Lightship

“ And the shore bites back;
When the night’s like a cave
Full of black things howling
And the hurricanes rave
With the whistle buoy yowling.
There’s a rusty trusty boat that never makes a port,
There’s a scrubby bold boat that never finds a lee,
The blunt little lightship,
The iron clad lightship,
The weather-wise lightship,
Anchored out at sea! ”

“ See also SECTOR LIGHT.
lightship. , n. A distinctively marked vessel providing aids to navigation services similar to a light station, i.e., a light of high intensity and reliability, sound signal, and radiobeacon, and moored at a station where erection of a fixed structure is not feasible. Most lightships are anchored to a very long scope of chain and, as a result, the radius of their swinging circle is considerable. The chart symbol represents the approximate location of the anchor. ”

“ Once every twelve seconds the submarine bell strikes two groups of two strokes each. And the radio fog-signal of the Ambrose lightship is a continuous string of dashes, exactly like the signal of the radio beacons along the lighted airway. Thus, whether a passing ship’s captain sees the light or merely hears the fog-horn, or detects the radio signal, he knows what lightship he is passing.
Jimmy was so much interested in learning about the lightship that he could have spent hours aboard of her, but the captain warned him that the liner was visible on the horizon. ”

“ The safety of thousands of human lives and of millions sterling of merchandise is vested in their keeping. The resources of the shipbuilder, the staunchness of the ship, the skill and knowledge of the captain—all would count for nothing were it not for the persistent, steady glare of the fixed, the twinkling of the occulting, or the rhythmic, monotonous turning spokes of the revolving light, thrown over the waste of waters from the lighthouse and the lightship. ”

“ Romances innumerable have been woven around the flaming guardians of the coast, but it is doubtful whether any purely imaginative work is so fascinating and absorbing as the plain unvarnished narrative of how some famous lightship or lighthouse has been brought into existence. And the story of construction is equalled in every way by that relating to the operation and maintenance of the light, against all odds, for the guidance of those who have business upon the ocean. ”

“ He will tell you that his gallant barque is always ready for the tempest. And yet its deck is sometimes washed by the waves, and when the sea strikes against its broadside, the roar is like the discharge of a piece of artillery.
On board every lightship the life of the crew is much the same. On Sunday, at dawn, the lantern is lowered, and the lamp-lighter cleans and prepares his lamps for the next night’s work. At eight o’clock everybody must be on the alert ”

“ The plight of the lighthouse-keeper in a gale is unenviable, but it is far and away preferable to that of the lightship crew under similar circumstances. The tower may bow slightly like a tree before the storm, and the waves may cause it to shiver at times, but that is the only movement. On the lightship the crew appear to be tossed, rolled, and spun, in all directions simultaneously. The deck becomes untenable, but the men in the performance of their duties have to grope and crawl from point to point, holding on grimly with both hands when an angry sea douches them. ”

“ The lightship may be identified easily. There is nothing inspiring about her lines. Her ugly hull, built for strength and not beauty, is painted red, black, or white, according to the colour practice of the country to which she belongs, while on her sides in huge letters, stretching almost from water-line to taffrail, is the name of her station, “Nore,” “Seven Stones,” “Norderney,” “Ruytingen,” “Fire Island,” or whatever it may be. ”

“ But a lightship can always be placed in a more advantageous position than a lighthouse, and in places [336] where a lighthouse is impossible, a lightship is invaluable. I should be inclined to say that the Diamond Shoals Lightship off Cape Hatteras, the Frying Pan Shoals Lightship off Cape Fear and the Nantucket Shoals Lightship off Montauk Point would take rank as three of the most important lightships in the world."
"But I should think they would get blown off their stations every once in a while," suggested Eric. ”

“ The lightship at the Nore is the point round which each barge has to make its way before starting on its return journey up river—the distance in all, so we are informed, being about seventy miles: not a bad day’s work for a class of craft which many people are in the habit of decrying as the tortoises of the river. ”

“ Two keepers were in the lighthouse, but neither was hurt. The vessel, however, was greatly injured, and some alarm was felt lest she should sink. However the accident was seen from the shore; a tug steamer came to her assistance, and, with the lighthouse on board, she was towed into port. Until a new structure can be raised, a lightship will be stationed in a suitable locality. ”

“ The crew of an English lightship consists of a master, a mate, and nine men. Three out of the nine are intrusted with the service of the lamps; the six others, who always include among them a good carpenter, attend to the order and cleanliness of the vessel. It must be remembered, however, that the nine men are never all on board together; one-third are always enjoying an interval of rest on shore. Experience has proved that a perpetual sojourn on board a ship of this kind is too much for the moral and physical forces of human nature. ”

“ A lightship is always uncertain; the first great storm may drive it from its moorings and leave the coast unprotected when protection is most necessary. Upon such a shoal, often covered from ten to twenty feet with water, the builder is called upon to construct a lighthouse, laying his foundation in shifting sand, and placing upon it a building strong enough to withstand any storm or the crushing weight of wrecks or ice-packs. ”

“ The average crew for a lightship numbers some seven men under a captain and mate, who take it in turns to have charge of the vessel, the second official being responsible during the former’s spell of leave on shore. The crew is not a man too many, owing to the several and varied duties to be performed, especially when the storm-fiend is roused or fog pays a visit. ”

“ Getting into the boats, by the way, in a heavy sea, when the lightship was rolling violently, was no easy matter. When the fine weather first broke up, it happened about midnight, and the change commenced with a stiff breeze from the eastward. The sea rose at once, and, long before daybreak, the Pharos was rolling heavily in the swell, and straining violently at the strong cable which held her to her moorings. ”

