The lighthouse tender CROCUS is tied to the South Dock on Kelleys Island. Lighthouse tenders carried passengers and supplies to lighthouses. The CROCUS was built at Shooter's Island, New York, and served in the lighthouse service from 1904 to 1939. From 1939 to 1946, the CROCUS was part of the United States Coast Guard.She was steel-hulled and first assigned to duty at the 10th Lighthouse District and was based at Buffalo, New York. In 1932, she was converted to oil-fired boilers and transferred to Detroit. During WWII she was based in Toledo, Ohio, continuing her peacetime duties of servicing navigation aids. She aided in recovering the bodies of the crews of the tug "Admiral" and the tanker barge "Cleveco." The men lost their lives when the vessels foundered in a storm in December 1942. The "Admiral" was towing the fully-loaded tanker barge from Toledo to Cleveland, Ohio. The "Crocus" was decommissioned in 1948. Photograph #3287.FR2.11.1 shows the Crocus with her crew. It was probably taken in the 1930s.