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Manzanita-class tenders

Class of 190-foot long USLHS tenders From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Manzanita-class tenders
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|} The Manzanita class, originally called the 8 class, was a class of identical tenders commissioned in 1908. They operated as lighthouse and buoy tenders throughout both World Wars. They briefly served with the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919, but served the remainder of their service with the United States Lighthouse Service (USLHS).

History

A class of identical tenders was commissioned in 1908 by the United States Lighthouse Board. This class of tenders was named the 8-class,[1] for the number of vessels commissioned,[2] but was later named the Manzanita class after its lead ship, USLHT Manzanita. They were designed by the Department of the Navy.[1]

The New York Shipbuilding Company of Camden, New Jersey, was assigned the task of building the tenders. They could be built for around $200,000 each.[1] Upon their construction, the Manzanita class were the largest tenders built for the United States Lighthouse Service, save for Armeria built in 1889, and the most modern. A total of eight tenders were constructed, each named after a different plant.[3] During World War I, the tenders were briefly transferred to the United States Navy, following an executive order signed on 11 April 1917, but were restored to the USLHS by 1919.[4]

In the late 1920s to the early 1930s, all members of the class were upgraded with an oil-fired plant and new water-tube boilers.[4] In 1939, the United States Lighthouse Service was merged with the United States Coast Guard. The Manzanita class were reclassified as Coast Guard Cutters and were given the prefix USCGC and new hull designations.[3] By 1947, the entirety of the class had been either scrapped or sold. Anemone, Orchid, Sequoia, and Tulip were all transferred to the Philippines.

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Design and specifications

The Manzanita-class ships had a length of 190 feet (58 m), a beam of 30 feet (9.1 m), and a draft of 13.25 feet (4.04 m). They had two triple-expansion inverted direct acting steam engines, powered by two Scotch boilers, that produced 1,100 shaft horsepower (820 kW). They could reach a maximum speed of 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h)[4] and go a distance of 2,500 miles (4,000 km).[1] They had a displacement of 1,081 long tons (1,098 t).[5]

The tenders of the class had vertical sides to reduce the tendency of buoys slipping under them as the tenders came alongside. The edges of the decks in the forecastle and buoy handling areas were rounded to prevent buoys snagging on the deck. The steel boom used wire hawsers and was "superior to its wooden predecessors."[1] These booms were long enough to permit special rigging for transferring supplies to lighthouses on rocks or cliffs. However, the tenders heeled sharply when lifting buoys out of the water.[6]

The superstructure was high to give a clear view over the bow and sides of the ship from the bridge, which had wings on each side and a lookout station above. A mast and boom apparatus was located just forward of the superstructure and aft of the well deck, which was accessible by breaks in the bulwarks on either side of the tender. They carried small craft for inspections and errands, which hung on davits just aft of the bridge.[1]

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Anemone

USLHT Anemone was named for the genus of flowering buttercup plants. She was commissioned on 15 July 1908 and was assigned to the Eleventh Lighthouse District, operating out of San Francisco. She was transferred to the Second Lighthouse District in 1915, where she operated out of Boston and Woods Hole, Massachusetts. She was transferred to the Navy on 16 April 1917 and commissioned on 16 May. She patrolled, tended anti-submarine nets, adjusted buoys, and laid mines. She was struck from the Navy on 4 March 1919 and returned to the USLHS. During World War II, she serviced anti-submarine nets and aided in navigational duties. She was decommissioned after the war and given to the Philippine government.[7]

References

Public Domain This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

Quick facts Class overview, General characteristics ...
  1. [1]
    U.S. COAST GUARD BUOY TENDERS, 180' CLASS (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard. pp. 11–12.
  2. [2]
    Kelly, Kebby, ed. (September 2003). U.S. Coast Guard 180-Foot Buoy Tenders (PDF). U.S. Department of the Interior. p. 7.
  3. [3]
    Peterson, Doug (Winter 1999). Black Hulls Tender Kukui (PDF). U.S. Lighthouse Society. p. 2.
  4. [4]
    "Manzanita, 1908 (WAGL-233)". United States Coast Guard. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  5. [5]
    "Cypress, 1908 (WAGL-211)". United States Coast Guard. 9 December 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  6. [6]
    Robert Scheina, U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1981), pp. 140-141.
  7. [7]
    "Anemone, 1908 (WAGL-202)". United States Coast Guard. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  8. [8]
    "Hibiscus, 1908 (WAGL-218)". United States Coast Guard. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  9. [9]
    "Orchid, 1908 (WAGL-240)". United States Coast Guard. 6 March 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  10. [10]
    Powell, James R.; Flanders, Alan B. (2003). Wolf at the Door: The World War II Antisubmarine Battle for Hampton Roads. Brandylane Publishers. ISBN 9781883911577.
  11. [11]
    "Sequoia, 1908". United States Coast Guard. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  12. [12]
    "Tulip, 1908". United States Coast Guard. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
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