Lightship #83 (Swiftsure)

Blunts Reef 
 
Built in 1904 in Camden, New Jersey, the Lightship #83 was one of hundreds of floating lighthouses that guided ships and boats safely along American Coasts. After making the journey around South America to California, the #83 took her position at the Blunts Reef lightship station off Cape Mendicino.
 

San Francisco 
 
She served there for almost 30 years, then was transferred to the San Francisco lightship station, outside the Golden Gate Bridge.
 
During World War II, the Coast Guard recalled the lightships to protect American coastlines from submarine attack. The #83, painted grey with new deck guns and fold-out bunks for up to 50 crewmen, patrolled the San Francisco Bay for the Navy.
Relief 
 
Following the war, the Lightship #83 returned to lightship duty as the San Francisco, then was transferred to the Coast Guard District 13 in the Pacific Northwest as a "relief" vessel. Servicing the Columbia River, Umatilla Reef, and Swiftwure Banks stations, the #83 relieved the regular vessels at these posts for their yearly maintenance and resupply.
 
In 1961, the Coast Guard retired and decommissioned the #83. Northwest Seaport, then Save Our Ships!, purchased the vessel in 1968. In 1996, she was designated the Swiftsure to reflect Seattle's closest lightship station and to commerate her status as the last remaining lightship to serve at the Swiftsure Banks station. Today, the Lightship #83 is moored at Seattle's Lake Union Park. Northwest Seaport is in the beginning phases of a two-year restoration project designed to replace the wooden deck and restore the electrical systems. At the end of this project, the Lightship #83 will be open to visitors for tours, programs, and more.