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Lightvessel

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Lightship Finngrundet, now a museum ship in Stockholm. The day markers can be seen on the masts.
Lightship Finngrundet, now a museum ship in Stockholm. The day markers can be seen on the masts.
Bürgermeister O´Swald II was the world's largest manned lightship, the last lightship at position  Elbe 1.  In the picture on a visit to Ystad 12 July 2017.
Bürgermeister O´Swald II was the world's largest manned lightship, the last lightship at position Elbe 1. In the picture on a visit to Ystad 12 July 2017.

A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction.[1] Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the first modern lightvessel was off the Nore sandbank at the mouth of the River Thames in England, placed there by its inventor Robert Hamblin in 1734. The type has become largely obsolete; lighthouses replaced some stations as the construction techniques for lighthouses advanced, while large, automated buoys replaced others.[1]

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Ship

Ship

A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity and purpose. Ships have supported exploration, trade, warfare, migration, colonization, and science. After the 15th century, new crops that had come from and to the Americas via the European seafarers significantly contributed to world population growth. Ship transport is responsible for the largest portion of world commerce.

Lighthouse

Lighthouse

A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.

Nore

Nore

The Nore is a long bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades into the channels it has a notable point once marked by a lightship on the line where the estuary of the Thames nominally becomes the North Sea. A lit buoy today stands on this often map-marked divisor: between Havengore Creek in east Essex and Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.

River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames, known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.

England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

Buoy

Buoy

A buoy is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents.

Construction

Former Belgian lightship West-Hinder II, now a museum ship in Zeebrugge
Former Belgian lightship West-Hinder II, now a museum ship in Zeebrugge
Some lightships, like this one in Amsterdam, were also equipped with foghorns.
Some lightships, like this one in Amsterdam, were also equipped with foghorns.

A crucial element of lightvessel design is the mounting of a light on a sufficiently tall mast. Initially, it consisted of oil lamps that could be run up the mast and lowered for servicing. Later vessels carried fixed lamps which were serviced in place. Fresnel lenses were used as they became available, and many vessels housed them in small versions of the lanterns used in lighthouses. Some lightships had two masts, the second holding a reserve beacon in case the main light failed.

Initially, the hulls were constructed of wood, with lines like those of other small merchant ships. This proved unsatisfactory for a ship that was permanently anchored, and the shape of the hull evolved to reduce rolling and pounding. As iron and steel were used in other ships, so were they used in lightvessels, and the advent of steam and diesel power led to self-propelled and electrically lighted designs. Earlier vessels had to be towed to and from their positions.

Much of the rest of the ship was taken up by storage (for oil and other supplies) and crew accommodations. The crew's primary duty was, of course, to maintain the light; but they also kept records of passing ships, observed the weather, and sometimes performed rescues.

In the early 20th century, some lightships were fitted with warning bells, either mounted on the structure or lowered into the water, the purpose of which was to warn of danger in poor visibility and to permit crude estimation of the lightship relative to the approaching vessel. Tests conducted by Trinity House found that sound from a bell submerged some 18 feet (5.5 m) could be heard at a distance of 15 miles (24 km), with a practical range in operational conditions of 1–3 miles (1.6–4.8 km).[2][3]

Mooring

Lightship Portsmouth (LV-101) shows its mushroom anchor. It can be seen at downtown Portsmouth, Virginia, and is a part of the Naval Shipyard Museum.
Lightship Portsmouth (LV-101) shows its mushroom anchor. It can be seen at downtown Portsmouth, Virginia, and is a part of the Naval Shipyard Museum.

Holding the vessel in position was an important aspect of lightvessel engineering. Early lightships used fluke anchors, which are still in use on many contemporary vessels. These were not very satisfactory, since a lightship has to remain stationary in very rough seas which other vessels can avoid, and these anchors are prone to dragging.

Since the early 19th century, lightships have used mushroom anchors, named for their shape, which typically weigh 3-4 tons. They were invented by Robert Stevenson. The first lightvessel equipped with one was an 82-ton converted fishing boat, renamed Pharos, which entered service on 15 September 1807 near to Bell Rock, and had a 1.5 ton anchor.[4] The effectiveness of these anchors improved dramatically in the 1820s, when cast iron anchor chains were introduced (the rule of thumb being 6 feet of chain for every foot depth of water).

