George Putnam
The first Commissioner of Lighthouses was George Putnam. His tenure extended from the service's inception until his retirement in 1935. He continued the Lighthouse Board's policy of experimentation and invention of new buoy designs. He also convinced Congress to allocate money for Lighthouse Service vessels, and crusaded for his employees.
Radio Beacon
Under George Putnam the most important advances in long-range aids took place. The United States led the way with the new technology - the radio beacon. The advent of radio-beacon technology made buoys, lightships, and lighthouses "visible" from significantly greater distances.The radio beacon made it possible for vessels equipped with a radio direction finder to take a bearing up to 70 miles from a navigational aid and, once identified, set a course relative to the aid.
Safety issues
Lighted buoys using compressed gas as a fuel gained popularity during George Putnam's superintendence. Thirty years of trials and improvements, however, did not render the buoys entirely safe. The service issued instructions concerning safety in tending Pintsch, Willson, and American Gas Accumulator buoys because of the explosive nature of compressed gas.Most safety problems occurred during pressure tests. In 1910, an explosion of a Pintsch gas buoy killed a machinist attached to the tender Amaranth. The machinist had completed a routine pressure test and had shut down the compressor.
According to Lighthouse Service reports, the buoy's cagework sheared away the mainmast of the Amaranth. The force of the explosion separated the top cone of the buoy from the body at the weld and hurled it through the roof of the depot's lamp shop. The blast forced the body of the buoy and its counterweight through the dock. The next issue of the Lighthouse Service Bulletin carried detailed instructions for pressure testing Pintsch gas buoys.
Willson Buoy
The Willson buoy, designed and patented by Canadian inventor Thomas Willson, was inexplicably adopted by the Lighthouse Service. It also was a compressed- gas buoy, but worked on the carbide and water principle. Instead of pressurized gas, the fuel was solid calcium carbide, soaked with kerosene oil during the loading or "charging" process. This helped reduce the risk of explosion of the calcium carbide.The Willson buoy was charged by drying the inside of the buoy completely and applying mineral oil to the sides of the fuel chamber. The calcium carbide slid through a canvas chute into the chamber. Even with the best precautions the risk of explosion still existed, as happened aboard the tender Hibiscus in 1913. One explanation for this explosion was that a lump of carbide struck the side of the chamber and created a spark. This accident occurred in a dead calm. Charging this type of buoy on a blustery day or in a fast-moving current must have been exciting, if not nearly impossible.
New Tenders
The end of World War I marked a turning point for the Lighthouse Service buoy tenders. During the war, men, vessels and equipment were transferred to the Navy. It quickly discovered the tenders' usefulness in laying mines, as well as for patrol duty off the Atlantic coast.When the war ended, and the vessels were returned to the Lighthouse Service, the Navy proposed sending their old mine-layers to the service to work as tenders. So that the Lighthouse Service would convert the old mine-layers into tenders. Several ex-Navy mine-layers were converted for lighthouse supply service
New tenders were built that were larger, diesel-powered or screw-propelled, and had a more advanced derrick and boom system. These tenders made the handling of compressed-gas buoys safer and more efficient.
