U.S. Coast Guard Lightships
& Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service
VESSEL DESIGNATION: LV 43
YEAR BUILT: 1881
BUILT AT: Wilmington (DE)
BUILDER: Pusey & Jones Co.
APPROPRIATION: $65,000 (Approp. "for lightship & fog signal at Trinity Shoal La.")
CONTRACT PRICE: $50,000
SISTER VESSELS: None
DESIGN: Composite- iron hull sheathed with yellow pine, iron & bronze
fastened; 2 masts with daymarks; stack ahead of mainmast; 2 aux. steam
boilers and steam pump
LENGTH: 118;0" (loa); BEAM: 25'; DRAFT:126"; TONNAGE: 191 gross
PROPULSION: Sail- schooner rig, fore and main carried on spencer masts
ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: 2 lanterns, each with oil lamps & reflectors
FOG SIGNAL: 12"steam whistle; hand operated 1000-lb bell
CONSTRUCTION NOTES -MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS:
1882: Port boiler "giving out", 6 tubes plugged on station
1885: May-Jul 31, hauled after being on station since 1881; painted
"inside and out"; boilers repaired; refitted
1888: Jul-Oct 8, towed to New Orleans, new boilers installed, new deckhouse
built, deck recaulked, new spencer mast installed
1892: 74 boiler tubes installed on station; hauled in May, hull strainers
found clogged with oysters
1894: Aug-Nov extensive hull repairs; recoppered & rerigged; new lamps
supplied
1896: Two new locomotive-type boilers installed
1898: Extensive repairs to hull and upper works
1898-1904: Repaired as needed during months while withdrawn from station
1905: Extensive repairs and both boilers replaced at Port Eads (LA)
1910: Equipped with submarine bell signal
STATION ASSIGNMENTS:
1881-1894: Trinity Shoal (LA)
1894-1912: South Pass (LA)
1912-1917: Southwest Pass (LA)
1917-1920: Relief (laid up)
(1881: "Inside Trinity Shoal in 20 feet... believe she will ride out
any gale without touching bottom, as the sea will break before reaching
her" - position reported as 29-12N, 92-16W)
(1894: Aug 15, Trinity Shoal station discontinued)
(1894, South Pass position given as 28-58-42N, 89-07-40W in 72 feet approx.
1 mi SSE of South Pass East Jetty Light)
(Use of Southwest Pass was stopped in 1918 due to heavy silting)
HISTORICAL NOTES:
1881: Jun 10, placed on Trinity Shoal (LA)
1882: Sep 9, broke adrift, regained station unassisted
1885: May-Jul 31, replaced by bell buoy while undergoing repairs
1888: Steam fog signal out of service, bell in use 214 hours; remedied
Jul--Oct
1889: Aug 8, damaged surge-reliever, brought up 200 yds off station using
spare anchor; replaced on station by tender PANSY Aug 11
1894:Aug 15, station discontinued "commerce having fallen off to almost
nothing"; replaced by bell buoy placed South of Trinity 8hoal
1894: Nov 5, placed on South Pass (LA); "there being no fog in summer,
vessel will be withdrawn.., during the months of June July August and Sept.
each year"
1899: Decision made to withdraw only from August 1 to October 15 each year
1903: Jan, characteristic changed to show 2 fixed white lights
1912: Withdrawn from South Pass and placed on Southwest Pass
1915: Sep 3/4, during hurricane, while vessel was in floating drydock at New
Orleans entire dock broke loose and blown ashore across river; lightship
undamaged and structure later ref bated
1917 Withdrawn from Southwest Pass, designated Relief and laid up
RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1920; AGE: 39
SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Sold Jun 17,1920 - $5,875
COMMANDING OFFICERS:
1898-1905: John Duff y, Master
1906: (Jan) Elwood C Evans, Master
1906: (Apr-Dec) Fred Tredup, Master
? -1913: F C Philips, Mate 1913 Walter P Raarup, Mate
1913-1914: William J Burns, Mate
1914-1916: D H McCluskey, Master
1914ã1915: Frank Towers, Mate
1915-1916: Henry Olson, Mate
1916: Edgar Wilson, Mate
1916-1917: John McDonough, Master
1917-1920: Joseph P Francis, Mate
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