The Diamond Shoal Light is an inactive offshore

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

marking Diamond Shoals off

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. As a temperate barrier island, the landscape has been shaped by wind, waves, and storms. There are long stretches of beach ...

History

Diamond Shoals, which extend many miles out from

, is considered to be one of the most dangerous spots on the Atlantic seaboard. While a light was exhibited from the cape itself from 1804, its range was insufficient, and a

lightship A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is 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 ...

was stationed on the shoal itself in 1824. It was driven off station numerous times, eventually being wrecked near

Ocracoke Inlet Ocracoke Inlet ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

in 1827. Various

buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

s were placed beginning in 1852, but all were short-lived. In 1889,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

authorized construction of a permanent lighthouse on the shoal, at a cost not to exceed $500,000. The firm of Anderson & Barr, which had constructed the Fourteen Foot Bank Light in

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...

in 1885-1887, was awarded the contract. A caisson was constructed in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

and towed to the site in June 1891. It was sunk into the shoal on July 1 and immediately began to tilt due to the sandy bottom and severe scour by the currents. Addition of iron plates at the top of the structure merely succeeded in keeping it marginally above water. A storm on July 4 drove the work crews away and destroyed the structure. Anderson, who supervised the construction, later claimed that the problem was exacerbated by out of date charts with inaccurate soundings. In any case, construction was abandoned, and $79,000 of the original appropriation was diverted to the construction of a lightship to replace the failed tower. Lightship WLV189 1962

That lightship, ''LV 69'', was the first of six lightships employed at Diamond Shoals in the twentieth century. Prior to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, lightships were assigned in pairs at this station, which each relieving the other; after '' LV 71'' was sunk by the German submarine '' U-140'', a single ship was assigned, relieved as needed. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the lightship was replaced by a lighted buoy. The last lightship stationed here, ''WLV 189'', was the first lightship built after the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, 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 cust ...

took over the Lighthouse Service, and the first all-welded lightship; it was expressly built for service at this station, and remained in service there until 1966. In the early 1960s, " Texas Tower" lighthouses were erected at six offshore sites on the East coast. Diamond Shoals was the second to last to be built, and was activated in 1966 before being automated in 1977. The unmanned lighthouse suffered significant damage from

Hurricane Fran Hurricane Fran caused extensive damage in the United States in early September 1996. The sixth named storm, fifth hurricane, and third major hurricane of the 1996 Atlantic hurricane season, Fran developed from a tropical wave near Cape Verde on ...

in 1996, and the catwalks were subsequently found to be so rotten that the light could only be safely visited by helicopter. The light was extinguished in 2001, and has since been removed. Although the light was removed, the tower still stands and is frequented by fishermen for the many species of fish that live below and near it. Amberjack and barracuda are some of the larger fish that call Diamond Shoals light tower their home. In 2012 the tower, described as needing $2.3 million of repairs, was listed for auction by the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...

. It sold in October of that year for $20,000, to Dave Schneider who plans to restore it. Schneider has since "shaved" about a million dollars off the estimated repairs by using volunteer labor. He plans on using the tower for research by his Minnesota-based company "Zap Water" along with other companies.

History

References

Further reading