1871-1900 Yaquina Head Lighthouse Letter books

the construction of roads by the State Highway Departments made the outlying stations more readily accessible.

Seventy keepers were in residence on the Stations when the Lighthouse Service was consolidated with the Coast Guard in 1939. During the war, this number had increased to 176 on these stations. The increase was due, primarily, to the fact that unskilled men inducted into the Service had not the training, background, nor interest in the Station which was common to the men earlier assigned there. Furthermore, the work at the station increased during the war years; Coastal Lookout units with their dogs and horses were generally located on Station grounds. this necessitated turning the dwellings of the Keepers into barracks to quarter the increased personnel and building kennels, stables and shelters for equipment. The end of the war began the gradual reduction of the Stations to their normal peacetime complements.

Early in the war, the Commandant, 13th Naval District, ordered the concealment of ten of the Light Stations that were near military areas or war industries. The walls were "toned down" with gray and the space under the eaves painted black to accentuate the silouette of the Station as it appeared from the water. (Tongue Point Repair Base was provided with a camouflage net to cover the wharves where vari-colored buoys and markers were stored. This Base was in the vicinity of the Naval Air Station, Astoria, and the work was done in conjunction with assistance from that activity.) Army activities near Coast Guard units furnished the paint for camouflaging the structures. The last of the stations was returned to its normal peace time color by the end of the summer, 1945. (See sixth page for camouflage technique)

A continuous lookout adwatch was maintained by the Keepers of New Dungeness, Ediz Hook, Slip Point and Cape Flattery Lighthouses beginning, strangely enough, 6 December, 1941. All vessels, aircraft, or any suspicious activity (such as attempts at communications between persons on shore (such as attempts at communications between persons on shore and unidentified vessels) were reported to Naval Section Base at Port Angeles and the Harbor Defense, Fort Worden. This order directed that persons engaged in suspicious activity should be apprehended and taken into custody. However, this directive was rescinded and, rather than take such individuals into custody, observers notified the nearest Army or Navy intelligence who took the necessary action.

Drills in the use of the gas mask were held at all Light Stations and a course in Chemical Warfare was complusory

for 16 months before it was decided that the only possible means of returning her to her station was by hauling her overland through the woods and launching her in the Columbia River. The No. 50 was constructed of wood and remained in service only until 1909 when she was replaced by the steel-hulled lightship.

During the amalgamation of the Lighthouse Service and The Coast Guard in 1939, four lightships, the COLUMBIA RIVER LIGHTSHIP 393, the UMATILLA REEF LIGHTSHIP #88, the RELIEF LIGHTSHIP #92 and the SWIFTSURE LIGHTSHIP #113, were transferred to the Coast Guard. These four lightships maintained only three stations as the RELIEF LIGHTSHIP #92 was used on all stations as relief. They were steel-hulled vessels with a displacement of approximately 685 tones and a complement of 3 to 6 officers and 5 to 11 crew. All but one was built around 1908; the SWIFTSURE LIGHTSHIP #113 was the newest and it was completed in 1929. In addition to exhibiting a bright beacon light, the lightships were also equipped with sound signals, [radio]], radio-telephone, and radiobeacons. In addition to their regular duties as lightships, they were also instructed during the early days of the war, to notify the Commandant, 13th Naval District of all vessels passing the Columbia River northbound.

At the outbreak of the war, LIGHTSHIPS NO. 88 and 113, were removed from their stations by the Navy and replaced by lighted whistle buoys. The ships were reconverted by removing the radiobeacon and antenna mast, by installing armament, by realtering radio facilities and by increasing the complement to 30 Coast Guardsmen and 5 Coast Guard Officers. The No. 88 was then placed in the Strait of Juan de Fuca as a Recognition Ship and the No 113 was sent into Alaskan waters. The removal of these two ships left only the COLUMBIA RIVER LIGHTSHIP #93 on station at the entrance to the Columbia River with the No. 92 to be used as its relief.

The use of one lightship as standby only, seemed most uneconomical of ships and men at a time when they were at a premium. The District Coast Guard Officer, with the approval of the Commander, Northwest Sea Frontier, proposed to Headquarters that the COLUMBIA RIVER LIGHTSHIP #93 should remain on station for a month and then, on a clear day with good weather, the ship would leave her station, go to Astoria for fuel and supplies and return before dark. A station buoy would be placed close to the Lightship's position at all times and mark the station when the Lightship itself was absent. Such an arrangement would permit the RELIEF LIGHTSHIP to be used as part of the Offshore Observation Force.

This plan met Headquarters' approval but was put into operation for only a brief time. Too many difficulties resulted to warrant the discontinuance of the relief. Water, sufficient only for 25 days, could be carried and this supply was greatly diminished when the fog signal was in operation. Special trips to replenish the water were made by the tenders, requiring a full day from their regular duties in the servicing of aids. The motor lifeboats were also required to deliver fresh food and vegetables and medical supplies. In addition to these difficulties, the proper operation of the radiobeacon was affected; batteries only charged full when the ship was off station because when charged over 1190 specific gravity while on station, the timer on the radiobeacon was thrown off. The 24-hour continuous beacon operation was a tremendous strain on the storage battery and generating equipment. The two-week schedule was not interrupted again until the RELIEF LIGHTSHIP #92 was placed on the Recognition Station, Strait of Juan de Fuca when the No. 88 needed relief for repairs. During one such relief, the Commanding Officer of the No. 92, a Chief Boatswain, performed the duties which were ordinarily handled by the seven officers aboard the Recognition Ship. Because of the efficient manner in which he handled this station, the Chief Boatswain was highly commended by the Navy.

Although the Light List indicated that radio messages of importance in the maintenance of aids to navigation, or on other urgent matters, could be received during the first fifteen minutes of each hour from 0800 to 2015, this service was not used for many years and, consequently, was discontinued in 1944 in order to replace the radioman who serviced the equipment by a radio technician to handle the radiobeacon equipment. The necessity of a technician became evident when a failure of the radiobeacon could not be remedied due to the lack of spare tubes aboard. A survey of the stock proved an adequate supply of tubes on hand, but the radioman was unfamiliar with the beacon equipment.

The war altered but slightly the routine of the LIGHTSHIP #92 and #93. Other than the issuance of small arms and a lookout for the northbound vessels, the lightships maintained and performed their peacetime duties. The regular radiobeacon equipment was operated alternately with the standby equipment to insure proper operation and repair on both units. It was discovered that the antenna on the main equipment was more efficient than that on the standby equipment so an antenna transfer switch was installed to permit operation of both transmitters on the main antenna. To preclude any failure of

RADIOBEACONS

The early conception of the mariners, that all aids to navigation must be received by the normal senses of sight and sound, was radically changed by the development of the radiobeacon system which has, since its inception in 1921, become recognized as a most important innovation for increased safety for mariners. As radio signals are not obscured by fog, wind, rain, snow or temperature changes, and bearings may be taken at great distances far beyond the horizon, the radiobeacon had great advantages over previous types of navigational aids. Proof of its efficiency lay in the fact that since its inception approximately a quarter of a century ago, the radiobeacon system was adopted by all maritime nations and direction finders were developed to fit not only the requirements of large ocean liners, but small pleasure craft and fisherman's vessels as well.

At the time of the consolidation of the Lighthouse Service and the Coast Guard, the Seattle District operated nine-land-based radiobeacons and four radiobeacons on the lightships at Swiftsure Bank, Umatilla Reef and the entrance to the Columbia River. Two beacons were under construction at Destruction Island (completed in 1943) and at Willapa Bay (completed in 1941). Two more radiobeacons were authorized in 1842, one at Cape Flattery (Tatoosh Island) and one at West Point. In the middle of 1945, the radiobeacon at Ediz Hook was established, bringing the total number of District radiobeacons to 18. However, at the onset of the war, the Navy removed the lightships from Umatilla Reef and Swiftsure Bank thus leaving only 16 beacons in operation. Of these 16, one was maintained by the RELIEF LIGHTSHIP and used alternately on the Columbia River station.

In an effort to increase, to even a greater degree, the efficiency of the radiobeacon system throughout the United States, headquarters urged that a monitor system be developed and put into operation in each District. Subsequently, a monitor station was established at North head Radio Station which checked the performance of all District radiobeacons. Between 0800 to 1100 and 1500 to 1900 daily, each radiobeacon was monitored, the time for the check being staggered to insure a truer picture of the various beacons' performance. Outlying stations were notified daily of all failures or defects in the radiobeacons' 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.

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at that time consisted mainly of the transportation of oil to inland ports and the movement of wheat downstream. Although the water was proven open to ocean-going vessels, the majority of the craft were tugboats and freight barges, especially the section above Celilo, Oregon. Several "oil tank farms" had been established along the shore to supply Army and Navy installations in that area and it was from these "farms" that the vast supply of oil and fuel came, so necessary in the Dupont project at Hanford, one of the plants that specialized in the manifacture of the Atomic Bomb. War gave emphasis to the river traffic and, subsequently, the Atomic Bomb. War gave emphasis to the river traffic and, subsequently, the Aids to Navigation Section of the Seattle District concentrated on lessening the danger and increasing the safety of those who plied the columbia.