This is a list of lightships of the United States, listing lightships operated by the United States government. The first US lightship was put in place off of Willoughby Spit in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, in 1820.[1] Lightships remained in service in the United States until March 29, 1985, when the last ship, the Nantucket I, was decommissioned.[2] During that period, lightships were operated by several branches of the government: by the Lighthouse Establishment from 1820 to 1852, the Lighthouse Board from 1852 to 1910, the Lighthouse Service from 1910 to 1939, and the Coast Guard 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.[3] 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.
| Designation | class=unsortable | Start Year | class=unsortable | End Year | class=unsortable | Stations | Fate | class=unsortable | class=unsortable | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightship A | c. | 1838 | c. | 1868 | |||||||||
| Lightship B | 1821 | 1861 | Sunk by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 | ||||||||||
| Lightship C | 1820 | c. | 1859 | ||||||||||
| Lightship D | c. | 1854 | c. | 1860 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy | ||||||||
| Lightship E | c. | 1854 | c. | 1860 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy | ||||||||
| Lightship F | c. | 1849 | after | 1860 | |||||||||
| Lightship G | c. | 1865 | 1866 | Abandoned and sunk by December 30, 1866 | |||||||||
| Lightship H | c. | 1828 | 1864 | Wrecked at Cape Poge, Martha's Vineyard in 1864 | |||||||||
| Lightship K | c. | 1839 | c. | 1859 | |||||||||
| Lightship L | c. | 1835 | after | 1849 | |||||||||
| Lightship M | c. | 1826 | c. | 1855 | |||||||||
| Lightship N | 1823 | c. | 1855 | ||||||||||
| Lightship O | c. | 1835 | 1861 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy | |||||||||
| Lightship P | c. | 1848 | after | 1848 | |||||||||
| Lightship Q | 1821 | c. | 1847 | ||||||||||
| Lightship R | 1847 | 1867 | |||||||||||
| Lightship S | 1821 | after | 1821 | ||||||||||
| Lightship T | 1856 | 1861 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 | ||||||||||
| Lightship U | c. | 1834 | 1861 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 | |||||||||
| Lightship V | c. | 1863 | 1864 | Captured during the American Civil War, and commandeered by the United States Navy from July 5, 1863 to March 1864. It is unknown what became of it after the war. | |||||||||
| Lightship W | c. | 1847 | 1860 | Sunk by the Confederate States Navy in 1860 | |||||||||
| Lightship X | 1823 | c. | 1845 | May be Lightship LV-19, which was sunk in 1900 | |||||||||
| Lightship Y | c. | 1857 | c. | 1861 | |||||||||
| Lightship Z | 1847 | c. | 1860 | ||||||||||
| Lightship AA | c. | 1825 | c. | 1841 | May have been converted to a bell boat in 1841, but may have been two ships. (The first retired in 1830.) | ||||||||
| Lightship BB | c. | 1841 | c. | 1852 | |||||||||
| Lightship DD | c. | 1825 | 1861 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 | |||||||||
| Lightship EE | before | 1859 | c. | 1859 | |||||||||
| Lightship FF | c. | 1831 | after | 1831 | |||||||||
| Lightship GG | c. | 1863 | c. | 1863 | |||||||||
| Lightship HH | c. | 1828 | c. | 1862 | |||||||||
| Lightship JJ | c. | 1825 | 1861 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 | |||||||||
| Lightship KK | c. | 1864 | c. | 1867 | |||||||||
| Lightship LL | c. | 1821 | after | 1821 | |||||||||
| Lightship MM | c. | 1835 | 1861 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 | |||||||||
| Lightship NN | c. | 1838 | c. | 1854 | |||||||||
| Lightship PP | c. | 1846 | c. | 1853 | |||||||||
| Lightship QQ | c. | 1836 | 1861 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 | |||||||||
| Lightship RR | c. | 1835 | c. | 1861 | |||||||||
| Lightship SS | c. | 1827 | 1861 | Sunk or captured by the Confederate States Navy in 1861 | |||||||||
| Lightship TT | c. | 1852 | c. | 1859 | |||||||||
| Lightship UU | c. | 1851 | c. | 1870 | |||||||||
| Lightship VV | 1823 | c. | 1829 | ||||||||||
| Lightship WW | 1839 | c. | 1854 | ||||||||||
| Lightship XX | 1849 | c. | 1870 | ||||||||||
| Lightship YY | 1832 | c. | 1851 | ||||||||||
| Lightship ZZ | 1820 | c. | 1823 | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-1 | 1856 | 1930 | Donated to the Sea Scouts in 1930. Later ran aground on the banks of the Merrimack River in a flood that occurred in 1936. | [4] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-2 | 1849 | 1921 | [5] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-3 | 1852 | 1923 | [B] | [6] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-4 | 1856 | 1924 | [B] | [7] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-5 | 1866 | 1930 | [B] | [8] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-6 | 1862 | 1918 | Disappeared on February 4, 1918. LV-6 was stuck in moving ice, and presumably sank with all hands. | [B] | [9] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-7 | 1854 | 1909 | [B] | [10] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-8 | 1860 | 1879 | Sunk by the Confederate States Navy in 1860 at Cape Fear River. LV-8 was later salvaged by USLHT Iris in 1866, and repaired. It is unknown what became of this ship. | [B] | [11] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-9 | 1858 | 1925 | [B] | [12] | |||||||||
