Swiftsure
Lightship No. 83, also known as Swiftsure, 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.
Swiftsure (brig)
Swiftsure was a 337-ton brig that was built in 1811 as Inconstant. In 1815, she was used by Napoleon to escape from exile on Elba. She was later seized by the British as a prize of war. Swiftsure was wrecked off the coast of Queensland in 1831.
Description
The ship was assessed at 337 tons Builder's Old Measurement. A single decked ship, she was rigged as a brig. Fully laden, she had a draught of 14 feet (4.3 m).
History
The ship was built in 1811 as Inconstant for a French owner. on 26 February 1815, Inconstant was used by Napoleon to escape from exile in Elba.
By 1828,Inconstant had been seized by the British as a prize of war. She was renamed Swiftsure and put into service between the United Kingdom, New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land Sometime before 10 July 1831, she was wrecked in the Torres Strait 3.8 nautical miles (7 km) off the Cape York Peninsula, near the mouth of the Lockhart River.
The wreck of the vessel was discovered in November 2014. The discovery was officially announced in June 2015.
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