1871-1900 Yaquina Head Lighthouse Letter books

the question of the necessity for a light at or near Yaquina Bay, Oregon, in connection with a general programme for lighting the Pacific Coast, and as a necessary prelimniary (preliminary???) have secured by reservation a sufficient quantity of land for this purpose. It is not deemed advisable, in advance of the next annual estimates, to call for further appropriation for the Pacific Coast. The subject of the improvement of the harbor of Queenstown, Maryland, referred to in the petition, does not come within the province of the Board. The papers are herewith returned.

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Feb 19th, 1869

From Chairman L.H. Board Adml. W.B. Shubrick

Sir: I have had the honor to receive the letter from H. E. Stilley Esq., addressed to Hon John Poole and referred to this Board for report. The buoys in the District embracing North Carolina are attended ( raised cleaned, painted &c) by the regular Buoy Tender, which vessel, is now provided with a competent master. The letter is returned.

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Feb 19th, 1869

From Chairman L.H. Board Adml. W.B. Shubrick

(in)spection of the premises resulted in the opinion that a change of Keepers at this Station would be for the interests of the service. The Board concurs in this opinion, and begs leave to add that the successor of Mr. Miller should be a person who understands machinery sufficiently to enable him to attend and keep in repair the new fog-signal at that Station, a trumpet sounded by a caloric engine. The letter of Mr. Smythe is returned. ______________________________________________

Feb 25, 1869

From Chairman L.H. Board Adml. W.B. Shubrick

Yaquina Bay - necessity of light for

Sir: I have had the honor to receive the communication from the Committee on appropriations (???), referred by you to this Board for report. The Board has had under consideration the question of the necessity for a light at or near Yaquina Bay, Oregon, in connection with a general programme for lighting the Pacific coast, and as a necessary preliminary have secured by reservation a sufficient quantity of land for this purpose. It is not deemed advisable, in advance of the next annual estimates, to call for further appropriations for the Pacific coast ______________________________________________

Feb 25, 1869

From Naval Secretary Adm. A.A. Harwood. U.S.N Notice of Board (Bd ???)

Sir: I have the honor to state that the regular

Two fine tenders were commissioned and attached to the 13th Naval District during the war, the BASSWOOD, 1944, and the BLUEBELL, the following year. The Basswood was transferred after a year's general aide to navigation duty which involved servicing the isolated units and the LORAN project on Vancouver Island. In addition to these large tenders, the CO-65302-D was added and employed in buoy work and the maintenance of minor aids on the Upper Columbia River between The Dalles, Oregon and Pasco, Washington.

With the scarcity of Coast Guard Cutters in this district during the war, a vast amount of the assistance work fell upon the tenders. The increased size of the fishing fleet had the effect of causing more rescue operations, and in these, the tenders did an extraordinarily fine job.

(Photo inserted here)

Bringing a buoy in for overhaul aboard a tender

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A monitor station was established at North Head Radio Station which checked the performance of all District Radio Beacons, and outlying stations were notified daily of all failures or defects in the radio beacons' operation. These reports were a District innovation and were not required by Headquarters but were merely another measure adopted by the District Coast Guard Office for increased efficiency in the District system. In March, 1944, Radio Station Meadowdale was ??? as a Monitoring Station for radio beacons, as the activities at that station had been considerably reduced. Although Headquarters' instructions ordered that each radio beacon in the United States be monitored at least once every four hours, it became possible in the 13th Naval District, to monitor each radio beacon every hour after the new monitor station had been added.

AIDS TO NAVIGATION IN UPPER COLUMBIA RIVER

In 1932 navigation in the Upper Columbia was revived for the transportation of wheat, but the servies between the Upper and Lower Ports was intermittent. This renewal of navigation was more or less on a trial basis to determine if sufficient commerce could be developed to support water carrier operation. Sufficient traffic was realized and, after the construction of the Bonneville Dam which was completed in 1938, river traffic expanded into the movement of great steel barges designed to carry liquid petroleum in the hull and package or bulk cargo on deck. With this increased traffic from Astoria, Oregon, beyond The Dalles, Oregon, the necessity of navigational aids to insure the mariner's safety became most apparent. As a result, the Aids to Navigation Section centered the majority of its activities in the promotion of safe navigation along the river. Here was the proving grounds for experimental light structures and buoys to determine those most suitable for the area. Due to the rapid current, range marking channels had to be so perfected as to enable the mariners to ascertain their course in a matter of seconds.

It was also necessary to experiment with range markings, and in this connection the Nautical Scientist in the Aide to Navigation Section, 13th Naval District, invented and constructed a system of laterally restricted range markings. This newly devised "Channel Limiting Group" was necessary because of the impossible terrain which made the establishment of the conventional markings impracticable if not impossible. With Headquarters' approval an experimental range was established on the Columbia River near Arlington, Oregon, which proved to be successful. Other experiments were concerned principally with surface riding buoys and fast water buoys.

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(image)

Diagram of new system of laterally restricted channels used in upper Columbia River.

The construction of Grand Coulee Dam which created Roosevelt Lake, extending almost two-hundred miles from Mason City, Oregon to the Canadian Border, also placed additional work on the Aide to Navigation Section. The Law Officer in March, 1944, advised that Roosevelt Lake was navigable; and after an investigation the Aids to Navigation Officer installed 27 lights and 10 reflectors in those waters. The aids are serviced at the Seattle Operating Base twice a year, and the Bureau of Reclamation offered the use of one of its boats for establishing and maintaining these aids.

ANRAC ??? EQUIPMENT

The enforcement of blackout in the United States at the outbreak of the war made it necessary to extinguish or silence the navigational aids in the continental waters in addition to the blackout of municipal lights. To perform this action by manual

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