Laurel, 1915
A Mediterranean evergreen tree (Laurus nobilis) having aromatic, simple leaves and small blackish berries. Also called bay, bay laurel; Also called sweet bay. A shrub or tree, such as the mountain laurel, having a similar aroma or leaf shape. Also a wreath of laurel conferred as a mark of honor in ancient times upon poets, heroes, and victors in athletic contests.
Builder: Speddin Ship Building Company, Baltimore, Maryland
Length: 104' 6"
Beam: 22'
Draft: 9'
Displacement: 299 tons
Cost: $55,522.15
Commissioned: 21 May 1915
Decommissioned: 6 October 1930
Disposition: Sold on 24 March 1931
Machinery: 1 triple-expansion inverted direct-acting steam engine; 160 IHP; 1 Almy type water tube coal-fired boiler; single propeller
Performance & Endurance:
Max:
Cruising:
Deck Gear: Wood boom, steam-powered hoist
Complement: 12 (1915)
Armament: None
Tender History:
The 1915 United States Lighthouse Tender Laurel was originally authorized by Congress in 1907 and a contract was let in 1909. She was originally to be built as an 84-foot tender with the name Palmetto but this was delayed due to the reorganization of the Lighthouse Service. A new contract was let in 1913 and the design was updated and she was renamed Laurel. She was built by Speddin Ship Building in Baltimore, Maryland, as a bay and sound tender for operations in the Chesapeake Bay and inland waters of the mid-Atlantic coast. She was launched on 24 June 1914 and was commissioned on 21 May 1915.
She was assigned to the 5th Lighthouse District out of Baltimore where she carried out aids to navigation duties. She assisted the grounded Coast Guard cutter Apache on 8 January 1924. She served in the 5th LHD for her entire government career.
She was decommissioned on 6 October 1930 and was sold on 24 March 1931 for $2,165. She operated as the freighter Lake George until she was abandoned in 1948.
Sources:
Douglas Peterson. United States Lighthouse Service Tenders, 1840-1939. Annapolis: Eastwind Publishing, 2000.