Appearance

LV-11 (originally British lightship Trinity House) is docked in Rotterdam, Netherlands, as Breeveertien serving as a restaurant
LV-11 (originally British lightship Trinity House) is docked in Rotterdam, Netherlands, as Breeveertien serving as a restaurant
The North Carr Lightship showing a large foghorn
The North Carr Lightship showing a large foghorn

As well as the light, which operated in the fog and also at night, from one hour before sunset to one hour after sunrise, early lightvessels were equipped with red (or very occasionally white) day markers at the tops of masts, which were the first objects seen from an approaching ship. The designs varied, filled circles or globes, and pairs of inverted cones being the most common among them.

United States lightship Huron circa 1922
United States lightship Huron circa 1922

Later lightships, for purposes of visibility, normally had bright red hulls which displayed the name of the station in white, upper-case letters; relief light vessels displayed the word RELIEF instead. A few ships had differently coloured hulls. For example, the Huron Lightship was painted black since she was assigned the black buoy side of the entrance to the Lake Huron Cut. The lightvessel that operated at Minots Ledge, Cohasset, Massachusetts, from 1854 until 1860 had a light yellow hull to make it visible against the blue-green seas and the green hills behind it.

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Museum ship

Museum ship

A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small number of museum ships that are still operational and thus capable of regular movement.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 921,402 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the urban area and 2,480,394 in the metropolitan area. Located in the Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its large number of canals, now designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Foghorn

Foghorn

A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. When visual navigation aids such as lighthouses are obscured, foghorns provide an audible warning of rock outcrops, shoals, headlands, or other dangers to shipping.

Mast (sailing)

Mast (sailing)

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light, look-out position, signal yard, control position, radio aerial or signal lamp. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship. Nearly all sailing masts are guyed.

Fresnel lens

Fresnel lens

A Fresnel lens is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships."

Hull (watercraft)

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship, boat, or flying boat. The hull may open at the top, or it may be fully or partially covered with a deck. Atop the deck may be a deckhouse and other superstructures, such as a funnel, derrick, or mast. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.

Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It's the 9th most populous city in Virginia and is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area.

Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)

Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)

Robert Stevenson, FRSE, FGS, FRAS, FSA Scot, MWS was a Scottish civil engineer, and designer and builder of lighthouses. His works include the Bell Rock Lighthouse.

Inchcape

Inchcape

Inchcape or the Bell Rock is a reef about 11 miles (18 km) off the east coast of Angus, Scotland, near Dundee and Fife, occupied by the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The name Inchcape comes from the Scottish Gaelic Innis Sgeap, meaning "Beehive isle", probably comparing the shape of the reef to old-style skep beehives. According to legend, probably folk etymology, the alternative name Bell Rock derives from a 14th-century attempt by the Abbot of Arbroath ("Aberbrothock") to install a warning bell on the reef; the bell was removed by a Dutch pirate who perished a year later on the rocks, a story that is immortalised in "The Inchcape Rock" (1802), a poem by Robert Southey.

Chain

Chain

A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A chain may consist of two or more links. Chains can be classified by their design, which can be dictated by their use:Those designed for lifting, such as when used with a hoist; for pulling; or for securing, such as with a bicycle lock, have links that are torus shaped, which make the chain flexible in two dimensions. Small chains serving as jewellery are a mostly decorative analogue of such types. Those designed for transferring power in machines have links designed to mesh with the teeth of the sprockets of the machine, and are flexible in only one dimension. They are known as roller chains, though there are also non-roller chains such as block chains.

Lightvessel No. 11

Lightvessel No. 11

Lightvessel No.11 was a lightvessel that was in service in the Irish Sea from 1951 to 1988. She was built in 1951 for Trinity House by Philip & Son Ltd in Dartmouth, England.

Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands, informally Holland, is a country located in northwestern Europe with overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands consists of twelve provinces; it borders Germany to the east, and Belgium to the south, with a North Sea coastline to the north and west. It shares maritime borders with the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium in the North Sea. The country's official language is Dutch, with West Frisian as a secondary official language in the province of Friesland. Dutch, English and Papiamento are official in the Caribbean territories.

Lightvessel service

British lightships

Calshot Spit lightship on display at the Ocean Village marina, Southampton. The ship has since been moved to the Solent Sky museum, also in Southampton.
Calshot Spit lightship on display at the Ocean Village marina, Southampton. The ship has since been moved to the Solent Sky museum, also in Southampton.
Breaksea Light Vessel following a refit at Swansea in 1978.
Breaksea Light Vessel following a refit at Swansea in 1978.

David Avery and Robert Hamblin in 1731 placed the earliest British lightship at The Nore near the mouth of the River Thames. This was a private venture that operated profitably and without the need for government enforcement of payment for lighting services.[5]

Further vessels were placed off Norfolk in 1736, at Owers Bank in Sussex in 1788, and at the Goodwin Sands in 1793.[6]

Over time, Trinity House, the public authority charged with establishing and maintaining lighthouses in England and Wales, crowded out the private light vessels. Trinity House is now responsible for all the remaining lightvessels England and Wales, of which there are currently eight unmanned lightvessels and two smaller light floats.[7]

In the 1930s, "crewless lightships" were proposed as a way to operate a light vessel for six to twelve months without a crew.[8]

The first lightvessel conversion to solar power was made in 1995, and all vessels except the '20 class' have now been converted. The '20 class' is a slightly larger type of vessel that derives its power from diesel electric generators. Where a main light with a visible range in excess of 20 nautical miles (37 km) is required, a '20 class' vessel is used, as the main light from a Trinity House solar lightvessel has a maximum range of 19 nautical miles (35 km).

Hull numbers: 19, 22, 23 and 25 (the 20 class); 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 17 (solar lightvessels); and LF2 and LF3 (solar lightfloats).

American lightships

Lightship Columbia, WLV-604
Lightship Columbia, WLV-604

History

The first United States lightship was established at Chesapeake Bay in 1820, and the total number around the coast peaked in 1909 with 56 locations marked. Of those ships, 168 were constructed by the United States Lighthouse Service and six by the United States Coast Guard, which absorbed it in 1939. From 1820 until 1983, there were 179 lightships built for the U.S. government, and they were assigned to 116 separate light stations on four coasts (including the Great Lakes).[9]

Lightship #51 at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, as it appeared in the 1890s.
Lightship #51 at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, as it appeared in the 1890s.

The first United States lightships were small wooden vessels with no propelling power. The first United States iron-hulled lightship was stationed at Merrill's Shell Bank, Louisiana, in 1847. Wood was still the preferred building material at the time because of lower cost and ability to withstand shock loading. Wooden lightships often survived more than 50 years in northern waters where the danger of rotting was reduced. Lightvessel 16 guarded Sandy Hook and Ambrose stations for more than 80 years; she had both an inner hull and an outer hull with the space between filled with salt to harden the wood and reduce decay. Several lightships built with composite wood and steel hulls in 1897 proved less durable than either wood or steel. The first modern steel lightship in United States service was lightvessel 44 built in 1882. One of the last United States wooden hulled lightships built, lightvessel 74, went into service at Portland, Maine, in 1902. The first United States lightships with steam engine propulsion were built in 1891 for service on the Great Lakes where seasonal ice required prompt evacuation of light stations to avoid destruction of the lightships.[10]

The official use of lightships in the United States ended on March 29, 1985, when the United States Coast Guard decommissioned its last such ship, the Nantucket I. Many lightships were replaced with Texas Towers or large navigational buoys – both of which are cheaper to operate than lightvessels. In fact, lighthouses often replaced lightships.[11]

Naming and numbering

The naming and numbering of American lightships is often confusing. Up to and through the Civil War lightships were identified by name, usually that of the station where they served. As they were moved from station to station, however, the keeping of records became hopelessly tangled. Therefore, in 1867 all existing lightships were given numbers by which they would be permanently identified, and the station at which they were presently serving was painted on their sides, to be changed as needed. Lightships held in reserve to serve in place of those in dock for maintenance were labeled "RELIEF".[12] Surviving lightships are commonly taken to be named according to these labels, but for instance the "Lightship Chesapeake" actually served at two other stations as well as being used for examinations, and last served at the Delaware Light Station. In another case, the LV-114 was labeled "NEW BEDFORD", though there has never been such a station.[13] In an attempt to sort out the early lightships, they were assigned one or two letter designations sometime around 1930; these identifications do not appear in early records, and they are to some degree uncertain.[12]

There are three different and overlapping series of hull numbers. The Lighthouse Service assigned numbers beginning with "LV-" and starting from 1; however, not all numbers were used. When the Coast Guard took over the lighthouse service, all existing lightships were renumbered with "WAL-" prefixes, beginning with "WAL-501". In 1965 they were renumbered again, this time with "WLV-"; however in this case the numbers given were not sequential. Given that only six vessels were constructed after the Coast Guard takeover, the "LV-" series numbers are most commonly used.

Surviving American lightships

It is estimated that there are 15 United States lightships left today. Among them:

German lightships

FS3 at position German Bight
FS3 at position German Bight
FS3 in Wilhelmshaven
FS3 in Wilhelmshaven

There are currently three identical unmanned German lightvessels in service, named FS1, FS3 and FS4. The initialism FS is short for Feuerschiff, which means lightvessel in German. Two of them are normally located at:

  1. 54°10.8′N 007°27.5′E / 54.1800°N 7.4583°E / 54.1800; 7.4583 (GB) German Bight (GB in charts and notices, G—B on vessels)[26][27]
  2. 54°09.9′N 006°20.7′E / 54.1650°N 6.3450°E / 54.1650; 6.3450 (GW/EMS) German Bight Western Approach (GW/EMS)[28][29]

Both positions have the same characteristics:

All three ships are operated by the Waterways and Shipping Office Wilhelmshaven and can be seen in the harbour of Wilhelmshaven during maintenance.

Russian lightships

Lightship Nekmangrund (1898)
Lightship Nekmangrund (1898)

In Russia, lightships have been documented since the mid 19th century. The lightvessel service was subordinated to the Russian Hydrographic Office and most of the lightships under it were in the Baltic Sea. In the early 1900s there were about ten lightships in the Russian sector of the Baltics. Among these the following may be mentioned:

Yelaginsky, located on the Yelagin Channel – later moved to the Petrovsky Channel and renamed, Nevsky in the middle of the main channel to St. Petersburg, and Londonsky on Londonsky Shoal off Kotlin Island on the approach to Kronstadt.[30] Other Baltic lightships were located further to the West, with Werkommatala by Primorsk (Koivisto) harbour, Lyserortsky at the entrance of the Gulf of Finland, and Nekmangrund over the treacherous shoals off Hiiumaa Island's NW shore, known as Hiiu Madal in Estonian.[31]

Another well-known lightship was Irbensky of the Soviet Union era. It was the next-to-last Russian lightship. Having been located in the Baltic in the 1980s,[32] it was briefly renamed Ventspilssky while serving near Ventspils port in the Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic.

The last Russian lightvessel in service was Astrakhansky-priyomniy, of the same class as Irbensky. Until 1997 she was marking the deepwater channel leading to Astrakhan harbour while it was doing service in the Caspian Sea.[33]

Other countries

Lightship CLS4 Carpentaria at wharf close to the ANMM, Sydney
Lightship CLS4 Carpentaria at wharf close to the ANMM, Sydney

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List of lightvessels of Great Britain

List of lightvessels of Great Britain

This is a list of lightvessels which operate or operated on various lightvessel stations in England, Scotland and Wales.

Calshot Spit

Calshot Spit

Calshot Spit is a one-mile long sand and shingle bank, near the village of Calshot, located on the southern bank of the open end of Southampton Water, on the south coast of England.

