Swiftsure
Lightship No. 83, also known as Swiftsure, 2007
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Owner: | U.S. Lighthouse Service; later U.S. Coast Guard |
| Builder: | New York Shipbuilding Co. |
| Cost: | $85,000 |
| Launched: | 1904 |
| Acquired: | c. 1905 |
| Decommissioned: | 18 July 1960 |
| Out of service: | 1960 |
| Status: | Museum ship |
| Notes: | Now the oldest lightship afloat in the United States |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Lightship |
| Displacement: | 668 tons |
| Length: | 129 ft (39 m) |
| Beam: | 28 ft 6 in (8.69 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Decks: | 4 |
| Installed power: | 2 Babcock & Wilcox sectional headed watertube boilers arranged for oil firing |
| Propulsion: | 1 double expansion 325 IHP reciprocating steam engine; auxiliary sail (pre-1931) |
| Sail plan: | Schooner rig on wood spencer masts |
| Speed: | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Crew: | 11-15 (5 officers and 6-10 men) |
| Notes: | Only preserved lightship retaining its steam machinery |
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Lightship No. 83 "SWIFTSURE"
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| Location | Historic Ships Wharf, Lake Union Park, Seattle, WA |
| Coordinates | 47°40′29.5″N 122°12′25.5″W / 47.674861°N 122.207083°WCoordinates: 47°40′29.5″N 122°12′25.5″W / 47.674861°N 122.207083°W |
| Area | Lake Union Park, South Lake Union, Seattle |
| Built | 1904 |
| Architect | New York Shipbuilding Co.; US Lighthouse Establishment |
| Architectural style | Riveted steel hull with wooden decks |
| NRHP Reference # | 75001852 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 23 April 1975 |
| Designated NHL | 11 April 1989 |
| Designated SEATL | March 7, 1977 |
Swiftsure (LV-83), is a lightship launched in Camden, New Jersey, in 1904 and now moored in Seattle, Washington. She steamed around the tip of South America to her first station at Blunts Reef in California, where she saved 150 people when their ship ran aground in dense fog. Formerly known as Relief, Number 83 had numerous names on her sides, all of which indicated the location of her station. Swiftsure refers to the Swiftsure Bank near the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which separates Washington from Vancouver Island. She also guided ships near Umatilla Reef and the Columbia River Bar.
Swiftsure is one of the oldest lightships in the country and the only one to have her original steam engines. She is 129 feet (39 m) long, with a beam of 28 feet 6 inches (8.69 m) and a draft of 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m). Her displacement is 668 tons. Her aids to navigation include a 1,000 watt primary light, a 140-decibel Diaphone horn, and a 1,000-pound (450 kg) foredeck fog bell.
The ship was decommissioned in 1960, and purchased by Northwest Seaport in 1969. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989, and is on the Washington State Heritage Register. She is moored on Lake Union, in Seattle, Washington, for restoration.
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