U.S. Coast Guard Lightships
& Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service
VESSEL DESIGNATION: LV 28
YEAR BUILT: 1864
BUILT AT: Norfolk (VA)
APPROPRIATION: ?
BUILDER: ?
CONTRACT PRICE: $16,000
SISTER VESSELS: None
DESIGN: Wood framed & planked, 2 masts, black hoop-iron daymark on mainmast only
LENGTH: 82' (lbp), BEAM: 22', DRAFT: 9', TONNAGE: 83 gross
PROPULSION: Sail
ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: Single lantern having 8 oil lamps
FOG SIGNAL: Hand operated bell
CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS:
1880/81: Rebuilt at New Orleans; light changed to red-
1882: Light list states Straw color with black lettering; showing a single
red light 48 feet above water, visible 12 1/4 miles-
1888: Rebuilt and enlarged to 101 tons gross - no particulars given-
1892: New lamps with reflectors installed-
1895: New 22 ft "square stern sailboat supplied"-
1898: May, major hull repairs-
1903: May 22, hauled and repaired-
1904: May 18, "now being repaired"
STATION ASSIGNMENTS:
1864-1868: Bowlers Rock (VA)
1868-1869: Relief (5th District)
1870-1906: Galveston (TX)
(1894: Position moved 1 1/4 mi eastward)
(Galveston station discontinued Apr23, 1906 )
(Prior to 1867 when No. 28 was assigned, official records identify this
vessel as "Bowlers Rock Light Vessel")
HISTORICAL NOTES:
1864: Placed on Bowlers Rock (VA), (withdrawn when station discontinued
1868)-
1868/69: Relief duty (5th District)-
1869: Dec 20, towed to New Orleans (LA) by tender GERANIUM arriving Jan
11,1870: both vessels then received "some repairs"-
1870: Placed on Galveston (TX), replacing lightship called
"Galveston" at that time, but later referred to as "XX"-
1892: Replaced by can buoy while being repaired-
1892: Sep 25, damaged by fire caused by defective lamp-
1894: Position moved 1 1/4 mi eastward so that lightship fog signal would be
nearer the end of the jetties''-
1898: May-Sep, withdrawn when submarine mines were laid across Galveston
Harbor entrance during Spanish-American War-
1900: Sep, parted chain during hurricane, driven into Galveston Bay and
anchored; "sustained severe injury"-
1906: Apr 23, withdrawn: station discontinued-
1907: "Laid up at Galveston with a master and cook aboard"-
1910: Out of commission - "not used as an aid to navigation"
More notes:
RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1906 AGE: 42
SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION:
Sold May 22, 1911
COMMANDING OFFICERS:
1881-1893: Martin Stocker, Asat Keeper
1893-1899: Martin Stocker, Master
1905-1907: Theodore Colson, Master
Office of the Lighthouse Board. List of Lights and Fog Signals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Corrected to June 30, 1901. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1901.
Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF)