U.S. Coast Guard Lightships
& Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service
VESSEL DESIGNATION: LV 42
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.
YEAR BUILT: 1877
BUILT AT: Brooklyn (NY)
BUILDER: J.D. Leary (Approp. 1876 Jul 31, "lightship with steam fog signal for an outside station")
APPROPRIATION: $50,000
CONTRACT PRICE: $40,796
SISTER VESSELS: None
DESIGN: Wood- white oak & locust; copper & galv. iron fastened; 2 masts with daymarks on both; small stack ahead of mainmast; 2 aux. steam boilers & steam pump
LENGTH: 1217" (loa); BEAM: 26'6"; DRAFT: l0'6"; TONNAGE: 410 gross
PROPULSION: Sail- schooner rig; fore and main carried on spencer masts
ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: 2 lanterns, each with 8 oil lamps
FOG SIGNAL: "Siren operated by hot-air engine"; hand operated bell
CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS:
Underwent extensive repairs 1887 Sep 18-Apr 4 1888; 1891 May 19-Jun 31:
1898: Nov 23-Jan 3 1899; 1900 Aug 28-Oct 1
Other repairs and refits 1886 Dec-Mar 1887; 1895 Oct 1-Nov 2 and May 3ãJun
1;
1901: Sep 2-Oct 7; 1904 Nov 6-29
1877: Reported "largest & strongest lightship in possession of the
government"
1878: Hot-air driven fog signal reported "wholly unsuitable'
1880: Mushroom replaced with 3 "ordinary" anchors placed N, B,
& SW of position
1882: 12" whistle and steam fog signal machinery replaced hot air
system
1895: Hornsby-Ackroyd oil engine and compressor replaced steam fog signal
1910: Equipped with submarine bell signal; fog signal changed to 10"
air whistle
1919: Equipped with radio; discontinued 1923
1926: Masts removed & replaced with steel lattice light structure
amidships; equipped with acetylene lens lantern; light changed from fixed to
flashing.
STATION ASSIGNMENTS:
1877-1892: Pollock Rip (MA)
1892-1913: Great Round Shoal (MA)
1913-1932: Hen and Chickens (MA)
(1883 Position moved 3/4 mi NW )
(1886 "If Northeast Slue Channel continues to change. ..may be
necessary to put the ship on range with Sankaty Head Light and abandon the
Slue Channel ")
HISTORICAL NOTES:
1877: Dec 1, placed on Pollock Rip (MA)
1880: Dec 26, parted chain and adrift
1881: In collision once during year; colliding vessel sank near station
1882: Broke adrift once during year
1884: In collision twice during the year
1885: In collision twice during the year
1886: Dec 26, broke adrift in gale; taken to New Bedford for repair;
returned to station Mar 1887
1887: Apr 2, broke adrift in gale and blown 60 miles to sea, returned to
station under sail Apr 15
1887: In collision twice during the year
1888: Nov 26, broke adrift; returned to station by chartered tug Dec 29
1889: In collision Mar 28 and Mar 31
1891: Oct 4, broke adrift; picked up by AZALEA and towed to Hyannis Oct 15;
repositioned on station Oct 16
1892: Mar 1, parted chain; anchored SW of Great Point; replaced on station
Mar 6
1892: Fog signal operated 1146 hours during year, consuming 59 tons of coal
More notes: LV 42
1892: Nov 1, placed on Great Round Shoal; with LV 47 being simultaneously
transferred to Pollock Rip
1893/94: Remained on station continuously during both years
1895: Jul 1, fog signal discontinued due to boiler failure, bell used until
vessel brought in for repairs Oct 1
1896:Dec 16, broke adrift and assisted back to station by Azalea
1900:Jun 15, fire damage due to explosion of vaporizer lamp used to start
kerosene fog signal engines
1900: Aug 28-Oct 21, relieved for extensive rearrangement of interior spaces
1901: Sep 2-Oct 7, relieved for repairs to fog signal machinery
1903: Remained on station during entire year
1904: Nov 6-29, relieved for repairs at New Bedford
1913: Placed on Hen and Chickens station
RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1931; AGE: 54
SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Sold 1932; burned at Apple Island, Boston
Harbor as part
of July 4 celebration in 1940
COMMANDING OFFICERS:
1883-1890: James Jorgensen, Asst Keeper
1891-1893: James Jorgensen, Keeper
1893-?: Joseph Allen Jr, Master
?-1914: Joshua Richardson, Master
?-1914: John J Gary, Mate
1914-1919: John J Cary, Master
1914-1918: E F Kelley, Mate
1918: Daniel H Nickerson, Mate
1918-1919: William R Chase, Mate
1919-1921: Arthur F Wade, Mate
1919-1922: Josiah P Hatch, Master
1921-1927: John Kinney, Mate
1927: Edgar F Eldrege Mate
1927-1931: Frank P Bellevue, Mate
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