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Lighthouse Tender Photo Archive

Dandelion



Call sign (1927):
George - Vice - Love - Hypo
River Tender:

  • The first Dandelion was built in 1893 as F. Weyerhaeuser by Weyerhaeuser and Denkmann, Rock Island, Illinois
  • Acquired by the Lighthouse Service 2 March 1917
  • Commissioned River Tender Dandelion 6 April 1917
  • Decommissioned in 1926 and sold
  • Registered in 1929 to John F. Klein of Cairo, IL as the towboat Dandelion out of St. Louis, MO
  • Abandoned in 1931.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 302 t.
    1927 - 232 t.
    1929 - 149 t.
  • Length 140'
    1929 - 143'
  • Beam 31'
  • Draft 3' 3"
    1926 - 5'
  • Complement 17
    1926 - 19
    1927 - Five
  • Propulsion: Three Mississippi-type horizontal water tube boilers, one 503hp horizontal single cylinder steam engine, one stern paddle wheel.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    F. Weyerhaeuser
    Dandelion 439k c. 1908
    The sidewheelers and sternwheelers Minnesota, Hiawatha, Idler, Wanderer II and F. Weyerhaeuser docked at Steamboat landing and Union Station, St. Paul, MN. F. Weyerhaeuser is moored inboard of Idler    		 Joe Radigan
    Dandelion 120k Photo from University of Wisconsin-Madison Digital Library John Spivey
    Dandelion
    Dandelion 71k
    Namesake

    Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, which consists of species commonly known as dandelions. The scientific and hobby study of the genus is known as taraxacology. The genus is native to Eurasia and North America, but the two most commonplace species worldwide, T. officinale (the common dandelion) and T. erythrospermum (the red-seeded dandelion), were introduced into North America from Europe and now propagate as wildflowers. Both species are edible in their entirety. The common name dandelion, from French dent-de-lion, meaning 'lion's tooth') is also given to specific members of the genus

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photos added 16 February 2022
    Dandelion 94k
    Dandelion 92k Photo from University of Wisconsin-Madison Digital Library John Spivey
    Dandelion 59k c. 1917
    U.S. Lighthouse Service photo    		 John Spivey
    Coast Guard History: The Dandelion was originally built as the river steamer F. Weyerhaeuser for the lumber company in St. Paul, Minnesota, of the same name for use as a log pusher on the Mississippi River. She was purchased by the Lighthouse Service on 2 March 1917 for $23,173.90 from the Rock Island Steamboat Company and was renamed Dandelion.

    She operated out of Rock Island, Illinois and serviced aids to navigation on the upper Mississippi River until she was placed out of service in 1926. She was ultimately abandoned in 1931

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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
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