| 1887 | 1902 | LV-10 was originally purchased as a construction barge for the Lighthouse Service, then was converted to a lightship in 1887. It is unknown what became of this ship after it left service. | [13] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-11 | 1854 | 1925 | [B] | [14] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-12 | c. | 1835 | 1871 | [C] | [15] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-13 | 1854 | 1913 | [B] | [16] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-14 | 1853 | 1872 | [B] | [17] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-15 | 1838 | 1879 | LV-15 was replaced by Stratford Shoal Light in 1877, then was used as a barracks for workers building the Great Beds Light in 1880. She was sold at the end of that year at auction for $1,010. It is unknown what became of this ship after the auction. | [B] | [18] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-16 | 1854 | 1935 | [B] | [19] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-17 | 1848 | 1891 | Transferred to US Navy in 1891 for use as target practice, and sunk later that year. | [B] | [20] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-18 | 1839 | 1875 | Transferred to US Navy in 1875 for use as target practice, presumably sunk. | [B] | [21] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-19 | c. | 1845 | 1900 | May be the same ship as Lightship X. LV-19 was transferred to US Navy in 1900 for use as target practice, and presumably sank. | [B] | [22] | |||||||
| Lightship LV-20 | 1867 | 1923 | Sold in 1923 and used by rumrunners during Prohibition. She was eventually grounded, abandoned, and burned near Plymouth, Massachusetts. | [B] | [23] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-21 | 1864 | 1880 | [B] | [24] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-22 | c. | 1846 | 1903 | This was the only lightship to be renumbered (see note C). It is unknown what became of LV-22. | [C] | [25] | |||||||
| Lightship LV-23 | 1862 | 1925 | Originally A. J. W. Applegarth, she was acquired by the Lightship Service in 1862. It is unknown what became of this ship after she left service. | [B] | [26] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-24 | 1864 | 1869 | [B] | [27] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-25 | 1827 | 1884 | [B] | [28] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-28 | 1864 | 1906 | [B] | [29] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-29 | 1865 | 1915 | [B] | [30] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-30 | 1863 | 1871 | [B] | [31] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-31 | 1865 | 1871 | Formerly James Gray, commissioned in the Confederate States Navy as CSS Lady Davis. Captured by the USN in 1865, stripped, and transferred into lightship service. LV-31 served until 1871 after which her fate is unknown. | [B] | [32] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-32 | 1863 | 1890 | [B] | [33] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-33 | 1857 | 1872 | [B] | [34] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-34 | 1866 | 1924 | [B] | [35] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-35 | 1858 | 1862 | it was originally sunk by the Confederate States Navy in the Savannah River in 1862. Four years later it was raised, and intended to be used for lightship duly as LV-35. Subsequently, it was found to be too damaged so it was scrapped. | [D] | [36] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-37 | 1869 | 1893 | Sank on station on August 4, 1893 with the loss of four crewmen. | [E] | [37] | ||||||||
| Lightship LV-38 | 1870 | 1892 | [E] | [38] | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-39 | 1875 | 1935 | Sank in 1975 near Beverly, Massachusetts. | [39] | |||||||||
| 1894 | 1905 | Sank in 1905 due to a gale. | [40] | ||||||||||
| 1897 | 1918 | Torpedoed, and sank in 1918 | [41] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-73 | 1901 | 1944 | Sunk on September 19, 1944 in a hurricane. | [42] | |||||||||
| 1904 | 1967 | Now a museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. | [43] | ||||||||||
| 1912 | 1936 | Buffalo (1912-1913) Relief (1916-1925) Eleven Foot (1926-1936) | Scrapped in 1942, or possibly sunk by vandals in 1945. | [44] | |||||||||
| 1905 | 1960 | Now a museum in Seattle, Washington. | [45] | ||||||||||
| 1907 | 1966 | Now a museum in New York City, New York. | |||||||||||
| 1895 | 1918 | Scrapped in 1945. | [46] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-100 | 1929 | 1971 | Transferred to the U.S. Navy on August 6, 1971 for further transfer to Vietnam. it is unknown what became of this ship. | [F] | [47] | ||||||||
| 1916 | 1963 | Now a museum in Portsmouth, Virginia. | [48] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-102 | 1916 | 1963 | [49] | ||||||||||
| 1921 | 1970 | Now a museum in Port Huron, Michigan. | [50] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-105 | 1922 | 1944 | [51] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-106 | 1923 | 1967 | [52] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-107 | 1923 | 1968 | Moored at the Liberty Landing Marina in Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey | [53] http://www.thelighthousehunters.com/new_jersey-lightship_winter_quarter.htm | |||||||||
| Lightship LV-108 | 1923 | 1970 | [54] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-109 | 1923 | 1966 | [55] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-110 | 1923 | 1972 | [56] | ||||||||||
| Lightship LV-111 | 1926 | 1969 | [57] | ||||||||||
| 1936 | 1975 | Now a museum in East Boston, Massachusetts. | [58] | ||||||||||
| 1930 | 1968 | Sank on June 16, 1988 while being towed to Ketchikan, Alaska. | [F] | [59] | |||||||||
| 1930 | 1971 | Scrapped in 2007 after sinking (later raised) in New Bedford, Massachusetts. | [F] | [60] | |||||||||
| 1930 | 1965 | Operational, and available for rent | [F] | [61] | |||||||||
| 1930 | 1970 | [F] | [62] | ||||||||||
| 1931 | 1934 | Sank in 1934 after being struck by the RMS Olympic. | [F] | [63] | |||||||||
| 1938 | 1972 | Now a museum in Lewes, Delaware. | [64] | ||||||||||
| 1951 | 1979 | Now a museum in Astoria, Oregon. | [65] | ||||||||||
| 1951 | 1975 | Now a museum in Oakland, California. | [66] | ||||||||||
| 1950 | 1985 | Sold to private owner, operational and available for charter. She is the last lightship to be decommissioned by the coast guard. | [67] | ||||||||||
| 1952 | 1983 | Sold to private owner. Located in Wareham and New Bedford, Massachusetts in the 2010s. | [68] | ||||||||||