Charles Axel Alexius Modeer (1877-?) was a native of Kalmar, Sweden, who moved to Chicago with his family when he was a baby. Following in the seafaring footsteps of his father, who was a shipmaster on the Great Lakes, Charles ran away from home at the age of 17 and spent six years aboard sailing ships. He joined the Pacific Mail Steamship Company out of San Francisco after 1900, rising from fourth officer to first officer. While serving as second office on the SS City of Panama December 31, 1906, Modeer and two others rescued three men who were swept overboard. He received a gold medal for bravery from President Theodore Roosevelt.
Modeer entered the U.S. Lighthouse Service February 19, 1909, as second officer on the Lightship Columbia and served on various lighthouse tenders, including the Manzanita . He commanded the Manzanita from 1929 through 1941, when he retired from the Coast Guard. He was headquartered at Astoria, Oregon. During World War I, Modeer joined the Navy and commanded the former lighthouse tender, Rose, after it was put into service as a Naval patrol vessel in 1917. Before leaving the Navy and returning to the Lighthouse Service, he commanded the cargo ship, West Compo, for one tour of duty in 1919. Modeer then returned to the Lighthouse Service, which was absorbed by the Coast Guard in 1939.
From the guide to the Charles Axel Alexius Modeer Notebooks, 1907-1941, (Oregon Historical Society)