Ocean Village, Southampton

Ocean Village, Southampton

Ocean Village is a mixed-use marina, residential, business and leisure development on the mouth of the River Itchen in Southampton, on the south coast of England. Originally the site of Southampton's first working docks, the "Outer Dock" which opened in 1842, the area was redeveloped in 1986 and became the leisure marina it is today. After experiencing a period of stalled development with the late-2000s recession, Ocean Village underwent another series of major, multimillion-pound redevelopment projects. Current recreational facilities include a cinema, cafes, wine bars and restaurants.

Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately 70 mi (110 km) south-west of London and 15 mi (24 km) west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Portsmouth and the towns of Havant, Waterlooville, Eastleigh, Fareham and Gosport.

Solent Sky

Solent Sky

Solent Sky is an aviation museum in Southampton, Hampshire, previously known as Southampton Hall of Aviation.

River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames, known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn.

Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea, with The Wash to the north-west. The county town is the city of Norwich. With an area of 2,074 sq mi (5,370 km2) and a population of 859,400, Norfolk is a largely rural county with a population density of 401 per square mile. Of the county's population, 40% live in four major built up areas: Norwich (213,000), Great Yarmouth (63,000), King's Lynn (46,000) and Thetford (25,000).

Goodwin Sands

Goodwin Sands

Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long (16 km) sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying 6 miles (10 km) off the Deal coast in Kent, England. The area consists of a layer of approximately 25 m (82 ft) depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geological feature that incorporates the White Cliffs of Dover. The banks lie between 0.5 m above the low water mark to around 3 m (10 ft) below low water, except for one channel that drops to around 20 m (66 ft) below. Tides and currents are constantly shifting the shoals.

Light float

Light float

A light float is a type of lighted navigational aid forming an intermediate class between lightvessels and large lighted buoys; they are generally smaller than lightvessels and carry less powerful lights. In times when most lightvessels were crewed, the term was sometimes also used to describe a full-size lightvessel converted to unmanned operation.

Solar power

Solar power

Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine.

Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware. The mouth of the Bay at its southern point is located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles. With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay's 64,299-square-mile (166,534 km2) drainage basin, which covers parts of six states and all of District of Columbia.

Great Lakes

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes, which are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario and are in general on or near the Canada–United States border. Hydrologically, lakes Michigan and Huron are a single body joined at the Straits of Mackinac. The Great Lakes Waterway enables modern travel and shipping by water among the lakes.

Lost lightships

Because lightvessels must remain anchored in specific positions for the majority of their time at sea, they are more at risk of damage or destruction. Many lightships have been lost in hurricanes.[35]

United States

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New York Harbor

New York Harbor

New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world, and is frequently named the best natural harbor in the world. It is also known as Upper New York Bay, which is enclosed by the New York City boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Staten Island and the Hudson County, New Jersey municipalities of Jersey City and Bayonne. The name may also refer to the entirety of New York Bay including Lower New York Bay.

United States lightship Buffalo (LV-82)

United States lightship Buffalo (LV-82)

United States lightship Buffalo (LV-82) was a lightship built in 1911 for the United States Lighthouse Service and stationed off Point Abino, Ontario, Canada to help guide vessels heading for the harbor at Buffalo, New York. During the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, LV-82 stayed at its assigned station and was sunk with the loss of all six crew members.

Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. At its deepest point Lake Erie is 210 feet (64 m) deep.

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Erie County. It lies in Western New York, at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, on the United States border with Canada. With a population of 278,349 according to the 2020 census, Buffalo is the 78th-largest city in the United States. Buffalo and the city of Niagara Falls together make up the two-county Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which had an estimated population of 1.1 million in 2020, making it the 49th largest MSA in the United States.

Great Lakes Storm of 1913

Great Lakes Storm of 1913

The Great Lakes Storm of 1913 was a blizzard with hurricane-force winds that devastated the Great Lakes Basin in the Midwestern United States and Southwestern Ontario, Canada, from November 7 to 10, 1913. The storm was most powerful on November 9, battering and overturning ships on four of the five Great Lakes, particularly Lake Huron.

