USLHT Lilac (1892 ship)
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- US Lighthouse Service (1892-1917)
- US Navy (1917-1919)
- US Lighthouse Service (1919-1925)
_National_Archives_photo_RG_26-LSH-27-1.jpg) USLHT Lilac | |
| History | |
|---|---|
  United States | |
| Name | Lilac |
| Operator |
|
| Builder | Globe Iron Works Company |
| Launched | 30 March 1892 |
| Commissioned | 3 August 1892 |
| Decommissioned | 18 November 1924 |
| Identification | Signal letters: GVNP |
| Fate | Sold, April 1925 |
| United States | |
| Name | Elma |
| Owner |
|
| Identification |
|
| Fate | unknown |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 643 tons, fully loaded |
| Length | 155 ft (47 m) |
| Beam | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m), fully loaded |
| Depth of hold | 12 ft 4 in (3.76 m) |
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement | 5 officers, 16 men in 1909 |
USLHT Lilac was a steel-hulled steamship built as a lighthouse tender in 1892. During her career in the United States Lighthouse Service her longest assignments were at Portland, Maine, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. During World War I she was transferred to the United States Navy and became USS Lilac.
After 32 years in government service, the ship was sold to private interests, and her name was changed to Elma. Her first owners ran a bootlegging syndicate, and the ship was used to smuggle liquor into the United States during prohibition. She was confiscated by the U.S. government and sold. During the remainder of her career she was idle much of the time. When she did sail, she carried passengers and freight, was used as a tug to tow other ships, and did various other short-term tasks.
Elma disappears from Federal documentation and newspaper accounts in 1938. Her ultimate fate is unknown.
In its fiscal year 1888 annual report the Lighthouse Board recommended replacing the aging USLHT Iris in the 1st Lighthouse District. Reflecting on her poor condition, the Board wrote, "It is probable that if she was caught in a storm, or if she touched the bottom, she would become a complete wreck". Congress took no action to fund a replacement, so the Lighthouse Board renewed its request for a new tender in its 1889 report.[1] On 30 September 1890, an appropriation was passed of $95,000 each for identical tenders in the 1st and 13th Lighthouse Districts.[2]
Bids for sisterships USLHT Lilac and USLHT Columbine were opened at the Treasury Department on 23 April 1891.[3] There were fourteen bidders, of which the Globe Iron Works Company of Cleveland, Ohio was the lowest on both vessels. Globe Iron Works bid $77,850 each to build the two ships.[4] The Pennsylvania Steel Company of Sparrows Point Maryland bid $80,000 on Columbine, and $80,300 on Lilac, but wrote in pen, on the edge of the printed bid form, that it would build both ships for $155,000. Since this amount was $700 less than the Globe Iron Works bids taken together, controversy ensued. Globe Iron Works corporate secretary, Luther Allen, met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Charles Foster, previously governor of Ohio, to argue that the Lighthouse Board had not called for a joint bid and thus it would be illegal to consider the Maryland company's joint bid.[5] Allen won the argument. Globe Iron Works was notified that it had been awarded the contract for both ships on 28 April 1891.[6] U.S. Navy Commander Charles V. Gridley was sent to Cleveland to oversee the construction of the two ships for the Lighthouse Board.[7]
Lilac was launched on 30 March 1892. She was christened by Miss Lois Augusta Allen, the 8-year-old daughter of Luther Allen. In attendance at the launch were Commander George W. Coffin, Naval Secretary to the Lighthouse Board, naval architect Walfred Sylvan, who designed the ship, and Commander Frank Wildes, the District Inspector of the 1st Lighthouse District, who Lilac would serve once commissioned.[8]
Her hull and bulwarks were constructed of mild-steel plating riveted together. She was built with a double bottom and 12 water-tight compartments as safety measures against flooding due to accidental grounding.[9][10] She was 155 feet (47 m) long overall (145 feet (44 m) between perpendiculars), with a beam of 26 feet 6 inches (8.08 m) and a depth of hold of 12 feet 4 inches (3.76 m). Lilac's draft, when fully loaded, was 12 feet 3 inches (3.73 m). Her fully loaded displacement was 643 tons, and her light displacement was 434 tons.[11][12]
She had two Norway pine masts[10] and was schooner-rigged for sailing.[9] The foremast was equipped with a wooden boom that allowed it to be used as a derrick to hoist buoys aboard. A separate steam-powered winch drove the hoist.[9]
Lilac had a single propeller 9 feet 4 inches (2.84 m) in diameter. She had a single inverted-cylinder, surface-condensing steam engine to drive the propeller. It had two cylinders of 22 and 41 inches in diameter with a stroke of 30 inches. The engine had an indicated horsepower of 800. Steam was provided by two cylindrical coal-fired two boilers, each of which was 10 feet 9 inches (3.28 m) long and 10 feet 8 inches (3.25 m) in diameter.[9][10] While her original steam engine appears to have been used for her entire career, her two original boilers were replaced by a single unit in 1900.[13] He boiler was converted to burn oil instead of coal by at least 1931.[14]
Running from bow to stern on the lower deck were a fore-peak storeroom, crew quarters including 12 berths, lockers, wardrobes and wash basins, the cargo hold, the coal bunkers, boiler room, and engine room. Aft of the engine room were crew quarters with another 12 berths, a pantry, and another storeroom. On the main deck forward was a room for two small steam engines to lift the anchors and run a windlass, and at the stern of the ship a room for the steam-powered steering equipment. The open buoy deck was forward of the deckhouse on the main deck. The deckhouse contained the Inspector's quarters, which consisted of two staterooms, a panty, and bathroom, three staterooms for the ship's officers, the galley, saloon, and a storeroom. The second level of the deckhouse contained the pilothouse and captain's stateroom forward, and another stateroom aft. The ship had steam heating. There were two 500 U.S. gallons (1,900 L) potable water tanks.[10]
Lilac's original cost was $92,125.[12]
The ship's complement varied over the years. In 1894 it consisted of the captain, mate, 2 quartermasters, 2 engineers, 2 cooks, 3 firemen, and 6 deckhands.[15] The ship's complement in 1909 was 5 officers and 16 men.[16] By 1917 her crew had grown to 5 officers and 19 men.[12]
United States buoy tenders are traditionally named for trees, shrubs, and flowering plants. Lilac is named for the Lilac, a flowering shrub. She was the first lighthouse tender named Lilac, but not the last. A second USLHT Lilac was launched in 1933.[17]
Lilac had a successful sea trial on 11 July 1892 and was clocked at 13 3/4 knots.[18] She left Cleveland for her new homeport at Portland, Maine on 17 July 1892.[19] She was delivered there by a crew from Globe Iron Works on 3 August 1892.[20] She replaced USLHT Iris, which was decommissioned and sold.[21]
