USCGC Fir (WLM-212)
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| USCGC Fir | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
 |
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| Location: | Across Sacramento River from Rio Vista, Sacramento County, California |
| Designated as NHL: | April 27, 1992[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | April 27, 1992[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 92001880 |
| Governing body: | COAST GUARD |
USCGC Fir (WLM-212) is a 174 foot ship that was recently available for sale. The ship was a cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992.[1] At that time, Fir was to be moored in Staten Island, New York.[1]
There is successor ship also named Fir, USCGC Fir (WLB-213), currently in active use by the Coast Guard, which is a 225 foot cutter.[3] Its hull number is WLB-213 and it was launched in ____ and is based in Astoria, Oregon.[4]
USCGC Fir has had a varied career.[5]
This lighthouse tender was the last working vessel in the fleet of the United States Lighthouse Service, the ancestors of today's Coast Guard buoy tenders.
Built in 1938 and decommissioned in 1991, it is today the last surviving example of its type, and remains largely unmodified. As a National Historic Landmark, Fir was previously listed as being located in California[6] and New York[7], but there's no other evidence suggesting that it was ever moved to the East coast.[8]
The National Historic Landmark program (incorrectly) records the Fir as being in Staten Island, New York.[1][6]
"After decommissioning, Fir remained in Seattle for many years while efforts were made to turn her into a floating museum. When these efforts failed, she was transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) facility, Suisun Bay, California, in 1997. Her shafts and rudder locked, she was towed 930 miles from Seattle by CGC Mariposa to San Francisco's Golden Gate, where she was met by a commercial tug that towed her the rest of the way to Suisun Bay. Significant objects were removed from the vessel and stored at the U.S. Coast Guard facility in Forestville, Maryland."[9]
In 2002, she was transferred to the Liberty Maritime Museum,[9] where it was moored on the Sacramento River on the eastern, Sacramento County side of the river, across from Rio Vista (which is in Solano County). It remains there today.[10]
In November 2007, the Fir was put up for sale.[10] The Fir, a National Historic Landmark, was for sale with asking price $95,000.[11] The mailing address for the museum is in Sacramento, but the ship is physically located across the river from Rio Vista at 38.149758 N, 121.68317W [12]. In May 2008, the webpage reports "Fir is sold!".
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d FIR (Lighthouse Tender). National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service (2007-09-14).
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- ^ Oregonian article of 3/4/2008
- ^ U.S. Coast Guard, about old and new Fir cutters.
- ^ Ralph Shanks (1991). "U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Fir (WLM 212) National Historic Landmark Study". National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
- ^ a b National Park Service (April 2007), National Historic Landmarks Survey: List of National Historic Landmarks by State, <http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/LIST07.pdf>. Retrieved on 20 May 2007. Note this source document excluded the USCGC Fir from Washington and California, and lists it at its once intended home in Staten Island, New York.
- ^ National Park Service. National Historic Landmark Program: NHL Database. Retrieved on 2007-11-13.
- ^ National Park Service. National Register Information System. Retrieved on 2007-11-04.
- ^ a b Fir (WAGL / WLM-212). United States Coast Guard (October 2002). Retrieved on 2008-01-12.
- ^ a b November 2007 Fir put up for sale
- ^ Lighthouse Tender FIR (WLM-212) Now for Sale!
- ^ Google Maps view of the Fir
[edit] External links
- One hundred photos of Fir, taken inside and out in January 2008
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