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. 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 London, 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.
The history of the many lightvessel stations of Great Britain goes back over 250 years to the placement of the world's first lightship at the Nore in the early 18th century.
HMQS Gayundah was a flat-iron gunboat operated by the Queensland Maritime Defence Force and later the Royal Australian Navy. She entered service in 1884 and was decommissioned and sold to a civilian company in 1921. She then served as sand and gravel barge in Brisbane until the 1950s, when she was scrapped. In 1958, Gayundah was run aground at Woody Point near Redcliffe, to serve as a breakwater structure.
HMAS Success was a Durance-class multi-product replenishment oiler that previously served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by Cockatoo Docks & Engineering Company in Sydney, Australia, during the 1980s, she is the only ship of the class to be constructed outside France, and the only one to not originally serve in the Marine Nationale. The ship was part of the Australian contribution to the 1991 Gulf War, and was deployed to East Timor in response to incidents in 1999 and 2006. The ship was fitted with a double hull during the first half of 2011, to meet International Maritime Organization standards.
HMAS Ardent was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built by Evans Deakin and Company, and was commissioned into the RAN in 1968. Ardent was decommissioned in 1994, then assigned as a navigation training vessel. At the end of 1998, she was removed from service. Initially marked for preservation at the Darwin Military Museum, the vessel was sold into civilian service in 2001 after the Northern Territory government declined. In 2002, the patrol boat was acquired by the Indonesian Navy, and commissioned as KRI Tenggiri (865) in 2003.
Cockatoo Island Wareamah is a UNESCO World Heritage Site at the confluence of the Parramatta River and Lane Cove River in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.
Sydney Heritage Fleet, is the trading name of Sydney Maritime Museum Ltd., a public company in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) is a federally operated maritime museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After considering the idea of establishing a maritime museum, the federal government announced that a national maritime museum would be constructed at Darling Harbour, tied into the New South Wales state government's redevelopment of the area for the Australian bicentenary in 1988. The museum building was designed by Philip Cox, and although an opening date of 1988 was initially set, construction delays, cost overruns, and disagreements between the state and federal governments over funding responsibility pushed the opening to 1991.
The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role in sustaining the Royal Australian Navy. The dockyard was closed in 1991, and its remnants are heritage listed as the Cockatoo Island Industrial Conservation Area.
The United States lightship Huron (LV-103) is a lightvessel that was launched in 1920. She is now a museum ship moored in Pine Grove Park, Port Huron, St. Clair County, Michigan.
HMAS Kookaburra (A331) was a Net-class boom defence vessel of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), which served during World War II.
The Queensland Maritime Museum is located on the southern bank of the Brisbane River just south of the South Bank Parklands and Queensland Cultural Centre precinct of Brisbane, and close to the Goodwill Bridge.
Moreton Bay Pile Light was a pile lighthouse positioned at the mouth of Brisbane River, in Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia, marking the entrance to the port of Brisbane. The light's early history was closely related to the dredging of the Brisbane River. It was established in 1884 as a result of a new channel that was cut, and relocated in 1913 due to another change in the channels. The structure was badly damaged by a barge in 1945 and finally destroyed when hit by a tanker in 1949. An automated light operated on the ruins until 1966–1967 when it was removed.
The United States lightship Barnegat (LV-79/WAL-506), is located in Camden, Camden County, New Jersey, United States. The lightship was built in 1904 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 29 November 1979.
Cape Bowling Green Light is an active lighthouse on Cape Bowling Green, a long headland ending in a long low sandspit, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Ayr, Queensland, Australia. The lighthouse is at the end of the headland, near the base of the sandspit. The first lighthouse at the location, established in 1874, was moved multiple times. It was prefabricated in Brisbane, shipped to the location, moved twice due to coastal erosion and finally transferred for display at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour in Sydney.
Wharton Reef Light is an inactive lighthouse which used to be located on Wharton Reef in Princess Charlotte Bay off the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia. When it was deactivated in 1990 it was donated to the Townsville Maritime Museum and it is now on display near the museum. It is the only survivor of a series of twenty automatic lighthouses installed in Queensland during the "Golden Age of Australian Lighthouses" from 1913 to the early 1920s.
Sutherland Dock is a heritage-listed dockyard at the former Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Cockatoo Island, New South Wales, Australia. It was added to the Australian Commonwealth Heritage List on 22 June 2004.
MV Cape Don is a museum and training ship and former research vessel and lighthouse tender in Waverton, New South Wales, Australia. She is the only remaining Australian lighthouse supply ship and is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels.
South Brisbane Dry Dock is a heritage-listed dry dock at 412 Stanley Street, South Brisbane, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by William David Nisbet and built from 1876 to 1887. It is also known as the Government Graving Dock. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The Cairncross Dockyard was a shipyard beside the Brisbane River at 405 Thynne Road, Morningside, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It included one of Australia's largest graving docks with an 8.5 metre deep water access, capable of taking Panamax vessels of up to 85,000 dwt, up to 263 metres long x 33.5 metres wide. It is second in size only to the Royal Australian Navy's Captain Cook Graving Dock in Sydney.
Australia
