U.S. Coast Guard Lightships
& Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service
VESSEL DESIGNATION: LV 59
YEAR BUILT: 1893
BU1LT AT: Toledo (OH)
BUILDER: Craig Shipbuilding Co
APPROPRIATION: $25,000 (Approp. for a lightship for Bar Point (Ml) to replace privately owned vessel)
CONTRACT PRICE: $13,490
SISTER VESSELS: LV 60,61,62
DESIGN: Wood framed & planked, white oak fastened with 3/4" iron bolts; foremast with spencer; short after mast; stack amidships; fog signal ahead of stack; daymark on foremast; single large deckhouse; hull painted black initially
LENGTH: 87'2" (loa); BEAM: 216"; DRAFT: 8'0"; TONNAGE: 160 displ (fresh water)
PROPULSION: None-riding sail rigged on after mast
ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: Cluster of 3 oil burning lens lanterns hoisted to foremasthead
FOG SIGNAL: 6" steam whistle
CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS:
Built under separate contract, but otherwise identical to LV 60, 61 and
62
Repairs were made while the vessel was withdrawn during the period the Lakes
were closed to navigation, usually Dec-Mar/Apr each year
1907: Mar, submarine bell signal installed and placed in operation
STATION ASSIGNMENTS:
1893-1910: Bar Point Shoal
1911-1914: Poe Reef (MI)
(Bar Point Shoal lies in Canadian waters near the mouth of the Detroit River, Lake Erie. It was marked by the US with permission of the Canadian Government)
HISTORICAL NOTES:
1893: Sep 20, placed on Bar Point Shoal, mouth of Detroit River, Lake
Erie; black hull, white lettering; fog signal 10 sec blast, :30 sec silent;
1 FW light
1893: Dec 6 withdrawn for winter to Detroit Lighthouse Depot
Typical of Great Lakes lightships, the vessel. was withdrawn from station
during the period the Lakes were closed to navigation, usually early
December through March or April - Necessary repairs and refitting were
performed during winter
1898: Dec 11, carried off station by moving ice, drifting in western end of
Lake Erie for 10 days, when picked up and towed to Detroit Dec 21
1899: Smokestack replaced
1900: Boiler repairs
1902: Under repair at opening of navigation; station marked by lighted buoy
until Apr 29 when lightship took station
1906: Oct 17, damaged in collision with barge under tow
1907: Mar, equipped with submarine bell signal
1911: Mar/Apr, transferred and placed on Poe Reef (MI) in Lake Huron
1914: Surveyed Sep/Oct, rated unseaworthy and condemned
RETIRED PROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1914; AGE: 21
SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION:
Oct 1, 1914 sold at public auction - $314 Said to have been later registered as tug LEATHEM D SMITH
COMMANDING OFFICERS:
1894-1897: Thomas Cooney, Master
1897-1902: William Wybrands Master
1902-?: Edwin J Wilkinson, Master
?-1914: Martin Tellefson, Mate
1914: Ernest LeBahn, Mate
?-1914: G. J. Navarre, Master
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