U.S. Coast Guard Lightships
& Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service
VESSEL DESIGNATION: LV 40
YEAR BUILT: 1875
BUILT AT: Wilmington (DE)
BUILDER: Blythe, Jackson & Sharp Co.
APPROPRIATION: $50,000 (Used approp. for Winter Quarter Shoal lightship)
CONTRACT PRICE: $39,200
SISTER VESSELS: None
DESIGN: Wood -white oak; copper & iron fastened; 2 masts with daymarks; smokestack ahead of mainmast; 2 aux. steam boilers and steam pump
LENGTH: 114'S" (loa); BEAM: 27'; DRAFT: 14'; TONNAGE: 349 ("old measure")
PROPULSION: Sail-schooner rig, fore and main carried on spencer masts
ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: 2 lanterns, each with 8 oil lamps
FOG SIGNAL: 12" steam whistle, hand operated 1000-lb bell
CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS:
1876: Supplied with new 5,700-lb mushroom anchor-
1878: Overhauled and resalted-
1880: Jul 17-Sep 26, extensive repairs-
1882: Jul, repairs following storm damage-
1883: Aug 2, boilers replaced; spencer masts replaced - $4556.22-
1889: Sep, hurricane damage repaired-
1891: Apr, repairs to fog signal machinery-
1893: Jul 6-Sep 13, hauled & recoppered; extensive refit-
1897: Jun, refitted & resupplied-
1899: Jul 15-Aug 21, "general overhaul", boilers replaced-
1901: Oct4-Nov 16, found in poor condition, leaking and in need of rebuil.d
STATION ASSIGNMENTS:
1875-1877: Pollock Rip (MA)
1877-1904: Five Fathom Bank (NJ)
HISTORICAL NOTES:
1875: Sep, placed on Pollock Rip (MA), withdrawn 1877; overhauled for
transfer-
1877: Jun, transferred to 4th District; placed on Five Fathom Bank (NJ)-
1880: Dec 26, boarding seas flooded forecastle and cabin, stove in boats and
parted chain; worked in to Delaware Breakwater Jan 2, 1881-
1889: Mar 16, broke adrift; again on Apr 7; and again Sep 10, in hurricane-
1891: Apr, fog signal machinery failed; replaced by C&GS schooner DRIFT
and a whistle buoy; brought in for repairs-
1894: Sep 1, station position moved 1 5/8 mi SSE 1/2 E-
1897: Jun 5-29, replaced by whistle buoy while being repaired-
1901: Vessel in poor condition, $90,000 appropriation requested for
replacement-
1903: Appropriation approved and bids advertised for steam propelled vessel-
1904: Dec 4, withdrawn and condemned Dec 12
RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1904; AGE: 29
SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Oct 10, 1905 - Sold at public auction, Edgemoor Lighthouse Depot (DE)
COMMANDING OFFICERS: LV 40
1897-1898: Frederick H. Sparling, Master
1898-1904: Horatiow S. Pierson, Master
"FIVE-FATHOM BANK LIGHT-VESSEL, NO. 40, N.J." Scanned from the 1901 Light List, Plate XX. Photo by N. L. Stebbins, 1895.
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.
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