USLHT ''Camellia'' was a

lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lighthous ...

in commission in the fleet of the United States Lighthouse Service from 1911 to 1917 and from 1919 to 1939, and – as USCGC ''Camellia'' (WAGL-206) – in the fleet of the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

from 1939 to 1947. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

she briefly saw war service with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

in 1917 before serving as the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

patrol vessel USS ''Camellia'' from 1917 to 1919. She also saw service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

under U.S. Navy control while in the Coast Guard fleet. After the conclusion of her United States Government career, she operated for decades in the service of the

Dominican Navy The Navy of the Dominican Republic ( es, Armada de Republica Dominicana (ARD)), is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force. History After the Dominican Republic gained i ...

as ''Capotillo'' (FB 101).

Construction and commissioning

''Camellia'' was constructed in 1911 by the Racine Boat Manufacturing Company in Muskegon,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, for the United States Lighthouse Service.NavSource USCGC Camellia (WAGL 206) ex-USLHT Camellia
/ref> She was commissioned into service in the Lighthouse Service's fleet as USLHT ''Camellia'' on 13 July 1911.

Service history

1911–1917

Early in her career, ''Camellia'' operated in the Eighth Lighthouse District along the United States Gulf Coast.Henry, p. 8. Her home port was at

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

World War I

The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

entered

on 6 April 1917, and by executive order ''Camellia'' was among a number of lighthouse tenders the Lighthouse Service transferred to the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

on 11 April 1917 for

service on coastal defense duties. Among other things, the lighthouse tenders deployed

submarine net An anti-submarine net or anti-submarine boom is a boom placed across the mouth of a harbour or a strait for protection against submarines. Examples of anti-submarine nets * Lake Macquarie anti-submarine boom *Indicator net * Naval operations in ...

s to defend harbors and those outfitted with mine-planting gear – as ''Camellia'' had been even before the declaration of war – also placed controlled minefields to protect harbors from penetration by enemy vessels. On 1 July 1917, the U.S. Department of War transferred ''Camellia'' to the United States Department of the Navy for

wartime service.Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Camellia
/ref> Commissioned into Navy service as USS ''Camellia'', she operated as a patrol vessel in the

Eighth Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

along the U.S. Gulf Coast through the end of the war on 11 November 1918 and during its immediate aftermath. The Navy transferred her back to the Lighthouse Service on 1 July 1919.

1919–1941

As USLHT ''Camellia'', the ship returned to lighthouse tender duty. In 1933, her original

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s were replaced by

Atlas-Imperial Atlas-Imperial Diesel Engine Company was an American manufacturer of diesel engines based in Oakland, California. The company was created in 1916 when two early gasoline engine companies combined to manufacture diesel engines, following the expir ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s. On 1 July 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was abolished and the

took over its responsibilities and assets, and ''Camellia'' thus became part of the Coast Guard fleet as USCGC ''Camellia''.

World War II

On 1 November 1941, with

raging in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, the U.S. Coast Guard was transferred to the control of the U.S. Navy under Executive Order 8929, and ''Camellia'' thus again came under U.S. Navy control only weeks before the United States entered the war on 7 December 1941. She was assigned the

hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

WAGL-206 in 1942.

Post-World War II

Returned to U.S. Coast Guard control after the conclusion of World War II, ''Camellia'' was decommissioned on 29 December 1947.

Dominican Republic

The United States Government transferred the ship to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

in 1949. In

service, she was renamed ''Capotillo'' (FB 101) and reclassified as "Service Craft No. 1." She was still in service in the 1980s, but her subsequent fate is unknown.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* *
Henry, Ellen, Dr., "Lighthouses In World War I: Transition Into War," ''American Lighthouse'', Winter 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camellia Ships of the United States Lighthouse Service Ships of the United States Coast Guard Lighthouse tenders of the United States World War I patrol vessels of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States 1911 ships Ships built in Muskegon, Michigan Ships of the Dominican Navy