“ It's not only to enable a lightship keeping to her station, or running to safety in the event of being blown off her moorings, but you can see that in a severe storm, if a lightship can steam ahead into the eye of the wind, she can take a lot of the strain off her anchors. ”

“ He lifted me off the deck and carried me to his warm cabin where I lost consciousness again. The cats were gone! Somewhere in that last quarter mile they were lost.
Late that afternoon I awoke. The engineer of the lightship gave me a warm suit of dungarees and a heavy sweater to wear, and then we learned what had happened. The look-out on the lightship had seen the fire on board. He attempted to launch a small boat to come to rescue us when the Southerly Buster squall arose and made the feat impossible. ”

“ My position demands that I should be omniscient, and omniscient, to all outward appearance, I shall remain.
In the first place what is a "lightship?" As I travelled down to Henley I read in one of the newspapers that "practice for the Royal Regatta was now in full swing, and that the river was dotted with lightships of every description." I remember some years ago passing a very pleasant half hour on board of a lightship moored in the neighbourhood of Broadstairs. The rum was excellent. I looked forward with a lively pleasure to repeating the experience at Henley. ”

“ The following day we reached the Nore lightship, where, the weather looking dirty, by the orders of the pilot who had charge of us we brought up. Scarcely was the anchor at the bottom and the hands were aloft furling sails than down came the gale upon us. The pilot, a jolly old fellow, kept singing out, “More yet, more yet,” meaning that we were to veer away more cable, and he did not seem satisfied till the whole of it was out. From this circumstance the men called him “Old More Yet.” I forget his real name. I was thus early in my sea life to learn what a real gale of wind is like. ”

“ Every time the relief is effected the officer in charge takes the bearings, so that the lightship may be truly in the position she is intended to assume, and able to effect her humane work satisfactorily. ”

“ Seaward the channel buoys and the nearer lightships are sharply distinct, cutting the distant sea-line like the topmast spars of ships hull down. Every ripple and swirl of the tide is exaggerated by the lens of a rare atmosphere; the bow wash of incoming vessels is thrown upward as by mirage. ”

“ Lightships follow much the same general shape and construction the whole world over. There is very little opportunity to depart from well-tried lines; the experience of a century and more has indicated conclusively the form of hull, as regards both material and shape, best adapted to the peculiar work which has to be fulfilled. The modern lightship is essentially a British idea, the first floating beacon of this description having been built and placed in the mouth of the Thames as far back as 1713. ”

“ The crushing monotony of the same scenes, the eternal spectacle of foam-crested waters rolling wherever the eye is turned, the ceaseless noise of the winds, the everlasting murmur of the ocean—swelling at times into so terrible a roar that it renders inaudible the human voice—could not fail to exercise a depressing influence on the mind. But even allowing for [260] the occasional vacation spent upon land, the life is so uniform and unexciting that it is wonderful any man can be found to endure it; and the crews of our lightships may assuredly be ranked among the curiosities of civilization. ”

“ The San Francisco Lightship throws a flashing electric beam of 700 candle-power and is fitted also with the submarine bell.
At all the isolated and rock stations landing is a hazardous task, even under the most favourable conditions. The swell and currents breaking upon the rocks render it impossible for freight and men to be landed direct from the steamer to the rock. ”

“ Hiram Strong was in need of oil for his gloves, and, left to myself, my mind reverted to the conversation I had overheard between the ship's officers. Shoreward, about a half-mile, I could make out a lightship. ”

“ It cannot withstand the poundings of the waves and the force of the wind for long without developing some signs of weakness. It may ride over its reef or shoal for several years, but depreciation is sure to set in, so that at last it becomes too decrepit to be trusted. Moreover, the number of men required to man a lightship exceeds the force necessary to maintain a lighthouse. ”

“ At the lighthouse of Bréhat a wild duck forced its way through two rows of mirrors and fell upon the lamp. A thousand of these birds were on one occasion caught by the crew of a British lightship, who made them into a gigantic pie. It is necessary to defend with trellis-work the lights most exposed to visits of this kind.
SEA-BIRDS ATTRACTED BY THE RAYS OF A LIGHTHOUSE.
Fortunately, all sea-birds are not so dangerous. Some of them even render to the navigator a service like that which the goose of the capitol, according to Livy, once rendered to the Romans. ”

“ LIGHTHOUSES, LIGHTSHIPS, AND BUOYS Just as the origin of ships is lost in the darkness of shrouded time, so is the origin of lighthouses lost. Perhaps to guide returning fishermen who all day and into the night had spread their nets or cast their spears for food, the women of some savage tribe of long ago built bonfires on the beach. Still that is a custom among simple folk who live hard by the sea and secure their livelihood from it. ”

“ A similar lightship was built for the Trinity House authorities from the designs of their engineer, Sir Thomas Matthews, for service on the English coast. This boat, built of steel, measures 65 feet in length, by 181⁄2 feet beam and 101⁄2 feet depth, with the lantern carried at the point of an open steel pyramidal structure, rising sufficiently high above the boat’s deck amidships to bring the focal plane 26 feet above the level of the water, thereby giving it a visible range of some ten miles. ”

“ As she passed us, the brief questions and answers were repeated for the benefit of the coxswain of the boat. I observed that every man in the boat lay flat on the thwarts except the coxswain. No wonder. It is not an easy matter to sit up in a gale of wind, with freezing spray, and sometimes green seas, sweeping over one. They were, doubtless, wide awake and listening; but, as far as vision went, that boat was manned by ten oilskin coats and sou’-westers. A few seconds took them out of sight; and thus, as far as the Gull lightship was concerned, the drama ended. ”

“ She is easily recognized. The course from this lightship to the harbor entrance is laid down on the chart “west-northwest, one quarter west,” and, steering this course, a group of three buoys is reached. ”