Crocus, 1905
A plant of the genus Crocus, widely cultivated in gardens and bearing variously colored flowers and grass-like leaves.
Builder: Townsend-Downey Company, Shooters Islands, Richmond, New York
Length: 164' 7"
Beam: 29'
Draft: 13' 6"
Displacement: 1,035 tons
Cost: $119,718.44
Commissioned: 26 July 1905
Decommissioned: 13 July 1946
Disposition: Sold
Machinery: 2 vertical inverted compound reciprocating steam engine; 2 Scotch gunboat-type coal-fired boilers; 720 SHP; twin cast-iron propellers.
Performance & Endurance:
Max: 9.0 knots (1904); 10.0 knots (1945)
Cruising: 9.0 knots; 1,275 mile range
Deck Gear: Wood derrick, steam-powered winch
Complement: 25 (1908)
Armament: None
Tender History:
The Crocus, a steel-hulled "Inspector's Tender," entered service in 1905 and was assigned to duty in the 10th Lighthouse District. She was based out of Buffalo, New York. In 1932, she was converted to oil-fired boilers. During the late-1930s she transferred to Detroit.
She received the designation and hull number WAGL-210 in 1942 and was based out of Toledo, Ohio, during World War II. She continued her peace-time duty of servicing aids to navigation. From 2 to 3 December 1942, she, and a number of motor lifeboats, rescued the survivors and recovered bodies from the wrecked barge Cleveco.
She was decommissioned on 13 July 1946.
Sources:
Douglas Peterson. United States Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840-1939. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing, 2000.
Robert Scheina. U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982.