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. The work is often carried out by ships which also act as buoy tenders. In ...

in commission in the fleet of the

United States Lighthouse Service The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of th ...

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 Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

from 1939 to 1947. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

she briefly saw war service with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in 1917 before serving as the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...

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

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

under U.S. Navy control while in the Coast Guard fleet. After the conclusion of her

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

career, she operated for decades in the service of the

Dominican Navy The Navy of the Dominican Republic (), 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 its independence from Haiti on February 27 ...

as ''Capotillo'' (FB 101).

Construction and commissioning

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

Muskegon Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, for the

.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 The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texa ...

.Henry, p. 8. Her

home port A vessel's home port is the port at which it is based, which may not be the same as its port of registry shown on its registration documents and lettered on the stern of the ship's hull. In the cruise industry the term "home port" is also oft ...

was at

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

World War I

The

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

entered

on 6 April 1917, and by

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

''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, als ...

on 11 April 1917 for

service on coastal defense duties. Among other things, the lighthouse tenders deployed submarine nets 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 The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was established by an Act of Congress on 30 April 1798, at the urging of Secretary of War James McHenr ...

for

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

in the Eighth Naval District 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 Work (physics), 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 (locomotive), cyl ...

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 the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

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 continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, 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

transferred the ship to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

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