U.S. Coast Guard Lightships
& Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service
VESSEL DESIGNATION: LV 10
YEAR BUILT: 1878
BUILT AT: Detroit (MI)
APPROPRIATION: None
BUILDER: ?
CONTRACT PRICE: ($3,000 conversion to lightship)
SISTER VESSELS: None
DESIGN: Wood scow, oak framed and planked; single mast amidships; deckhouse
aft; daymark at masthead - (Built as stone barge and used 1878-1882 during
construction of Stannard Rock Lighthouse; converted for lightship use 1882)
LENGTH: 38' (ba) BEAM: 218" DRAFT: 46" TONNAGE: 170
PROPULSION None
ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: Single lantern - 8 oil lamps,Funck type
FOG SIGNAL: Hand operated bell
CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS:
1882: Former stone barge converted for use as lightship-
1892: Extensive overhaul, "rotten wood in her ends"-
1899: Reported "old and not worth repair"-
1901: Drydocked and refastened
STATION ASSIGNMENTS:
1887-1902: Grosse Pointe (MI)
(1887 position stated as "upper end of twenty foot dredged
channel")
(1888 position changed slightly to form range with Belle Isle Light ,distant
5.5miles)
(1902 station discontinued-moved and renamed Lake St. Clair)
HISTORICAL NOTES:
(1878-1882): Built for and used as stone barge during construction of
Stannard Rock Lighthouse-
1887: Station location stated as "upper end of 20 ft dredged channel,
Lake St Clair"-
1888: Slight position change to form range with Belle Isle Light, distant
5.5 mi-
1888: Lightship logged 6,657 passing vessels during the year-
1901: A $15,000 appropriation for new Poe Reef lightship was reappropriated
for replacement of LV 10-
1902: New 160 ton steam replacement vessel "expected to be ready by
August"
(Great Lakes lightships were routinely withdrawn every year while the Lakes
were closed to navigation by ice; usually Nov-Apr
More notes:
RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1902 AGE: 24
SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION:
Records show "dismantled 1902"
COMMANDING OFFICERS:
1890-1893: John T Murray, Asst Keeper
1893-1902: John T. Murray, Master
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