This is a list of lightships of the United States, listing

lightships Lightship may refer to: * Lightvessel, a moored ship that has light beacons mounted as navigational aids * ''The Lightship'', a 1985 American drama film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski *''The Lightship (novel)'', by Siegfried Lenz on which the film ...

operated by the United States government. The first US lightship was put in place off of Willoughby Spit in

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 the parts: the Eastern Shore of Maryland / ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

, in 1820. Lightships remained in service in the United States until March 29, 1985, when the last ship, the ''Nantucket I'', was decommissioned. During that period, lightships were operated by several branches of the government: by the

Lighthouse Establishment The United States Lighthouse Board was the second agency of the U.S. federal government, under the Department of Treasury, responsible for the construction and maintenance of all lighthouses and navigation aids in the United States, between 1852 ...

from 1820 to 1852, the Lighthouse Board from 1852 to 1910, the

Lighthouse Service The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of th ...

from 1910 to 1939, and the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

from 1939 to 1985. The naming conventions used for lightships are not consistent. Until 1867, there was no uniform method to refer to individual lightships. Lightships in that period generally took the name of the station that they served, but occasionally other names. These names were not permanently assigned to an individual vessel. Rather, whenever a lightship was moved to a new station she took on that name. That made identifying individual ships nearly impossible. Beginning in 1867, lightship numbers ( hull numbers) were assigned to ships still in service. These numbers are the primary means of identifying individual lightships across her various stations. In 1938, the Lighthouse Service retroactively allocated letter codes to the unnumbered lightships based on their research of available records, although some ships may have been lost or misidentified. Even with the hull numbers, it is common to refer to a lightship by the name of the station it serves (or ''Relief'', if it is a relief ship) and a few, such as the ''Nantucket I'' and ''Nantucket II'' have been given individual names.

Lightships

Notes

* ^ A. Name assigned retroactively in 1938. During her years in service, this ship was referred to exclusively by her station name. * ^ B. Name/hull number assigned between 1867–70. Previously, she was referred to exclusively by her station name. * ^ C. LV-12 was assigned to two ships. From circa 1867 to 1871, LV-12 was the former ''Guthrie'' and LV-22 was an unnamed Fifth District relief vessel. In 1871, old LV-12 was decommissioned and LV-22 was renumbered LV-12. For clarity, this list refers to her as LV-22 exclusively. * ^ D. Name/hull number assigned between 1867–68 in anticipation of her return to service, but she was found not fit, condemned, and sold. * ^ E. Either ''LV-37'' or ''LV-38'' was the first lightship to have launched with a LV designation. Except for the anomalously numbered ''LV-10'' (which would have been 43), all subsequent US lightships were numbered sequentially. * ^ F. Six identical vessels: LV 100/WAL 523 (1929), LV 113/WAL 535 (1929) and LV 114 / WAL 536 (1930) built at Albina Iron Works, Portland, Oregon. LV 115 / WAL 537 (1930), LV 116 / WAL 538 (1930) and LV 117 (1930) built at Charleston Drydock & Machine Company, Charleston, South Carolina.

Lightships

Notes

References

Further reading