U.S. Coast Guard Lightships
& Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service
VESSEL DESIGNATION: WLV 196
YEAR BUILT: 1946
BUILT AT: Bay City (MI)
APPROPRIATION: ?
BUILDER: Defoe Shipbuilding Co
CONTRACT PRICE: ?
SISTER VESSELS: WLV 189
DESIGN: Diesel propelled; steel hull and deckhouses; breakwater on foredeck; 2 masts, stack amidships
LENGTH: 128'0" (loa); BEAM: 30'0"; DRAFT: 11'0"; TONNAGE: 630 displ (apprx)
PROPULSION: Diesel - one GM 6-278A 6 cyl, clutch reversing; reduction gearing; closed system fresh water cooling; 500 SHP @ 250 RPM
ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: Duplex 500mm electric lens lantern on foremast
only;
15,000cp each light, 57 feet above water
FOG SIGNAL: Twin F2T diaphones aft of pilot house; hand operated bell
CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES &
IMPROVEMENTS:
-Used all-welded construction; high degree of watertight integrity
maintained by transverse bulkheads carried to weather duck level hawsepipes
carried to weather deck before leading to chain locker; alternating current
electrical system throughout; designated WAL 196 when built, then changed to
WLV in 1965-
-Built specifically for Pollock Rip station-
-Launched Oct 16, 1946; commissioned Nov 1946; placed. on Pollock Rip 1947-
-1958: Single electric lens lanterns installed on each mast-
-1961: High intensity light installed on mainmast; used 24 locomotive
headlights mounted in groups of 6 on each face of 4 sided revolving lamp
housing; original lens lantern retained on foremast-
-Radio/visual call sign NMJH (1946-1971)
STATION ASSIGNMENTS:
1947-1958: Pollock Rip (MA)
1958-1960: Nantucket Shoals (MA)
1961-1971: Umatilla Reef (WA)
(1958-1960: WLV was designated (and marked) Relief during most of this period while LV 112/ WAL 534 was undergoing extensive overhaul and modification)
HISTORICAL NOTES:
-1961 Oct., Departed from Curtis Bay MD making the voyage to Seattle WA
via Panama Canal with stops at Miami, Kingston, Rodman CZ, Acapulco, San
Francisco, and Coos Bay. Voyage commander Lt John C Wirtz then turned vessel
over to the regular GO, CWO Herman Schmidt and placed on Umatilla Reef
station
RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1971; AGE: 25
SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Decommissioned Sep 30, 1971; reported to be at Seattle in 1980; as of 2004 she was tied up at Pennock Island (across from Ketchikan, Alaska). She was painted white and was named Bio Researcher.
COMMANDING OFFICERS: WLV 196
1946-1949: BMC Leon Singer, OIC
1947-1958: CWO Guy V Emro, CO
1960-1961: CWO Herman Schmidt, CO (1961: Lt John C Wirtz was the
voyage commander during the lightship's cruise from Curtis Bay to Seattle in
1961; he returned command to CWO Schmidt at the end of the voyage)