United States lightship Columbia (WLV-604)
History | |
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USA | |
Name: | USCGC Columbia (WLV-604) |
Namesake: | Columbia River |
Builder: | Rice Brothers Corporation, Boothbay, Maine |
Launched: | 1950 |
Commissioned: | 1951 |
Decommissioned: | 1979 |
In service: | 1951 |
Homeport: | Astoria, Oregon |
Status: | Museum ship |
General characteristics | |
Displacement: | 617 long tons (627 t) |
Length: | 128 ft (39 m) |
Beam: | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
Draft: | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
Propulsion: | 1 × 550 hp (410 kW) Atlas-Imperial direct reversing 8-cylinder diesel engine |
Speed: | 10.7 knots (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph) |
Complement: | 17 enlisted, 1 warrant officer[1] |
Anchor: | 7,000 lb (3,200 kg) mushroom anchor |
Light: | 600 kilocandela lens, 1,200 watt light (13 nmi (24 km; 15 mi) range) |
Foghorn: | Diaphone foghorn (5 mi (8.0 km) range) |
Lightship WAL-604, "Columbia"
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Location | 1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, Oregon |
Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
Built | 1950 |
Architect | Rice Brothers |
NRHP Reference # | 89002463 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 20, 1989[2] |
Designated NHL | December 20, 1989[3] |
United States lightship Columbia (WLV-604) is a lightship located in Astoria, Oregon, United States of America. Columbia was formerly moored near the mouth of the Columbia River.
Contents
History
Commissioned in 1951, Columbia was the fourth and final lightship stationed at the mouth of the Columbia River. Built by Rice Brothers Shipyard in Boothbay, Maine, Columbia was launched with her sister-ship, Relief (WLV-605). The new WLV-604 replaced the aging Columbia vessel No. 90, which had been in service on the Columbia River since 1939. The Columbia River lightships guided vessels across the Columbia River Bar and an area known as the Graveyard of the Pacific from 1892 until 1979. Columbia was the final lightship to be decommissioned on the U.S. West coast. She was replaced by an automated navigational buoy soon after. The buoy has since been retired.
Because of its importance, the Coast Guard had a permanent 18 man crew stationed on board, consisting of 17 enlisted men and one warrant officer who served as ship's captain. Everything the crew needed had to be on board. In the winter, weeks of rough weather prevented any supplies from being delivered. Life on board the lightship was marked by long stretches of monotony and boredom intermixed with riding gale force storms. The crew worked two to four week rotations, with ten men on duty at all times.[4][5]
In 1983, Columbia was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[6] She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989 under the name Lightship WAL-604, "Columbia".[3][7] WLV-604 is now located at the Columbia River Maritime Museum, alongside the navigational buoy that replaced her in 1979.
See also
References
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External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
- Sunset Empire Amateur Radio Club station: W7BU, Lightship COLUMBIA museum.
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. OR-159, "Lightship Columbia, Columbia River Maritime Museum, Astoria, Clatsop County, OR", 5 photos, 4 data pages, 1 photo caption page
- 1950 ships
- Columbia River
- Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon
- Lightships of the United States
- Museum ships in Oregon
- Museums in Astoria, Oregon
- National Historic Landmark lighthouses
- National Historic Landmarks in Oregon
- National Register of Historic Places in Astoria, Oregon
- Ships built in Maine
- Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon