Our light-ship
Ever seen one?!?
No worries if you don't know what a light-ship is, let alone how it looks like... VERY few people do...
Light-ships are basically light-houses mounted on a ship!
They were built to position themselves near sand-banks. These underwater obstacles tend to move over time due to the currents. Hence it doesn't make sense to build a permanent structure. A light-ship however can be moved together with the sand-banks over time. Since the movement of sand-banks is not dramatic, most light-ships had no propulsion: they were towed to location, dropped their anchors and stayed there until it was time to move or when they had to go into a harbour for maintenance.
They typically had a crew of 7 who stayed on board for 14-28 days, depending on location.
The lights were oil-fired, later changed to electric. These lamps were mounted on a rotating assembly. The light was focussed by means of parabolic reflectors or (like on our ship) with a lens system.
Our lightship is unique in many ways: she is the only one in the UK with this type of foghorn. In fact, there is just one "sister ship" with the same design in the world: in Indonesia! Also unique is the Fresnel lens system used for the main light: although very common for lighthouses, they were rarely used on lightships. Most of them were equipped with (parabolic) reflectors.
Our ship has "been around" over the years and has served various roles. Here is some history:
| January 29th, 1959 | Launched at the Cook, Welton & Gemmell shipyard, Beverley UK |
| June 2nd, 1959 | Commissioned by the Humber Conservancy Board |
| June 28th, 1959 | Stationed at the SPURN sandbank, Humber estuary |
| December 11th, 1985 | Decommissioned by the Humber Conservancy Board |
| August 1988 | Tourist attraction in Guernsey, Channel Island, and renamed to "Beaucette Lightship" |
| September 1988 | Tourist attraction in Conwy |
| October 1990 | Tourist attraction in Milford Haven Marina, renamed to "Haven lightship" |
| July 1997 | Sold to Irish tourism investors |
| July 2001 | Laid up in Waterford, Ireland |
| September 2007 | Rescued from being scrapped, bought by us! |
| November 2007 | Towed from Ireland to the UK for restoration |
This picture shows her when she sailed from the shipyard in Beverley to Hull in 1959.
Due to the tide, she was sitting on silt for a while!
Notice the different foghorn on the wheelhouse: no idea why and when it was replaced!
This picture was taken in 1980 on her 21 "birthday"
From left to right: Percy Warren (radio ops) Matt Summers (captain) and Jack Sharp (crew member)
(Special thanks to Gary Hannam for the info)
Not sure when this picture was taken, but you see the lightship in the background in open sea.
Captain Matt Summers on the left of course
Some more historic pictures of our ship:
Here are some pictures of her whilst moored in Conwy and Milford Haven:
Here are some pictures of her during June 2006 in Ireland:
Side view. Notice the masts have been removed.
Painting in progress..
The lightship arrives in the UK!!
November 2007
Here she is.. appearing from the morning fog..
It was breathtaking to watch her coming in!
Turning around into the incoming current to enter the harbour
The Harbour Master and his crew did an excellent job!
The Sea Trojan going out again.. THANK YOU GUYS!!
What a stunning day..