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.
A lightvessel station is a named position at which a lightvessel was placed, rather than a particular ship; individual vessels were often transferred between different stations during their existence. Stations themselves were occasionally changed, especially during wartime, when lights were only displayed in response to specific shipping needs.
History
The world's first lightvessel was the result of a business partnership between Robert Hamblin, a former barber and ship manager from King's Lynn, and David Avery, an investor.[1] In 1730 the pair secured a government licence to moor a ship, with a prominent light affixed to it, to serve as a navigation aid at the Nore in the Thames mouth. Hamblin and Avery intended to profit from the vessel by collecting a fee from passing merchant vessels. The licence was opposed by Trinity House, which considered that it possessed a monopoly on construction and maintenance of navigation aids in British waters. After extensive legal dispute the licence was revoked in 1732 and Trinity House assumed direct responsibility for the proposed lightship; Hamblin and Avery were granted nominal lease revenues in exchange.[2] The Nore lightship commenced operations in 1734.[3]
A second lightvessel was placed at the Dudgeon station, off the Norfolk coast, in 1736, with others following at Owers Bank (1788) and the Goodwin Sands (1793).[3] While the Admiralty opposed the 1802 Sunk lightvessel, claiming it would aid enemy ships, it soon afterwards placed three vessels of its own to protect the fleet during the Napoleonic Wars; they were taken over by Trinity House a few years later.[4] Many others were commissioned during the nineteenth century, especially off England's east coast and the approaches to the Thames, where there were many treacherous shoals.
Lightship LV86, on station at the Nore from 1931 to 1974
Following their acquisition of the Admiralty ships, all English and Welsh lightvessels were maintained by Trinity House, with the exception of the four vessels in the approaches to the River Mersey, which were maintained by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board until 1973, and those in the Humber Estuary, which were the responsibility of the Humber Conservancy Board.
Communications and safety
Communication with lightvessels proved to be a major problem for Trinity House; lightvessel crews were well-placed to observe ships in distress, but could not always alert lifeboats on shore. After a series of shipwrecks, an experiment was conducted whereby a nine-mile undersea cable was run from the Sunk lightvessel in the Thames Estuary to the post office at Walton-on-the-Naze. This was intended to commence in 1884, but was plagued by delays;[5] the trial was unsuccessful as the cable repeatedly broke.
As a result of a motion brought forward by Sir Edward Birkbeck, a Royal Commission was established to look at the issue of 'electrical communication' and gave its first Report in 1892;[6][7] the East Goodwin lightvessel was used during one of Guglielmo Marconi's early experiments in radio transmission in 1896.[8] The world's first radio distress signal was transmitted by the East Goodwin lightvessel's radio operator on 17 March 1899, after the merchant vesselElbe ran aground on the Goodwins, while on 30 April that year, the East Goodwin vessel transmitted a distress signal on its own behalf, when the SSR. F. Matthews rammed it in a dense fog. Safety was further improved by the development of more powerful lamps and through the replacement by foghorns of the gongs previously used as fog signals.
Crew
Until the second half of the 20th century, all Trinity House vessels were permanently manned. An 1861 article in the Cornhill Magazine described lightshipmen as being paid 55 shillings a month (in addition to drawing 1 shilling and sixpence a week "in lieu of 3 gallons of small-beer"): the vessels were supplied, and the crews relieved, once a month. It was also noted that "a general tone of decent, orderly and superior conduct" was observed, that the men were "very respectable [...] swearing and profane language are [...] prohibited" and that every man was supplied with a Bible as well as "a library of varied and entertaining literature".[9]
By the start of the 20th century, Trinity House lightvessels had a crew of 11, of whom seven (a master and six ratings) would be on active duty at any one time. It was an extremely demanding and dangerous profession, and it would take 15 to 20 years of service to be promoted to master.[10]
Replacement
The majority of British lightvessels were decommissioned during the 1970s - 1980s and replaced with light floats or LANBY buoys, which were vastly cheaper to maintain: in 1974 at the time of Trinity House's original development project, lightship annual running costs at £30,000 were ten times those of the LANBY.[11]
The remaining UK lightvessels have now been converted to unmanned operation and most now use solar power.[citation needed]
Unlike lightships in the United States and other parts of the world, Trinity House lightvessels were usually unpowered and needed to be towed to or from their position. In order to act as effective daymarks they were painted red, with the station name in large white letters on the side of the hull, and a system of balls and cones at the masthead for identification. The first revolving light was fitted to the Swin Middle lightvessel in 1837: others used occulting or flashing lights. White lights were preferred for visibility though red and very occasionally green (as with the Mouse lightvessel) were also used.[12]
It is likely that photographs on various websites showing named lightvessels, may appear to be structurally different to comparable records on other web pages due to the fact that the particular vessel might have been withdrawn from a station after photographing and being towed away for drydocking, overhaul and possible direction to a new station and therefore a different lightvessel would have been substituted at the named station on withdrawal of the previous lightvessel. This has been most evident on those vessels that have been withdrawn and shipped to another port at home or abroad to become a floating museum, floating restaurant, 'clubhouse', etc. Scarweather LV and Helwick LV have for instance changed their rôle in their lifetime and their appearance on various records varies considerably.
England
Active stations
The following are active stations at which Trinity House still maintains unmanned lightships, which also act as weather stations.
Dudgeon was the second lightvessel to be established, with a patent granted to David Avery in 1736.[41] LV63 was on station when bombed by the Luftwaffe on 29 January 1940. Only one crew member, John Sanders, survived. The incident was the subject of a 1940 British Government propaganda film, Men of the Lightship.[42]
Part of wartime Folkestone Gate Channel defences. LV75 attacked on station and sunk by German bombers in July 1940, with the loss of two crew members, Jack Wade and Harry North[45]
Marked the Gull Stream: station first established by the Admiralty in 1809 and taken over by Trinity House in 1826.[49] Narrowing of the channel led to Gull being replaced by Brake LV in 1930[29]
Replaced South Foreland Low lighthouse. LV69 was sunk on station, probably by a mine, in October 1940.[69] The replacement, LV90, sank on 27 November 1954 when cables to her two sea anchors broke in a hurricane-force storm. The ship ran onto the Goodwin Sands close to the Keller Gut and turned on her side. The seven crew members perished, the only survivor being Ronald Murton, an ornithologist from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. The wreck of the ship can still be seen at low tide. The next replacement ship was decommissioned and was towed away on 26 July 2006.[70][71][72]
Lightvessels in Scotland and the Isle of Man were maintained by the Northern Lighthouse Board, with the exception of those maintained by the Clyde Lighthouse Trust and by the Dundee Port Trustees. Of the NLB vessels, only the North Carr was crewed.
Scottish Maritime Museum in Irving has a small scale coloured General Arrangement (1923) from Builder (Clyde Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd. hull #249, 60ft [183 m]).
The Bahama Bank Lightship, date unknown
North Carr lightship in 1988
Wales
Breaksea Light Vessel following a refit at Swansea in 1978.Scarweather
Former Welsh lightships were maintained by Trinity House. Remaining substitute navigational aids still are.
The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House, is the official authority for lighthouses in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar. Trinity House is also responsible for the provision and maintenance of other navigational aids, such as lightvessels, buoys, and maritime radio/satellite communication systems. It is also an official deep sea pilotage authority, providing expert navigators for ships trading in Northern European waters.
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.
Lightvessels in Ireland describes any lightvessel or light float previously stationed off the coast of Ireland. The Commissioners of Irish Lights are responsible for the majority of marine navigation aids around the whole of the island of Ireland.
The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain.
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.
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.
Sevenstones Lightship is a lightvessel station off the Seven Stones Reef which is nearly 15 miles (24 km) to the west-north-west (WNW) of Land's End, Cornwall, and 7 miles (11 km) east-north-east (ENE) of the Isles of Scilly. The reef has been a navigational hazard to shipping for centuries with seventy-one named wrecks and an estimated two hundred shipwrecks overall, the most infamous being the oil tanker Torrey Canyon on 18 March 1967. The rocks are only exposed at half tide. Since it was not feasible to build a lighthouse, a lightvessel was provided by Trinity House. The first was moored near the reef on 20 August 1841 and exhibited its first light on 1 September 1841. She is permanently anchored in 40 fathoms (73 m) and is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north-east (NE) of the reef. Since 1987, the Sevenstones Lightship has been automated and unmanned.
Sandettie is a lightvessel station located at Sandettie Bank in the North Sea. It is one of the 22 coastal weather stations whose conditions are reported in the BBC Shipping Forecast. The vessel is named after her location on the Sandettie Bank, due north of Calais and due east of the South Foreland. The ship has no engine and is not crewed. Its lights are powered by solar panels.
Channel was the name of a lightvessel station located in the English Channel between 1979 and August 2021, when it was replaced with a light buoy. It was also one of the 22 coastal weather stations whose conditions were reported in the BBC Shipping Forecast. The vessel's position was 49°55′N2°54′W, approximately 56 km (35 mi) north-northwest of Guernsey.
Frying Pan (LV-115) is a lightvessel moored at Pier 66a in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It served at Frying Pan Shoals, off Cape Fear in North Carolina, for over 30 years.
The Lansing Shoals Light Station is a lighthouse located in northeastern Lake Michigan, 6.3 miles (10.1 km) southeast of Point Patterson, in Newton Township, Mackinac County, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The Kentish Knock is a long shoal in the North Sea east of Essex, England. It is the most easterly of those of the Thames Estuary and its core, which is shallower than 18 feet (5.5 m), extends 6 miles (9.7 km). Thus it is a major hazard to deep-draught navigation. It is exactly 28 miles (45 km) due east of Foulness Point, Essex and is centred about 15 miles (24 km) NNE of North Foreland, Kent – both are extreme points of those counties.
Five Fathom Bank light station was a station for lightvessels in New Jersey, United States. It was located off the south end of Five Fathom Bank, 14.7 miles and 100 degrees from the Cape May Lighthouse. The station was in service from 1837 to 1972 before ultimately being replaced by a horn buoy.
The Bahama Bank Lightship was a Lightvessel stationed on the Bahama Bank east of Ramsey Bay, Isle of Man.
LV 78Calshot Spit is a former Trinity House lightvessel that was anchored off Calshot Spit and is now a museum ship in Southampton.
The Inner and Outer Dowsing sand banks are shallow-water shoals off the Lincolnshire coast of the UK sector of southern North Sea. They have been used for navigation, as a commercial fishery, for aggregate dredging, and more recently as the location for major offshore wind farms.
References
↑ Naish, J. M. Seamarks: Their History and Development, Stanford Maritime, 1985, ISBN978-0-540-07309-2, p. 107
↑ The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1865. Cambridge University Press. 2013. p.624. ISBN9781108054911.
↑ Imray and Kettle (1917) Pilot's Guide for the River Thames: The South-east Coast of England, and the Strait of Dover, Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson, p.24
↑ US Navy Hydrographic Office, (1906) Notices to Mariners, nos 1-52, p.355
↑ US Navy Hydrographic Office (1944), Supplement to British Islands Pilot: the western coast of Scotland from Mull of Galloway to Rudh' Re and off-lying islands, Volume 4, p.2
↑ Riddell, J.F.(1979) Clyde Navigation: A History of the Development and Deepening of the Clyde, John Donald, p.98
↑ "Launches - Scotch". The Marine Engineer, Feb 1, 1882, 254
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
