Known by her last official designation, "Relief," NO. 83 was built (1905) to serve as one of the first four lightships on the Pacific coast. She served to guide mariners to three major ports--Eureka on Humboldt Bay, San Francisco, and Seattle. NO. 83 and her surviving sister are the earliest surviving examples of American lightships.

Information provided by the National Register of Historic Places, a program of the National Park Service.