USLHT Warrington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 USLHT Warrington, likely after her 1898 refit | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Name | Henry Warrington |
| Builder | J. M. Jones |
| Cost | $35,000 |
| Launched | 1868 |
| Identification | Official number 11857 |
| Fate | Sold |
 United States | |
| Name | USLHT Warrington |
| Operator | US Lighthouse Service |
| Cost | $25,000 |
| Commissioned | 1870 |
| Decommissioned | 1910 |
| Identification | Signal letters GVMR |
| Fate | Sold 11 January 1911 |
.svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Name | Warrington |
| Operator | Edward Hines Lumber Company |
| Cost | $1,400 |
| Identification | Official number 11857 |
| Fate | Wrecked 21 August 1911 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | 260 ft (79 m) |
| Beam | 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Complement | 20 (1898) |
The United States Lighthouse Tender Warrington was a lighthouse tender which served on the Great Lakes. She was built in 1868, and began life as the freighter Henry Warrington. Rechristened Warrington, she began government service in 1870. She participated in the construction and maintenance of a number of significant lighthouses and other aids to navigation over a 40-year career with the U.S. Lighthouse Service. At the end of her government service, she was sold to a commercial shipping company and wrecked in 1911.
Henry Warrington was built in the J. M. Jones shipyard in Detroit, Michigan. She was built as a freighter in a style known on the Great Lakes as a "steam barge". Her owners were Redmond and John Prindiville, and Thomas Brown of Chicago, Illinois. She was launched in 1868. Her initial cost was approximately $35,000.[1]
Henry Warrington's hull was built of wood. She was 155 feet (47 m) long overall, with a beam of 26 feet 6 inches (8.08 m), a depth of hold of 10 feet (3.0 m)[1] Her gross register tonnage was 410, and her net register tonnage was 244.[2]
The ship was propelled by a single propeller which was driven by a steam engine. She had a single coal-fired[3] boiler which was found to be inadequate by the Lighthouse Service and was replaced in August 1870 by a larger boiler which was 18 feet (5.5 m) long and 8 feet (2.4 m) in diameter.[4] Her original high-pressure engine was replaced in 1878 at Detroit Drydock Company. Her new low-pressure machinery was a vertical direct-acting condensing steam engine with a single cylinder with a bore of 36 inches (0.91 m) and a stroke of 30 inches (0.76 m).[5] This engine had an indicated horsepower of 485.[2]
On 12 March 1879, the deckhouse of the ship was substantially damaged by fire.[6] After the fire, Warrington was substantially rebuilt at Clark's Drydock in Detroit. Her hull was substantially replanked, and a significant number of her frames were replaced. Her deck and the stanchions which supported it were replaced, increasing her depth of hold by 20 inches (51 cm). Her house was rebuilt with seven staterooms and a large saloon. The cost of the rebuild was about $13,000.[7]
The ship underwent a major refit from August 1897 to April 1898, just prior to her transfer from the 11th to the 10th Lighthouse Districts. A replacement boiler was installed.[8] Electric lights, including a searchlight, were installed for $1,590.[9] A steam heating system, with radiators in all rooms, was added. Speaking tubes were installed. A forecastle deck was built, and on it were placed the pilothouse, captain's cabin, chart room, and Texas. The mate's and quartermaster's staterooms, and a men's bathroom were built under the forecastle deck on the main deck. The aft cabin on the main deck was rearranged to provide a galley, officers' and crew dining areas, pantry, icebox, storeroom, officers' bathroom, and staterooms for the cook, and two engineers. Above this aft cabin, on what was termed the "spar deck" was a salon, two staterooms, a bathroom, pantry, and linen closet. An office for the District Engineer was built forward of the smokestack on the spar deck.[10]
In 1898 Warrington had a crew of 20.[11]
Commercial service (1868-1870)
On her first paying voyage to her new homeport of Chicago,[12] Henry Warrington carried 250,000 board feet of lumber from Saginaw. She arrived on 26 June 1868.[1] During her commercial service she frequently carried lumber, but also cargos of corn,[13] flour,[14] and pig iron.[15]
Significant events
The barque Nucleus was leaking and in danger of sinking when she met Henry Warrington underway in Lake Michigan. The steamer took her in tow and loaned her some of her crew to man the pumps. She brought Nucleus safely to Chicago on 5 July 1868.[16]
On 27 August 1868, Henry Warrington was sailing between Chicago and Goderich, Ontario with a cargo of corn when she ran aground near Fox Point, Wisconsin in a thick fog. The tug G. W. Tift was dispatched from Milwaukee and was able to pull her free later that day. Henry Warrington sustained no damage and continued her trip.[17]
Henry Warrington and the tug Union were dispatched on 6 November 1868 to refloat the schooner David Stewart, aground on Pilot Island.[18] The salvage effort was successful.[19]
A series of gales in mid-November 1869 sank or drove ashore 97 vessels in the Great Lakes, Henry Warrington among them.[20] She was blown ashore by the winds in Saginaw Bay near the mouth of the Au Sable River. The tug Champion was able to refloat her.[21]