RMS Olympic

RMS Olympic

RMS Olympic was a British ocean liner and the lead ship of the White Star Line's trio of Olympic-class liners. Olympic had a career spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935, in contrast to her short-lived sister ships, Titanic and Britannic. This included service as a troopship during the First World War, which gained her the nickname Old Reliable. She returned to civilian service after the war, and served successfully as an ocean liner throughout the 1920s and into the first half of the 1930s, although increased competition, and the slump in trade during the Great Depression after 1930, made her operation increasingly unprofitable.

Lightship No. 114

Lightship No. 114

Lightship No. 114, later U.S. Coast Guard WAL 536, that served as lightship Fire Island (NY), Examination Vessel, Diamond Shoal (NC), 1st District relief vessel, Pollock Rip (MA) and Portland (ME). After decommissioning in 1971, in 1975 the lightship became a historic ship at the State Pier in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She received little maintenance, and eventually sank at her moorings in 2006 and was sold for scrap the next year.

Albina Engine & Machine Works

Albina Engine & Machine Works

Albina Engine & Machine Works was a shipyard along the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was located in the Albina area of Portland along N. River Street and N. Loring Street. Albina Engine & Machine Works was founded in 1904. The shipyard produced a number of freighters during World War I, but operated mainly as a repair yard during the 1920s and 1930s. The Albina yard expanded its workforce and production during Portland's World War II shipbuilding boom. It specialized in producing subchasers, vessels designed to combat German U-boats. Albina Engine & Machine Works also built Landing Craft Support boats and cargo ships. Business declined in the post-war years, and Albina Engine & Machine Works was sold to the Dillingham Corporation around 1971.

Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the most populous municipality in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Portland's economy relies mostly on the service sector and tourism. The Old Port is known for its nightlife and 19th-century architecture. Marine industry plays an important role in the city's economy, with an active waterfront that supports fishing and commercial shipping. The Port of Portland is the second-largest tonnage seaport in New England.

New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American people. English colonists bought the land on which New Bedford would later be built from the Wampanoag in 1652, and the original colonial settlement that would later become the city was founded by English Quakers in the late 17th century. The town of New Bedford itself was officially incorporated in 1787.

Popular culture

  • Lightship, a 1934 novel by Archie Binns.
  • Men of the Lightship, a 1940 British propaganda film produced during World War II.
  • The Lightship, a translation of the 1960 short story Das Feuerschiff by Siegfried Lenz.
  • The Lightship, a 1985 film adapted from the Lenz novel, with Robert Duvall and Klaus Maria Brandauer.
  • The Lightship, a 1963 West German film adapted from the Lenz novel, with James Robertson Justice.
  • Lillie Lightship: A fictional lightship from the children's television series TUGS.
  • Lightship, a 2007 children's picture book by Brian Floca. A Richard Jackson Book: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Simon & Schuster Children's Books A Junior Library Guild Selection. ISBN 1-4169-2436-1.
  • In the 1990s, the Boston Beer Company produced a light beer that was called Lightship, with a picture of a 19th-century lightship in rough seas on the label. The line has since been discontinued with the advent of Sam Adams Light.
  • In the 2015 video game Sunless Sea, the player can visit several lightships moored around the game's world, an underground body of water called the Unterzee.

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This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2007.

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Boston Beer Company

Boston Beer Company

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Source: "Lightvessel", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 15th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightvessel.

