153 1879 Sold 1925
Nettle    Unknown New York 22 58 1879 Sold 1911
Joseph Henry   Howard's SY Jeffersonville IN 453 180 1880 Sold 1904
Manzanita   H. A. Ramsey Baltimore MD 484 152 1880 Sold 1908
Holly Holly Maister & Reaney Baltimore MD 499 156 1881 Sold 1931
Jessamine Holly Maister & Reaney Baltimore MD 499 156 1881 Sold 1922
Ivy (ex-La Belle)   Unknown Unknown 48 100 1880 Acquired 1880, sold 1888
Wistaria   Pusey & Jones Wilmington DE 450 167 1882 To USPHS 1911
Grace Darling   Unknown Unknown 107 92   Acquired 1883, later Rose, sold 1899
John Rodgers    Ward, Stanton Newburgh NY 571 160 1883 Sold 1922
Madroño   John H. Dialogue Camden NJ 806 180 1885 Sold 1927
Gardenia (ex-Beale)   Unknown East Deering ME 245 117   Acquired 1888, sold 1919
Goldenrod   Sweeney & Bros. Jeffersonville IN 283 150 1888 Sold 1924
Zizania   H. A. Ramsey Brooklyn NY 643 161 1888 Sold 1925
Clover    William McKie East Boston MA 440 126 1889 Sold 1900
Armeria   John H. Dialogue Camden NJ   202 1890 Wrecked 1912
Marigold   Detroit Dry Dock Wyandotte MI 587 159 1890 Sold 1946
Thistle (ex-Cynthia)   John C. Froelich Baltimore MD 32 60 1890 Acquired 1890, sold 1912
Azalea    Johnson Foundry New York 516 154 1891 Sold 1933
Laurel   Unknown Unknown     1891 Sold 1898
Amaranth   Cleveland SB Cleveland OH 1,125 166 1892 Sold 1946
Columbine Lilac Globe IW Cleveland OH 643 155 1892 Sold 1927
Lilac Lilac Globe IW Cleveland OH 643 155 1892 Sold 1925
Maple   Moore & Sons Elizabethport NJ 799 164 1893 Sold 1933
Leal   Unknown Unknown     1894 Sold 1907
Daisy (ex-Genevieve)   Edward Clark New Bedford MA 84 54 1872 Acquired 1895, sold 1928
Water Lily Water Lily Gas Engine & Power Morris Heights NY 39 69 1895 Sold 1929
Snowdrop Water Lily Gas Engine & Power Morris Heights NY 39 69 1897 Sold 1924
Mangrove   Crescent SY Elizabethport NJ 821 164 1897 Scrapped 1947
Mayflower   Bath Iron Works Bath ME 650 164 1897 Later Hydrangea, sold 1945
Iris (ex-Plymouth)   Neafie & Levy Philadelphia PA 606 153 1897 Acquired 1899, sold 1934