Astoria, OR. c. 1903. Admiral Gregory's flagship, the HEATHER, along with the MANZANITA and the COLUMBINE are all lined up to their wharves in imposing array. The HEATHER arrived down from Portland last evening and is now regularly in commission. She is the largest lighthouse tender in the United States, and, although not of striking beauty, takes much of the shine off her smaller and older associates. It remains to be seen whether she can keep her nose above water as long as they. The HEATHER has on board two large gas buoys that have just arrived from the east. One of them is to replace the light buoy which went blind some months ago on the Columbia bar. They are each about 40' long, being more than half submerged when afloat, and are kept in an upright position by a large iron weight at the lower end. The lantern enclosing the light stands about 15' above the water and is protected by iron guards.
The light is guaranteed to burn continuously for 18 months without being refilled.
The HEATHER's complement of officers is as follows:
Captain William E. Gregory; chief officer, E. Hammarstrom; second officer, Gustaf A. Mikander; chief engineer, Harry C. Lord; assistant engineer, Henry E. Wilson.
Newspaper publisher unknown. Suspected date of publishing to be 1903.
1907: Capt. W.E. Gregory left the HEATHER to command the ARMERIA.
1907: Capt. W.E. Gregory left the HEATHER to command the ARMERIA.
1940: HEATHER was decommissioned and replaced by the new 178-ft lighthouse tender FIR.
1948: Following wartime Army service as FS-534 was sold as surplus to J.P. Angel and Matt Ryan of Seattle, who resold her to Capt. Martin Gagino and Victor H. Hammond, British subjects.
In an R.H. Calkins Marine News column (undated) here is more on the next chapter of HEATHER and her 9,000-mile trip casting off from Seattle, WA.
"The adventurous captain and crew of the 506-ton former US Lighthouse tender have arrived at Singapore. The HEATHER, piloted by Capt. Martin Gagino, completed the voyage with an unusual crew aboard:
A honeymooning couple, their bridesmaid, and their amah, who signed on as ship's laundress.
Captain Gagino, who left Seattle last March, after buying the ship, had his 23-year-old son, Desmond, along as mate.
They all reached Hong Kong after 30 days. At Hong Kong, the skipper's newly-married daughter, Cora, and her husband, Stephen L. Velge, went aboard with a bridesmaid, Yvonne D'Almedia, and the amah. Mrs. Velge became stewardess, Velge 'junior officer.'
They sailed to Cebu with cargo, returned to Hong Kong, and thence to Singapore.
Gagino was a War Shipping Administration master mariner during the war. Singapore is Gagino's home. He will sail between that port and the Dutch East Indies.
The HEATHER, launched at the Moran Shipyards in Seattle, was decommissioned after nearly 30 years service as a lighthouse tender and sold in this port."
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