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See also
References
  1. ^ a b Flint, Willard (1993). A History of U.S. Lightships (PDF). United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  2. ^ Bowen, J. P. (1946). "Lighthouses". In Pendred, Loughan (ed.). The Engineer's Year-Book for 1946 (52 ed.). London: Morgan Brothers. p. 656.
  3. ^ "THE SUBMARINE BELL RIVALS JULES VERNE; Deep Under Water, It Sends Warnings in Fog and Storm. A TEST OF THE INVENTION Through the Signal's Receiver the Throb of an Unseen Steamship's Screw Could Be Heard". The New York Times. 7 June 1906. Retrieved 21 February 2019 – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ^ Cadbury, Deborah (2003). Seven Wonders of the Industrial World. Fourth Estate. pp. 79. ISBN 9780007163045.
  5. ^ Candela, Rosolino A. and Vincent J. Geloso (September 2018) "The lightship in economics", Public Choice, Vol. 176, Issue 3–4, pp. 479–506.
  6. ^ Marcus, G.J. (1975). Heart of Oak: A Survey of British Sea Power in the Georgian Era. Oxford University Press. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0192158120.
  7. ^ Aids to Navigation Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine, Trinity House, accessed 02-09-08
  8. ^ "Crewless Lightship Is New Flying Dutchman" Popular Mechanics, December 1932
  9. ^ "Maritime Heritage Program - National Park Service". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  10. ^ White, Richard D., Jr., LT USCG "Destination Nowhere - Twilight of the Lightship" United States Naval Institute Proceedings March 1976 pp.67-68
  11. ^ a b "Clarke Home - Central Michigan University". www.cmich.edu. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Early U.S. Lightships". United States Coast Guard. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  13. ^ "Lightship New Bedford LV 114/WAL 536". Lighthousefriends.com. 2010-05-23. Archived from the original on 2012-10-04.
  14. ^ "1904 Lightship: No. 83, Swiftsure". Northwest Seaport. Archived from the original on 20 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Lightship Ambrose". South Street Seaport Museum. South Street Seaport Museum. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Lightship Portsmouth". Lightship Portsmouth Museum. City of Portsmouth, Virginia. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  17. ^ Sellman, John J. Martin Reef: Lightship to Lighthouse. Cedarville, MI: Les Cheneaux Historical Association, 1995.
  18. ^ Wagner, John L., Chronology of Michigan lightship and lighthouses Beacons Shining in the Night, Clarke Historical Library, Central, Michigan University.
  19. ^ "Michigan Government on Huron Lightship". Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Nantucket Lightship/LV-112". Nantucket Lightship/LV-112. United States Lightship Museum, Inc. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  21. ^ "Lightship Frying Pan". Lightship Frying Pan. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  22. ^ "LV116 Chesapeake". Historic Ships in Baltimore. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Lightship Overfalls (LV-118)". Lightship Overfalls (LV-118). Overfalls Foundation. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  24. ^ "Lightship Columbia". Columbia River Maritime Museum. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  25. ^ "Nantucket Lightship". Nantucket Lightship. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  26. ^ "Feuerschiff German Bight". www.baken-net.de. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  27. ^ "OpenSeaMap - The free nautical chart". map.openseamap.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  28. ^ "UFS TW/EMS". www.baken-net.de. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  29. ^ "OpenSeaMap - The free nautical chart". map.openseamap.org. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  30. ^ "Lightships in Russia". www.plavmayak.ru. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  31. ^ "Плавучий маяк "Nekmangrund"". diving.ee. Archived from the original on 8 October 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  32. ^ "Irbensky Lightship". www.plavmayak.ru. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  33. ^ "Astrakhanskiy lightship". www.plavmayak.ru. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  34. ^ CARPENTARIA, AN UNMANNED LIGHTSHIP - ANMM Website (accessed 2017-01-10)
  35. ^ "U.S. Coast Guard Historical Bibliography on Lightships". Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  36. ^ "40.672184, -74.016706". Google Maps. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  37. ^ Vogel, Michael N. and Paul F. Redding Maritime Buffalo, Buffalo History, Lightship LV 82. Archived 2012-05-28 at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Michigan". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  39. ^ "LV-6 history, U.S. Coast Guard". Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  40. ^ "LV-73 history, U.S. Coast Guard". Retrieved 21 February 2019.
Further reading
  • United States Coast Guard, Aids to Navigation, (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1945).
  • Price, Scott T. "U. S. Coast Guard Aids to Navigation: A Historical Bibliography". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  • Putnam, George R., Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933).
  • Wright, Larry; Wright, Patricia (2011). Lightships of the Great Lakes. Ontario. p. 146. ISBN 9780987815101.
  • Clark, Liam. Light in the darkness - a history of lightships and the people who served on them. (Amberley, 2016) ISBN 9781445646589
External links

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