&sq=&lang=&file=File:USLHT_Iris_in_1900.jpg) USLHT Iris in 1900
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Plymouth |
| Operator | Winthrop Steamboat Company |
| Builder | Neafie & Levy, Philadelphia |
| Launched | 1897 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sold to U.S. Lighthouse Board |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Pennant_of_the_United_States_Lighthouse_Service.png){kind=small} &sq=&lang=&file=File:Flag_of_the_United_States_(1912-1959).svg){kind=small} United States | |
| Name | USLHT Iris |
| Operator | United States Lighthouse Service |
| Acquired | 13 December 1899 |
| Identification | Signal letters: GVPH |
| Fate | Transferred to U.S. Navy |
| United States | |
| Name | USS Iris |
| Operator | United States Navy |
| Acquired | 11 April 1917 |
| Fate | Transferred to U.S. Lighthouse Service |
| United States | |
| Name | USLHT Iris |
| Operator | U.S. Lighthouse Service |
| Acquired | 1 July 1919 |
| Identification | Signal letters: GVPH |
| Fate | Sold |
| United States | |
| Name | Big Chief |
| Operator | Pocahontas Coal Company |
| Acquired | February 1939 |
| Fate | Requisitioned for military service |
| United States | |
| Name | USS Big Chief |
| Operator | U. S. Navy |
| Acquired | 5 may 1943 |
| Identification | Signal Letters: NJBK |
| Fate | Sold 26 February 1948 |
| United States | |
| Name |
|
| Fate | Scrapped in 1973 |
| General characteristics as built in 1897 | |
| Tonnage |
|
| Length | 142 ft (43 m) |
| Beam | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Draft | 8 ft (2.4 m) |
| Depth of hold | 10.4 ft (3.2 m) |
| Installed power | 800 HP triple-conversion steam engine |
USLHT Iris was a steel-hulled, steam-powered ship built in Philadelphia in 1897. She began life as an excursion boat for day trips between Boston and Plymouth, Massachusetts as Plymouth. She was purchased by the Lighthouse Board and became a lighthouse tender in 1899. She was transferred to the United States Navy during World War I and became USS Iris. She returned to her duties with the United States Lighthouse Service in 1919. She was sold in 1939 and became a collier and bulk freighter named Big Chief. In 1942, after the American entry into World War II, the ship was requisitioned into military service with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. She was transferred to the Navy for the second time in 1943 and became USS Big Chief (IX-101). Declared surplus after the war, she was sold back into private hands in 1948 and became a fishing boat for the remainder of her career. Her name was changed yet again after a 1954 refit to B. O. Colonna. She was scrapped in 1973.