The United States lightship Chesapeake (LV-116) is owned by the National Park Service

National Park Service

The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

 and on a 25-year loan to the Baltimore Maritime Museum

Baltimore Maritime Museum

Historic Ships in Baltimore, created as a result of the merger of the USS Constellation Museum and the Baltimore Maritime Museum, is a maritime museum located in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore, Maryland in the United States....

 in Baltimore, Maryland. Since 1820, several lightships

Lightvessel

A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction...

 have served at the Chesapeake

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 lightship station and have been called Chesapeake. It was common for a lightship to be reassigned from one Lightships Station to another and thus "renamed" and identified by its new station name. Even though the "name" changed during a Lightships service life, the hull number never changed. Although the Coast Guard did assign a new hull number in April 1950 to all Lightships still in service on that date. After that date, Light Ship / Light Vessel 116 was then known by the new Coast Guard Hull number: WAL 538. In January 1965 the Coast Guard furthered modified all Lightship hull designations from WAL to WLV, so Chesapeake became WLV 538.

Lightship 116/538 had many redundant systems in order to maintain its position through most storms. The 5000 pounds (2,268 kg) main anchor

Anchor

An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...

 was backed up by a second 5000 pound anchor attached to the side of the ship. The 30,000 candela

Candela

The candela is the SI base unit of luminous intensity; that is, power emitted by a light source in a particular direction, weighted by the luminosity function . A common candle emits light with a luminous intensity of roughly one candela...

 main light was also backed up with a secondary lamp and the Radio Locator Beacon also had a backup system. On more than one occasion (in 1933, 1936 and 1962) the main anchor chain snapped during violent storms and the ship had to use its engines to stay in place and drop its second anchor.

History

Built in 1930 at Charleston Drydock & Machine Co in Charleston, S.C. for $274,434.00, Lightship 116 took on the name of whatever station she was anchored at. The ship was also absorbed into the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 in 1939, as were all vessels in the United States Lighthouse Service

United States Lighthouse Service

The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the US Federal Government that was responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all lighthouses in the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 until 1939...

.

Service in the U.S. Coast Guard meant a pay cut for the sailors aboard Chesapeake and other Lightships, as well as the requirements for the crew to pass Coast Guard physical exams and wear uniforms. Coast Guard officers, usually a Warrant Bos'n, were also placed in command of the lightships, which meant a more efficient, orderly and strict operation. It did also, however, mean better supplies and training reached the crew. During WWII, Lightship 116 was based out of Sandwich, Massachusetts

Sandwich, Massachusetts

Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 20,675 at the 2010 census. The Town Hall is located right next to the Dexter Grist Mill, in the historic district of town....

, where it served as an examination and guard vessel at the north entrance of the Cape Cod Canal

Cape Cod Canal

The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway traversing the narrow neck of land that joins Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts.Part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, the canal is roughly 17.4 miles long and connects Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south...

 and helped protect the important port of Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

.

In the 1960s with the introduction of automated buoys as well as permanent light stations, the lightship fleet was slowly mothballed. Chesapeake left her station at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 in September 1965 when she was replaced by a large, manned light tower similar to an oil rig. This station was helicopter accessible and was easier to maintain than a lightship. Eventually the light tower was fully automated. Eight lightship

Lightvessel

A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction...

s were built after Chesapeake.

Chesapeake's last tour of duty was at the mouth of the Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay

Delaware Bay is a major estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the Northeast seaboard of the United States whose fresh water mixes for many miles with the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. It is in area. The bay is bordered by the State of New Jersey and the State of Delaware...

 from 1966 to 1970 where she was named "DELAWARE". A large 104 ton buoy

Buoy

A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...

 beacon replaced her at this station in 1970. After leaving Delaware Bay, Chesapeake was moored in Cape May

Cape May

Cape May is a peninsula and island ; the southern tip of the island is the southernmost point of the state of New Jersey, United States. It runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

 until her decommissioning on 6 January 1971. She was then transferred to the National Park Service and used as a sea-going environmental education classroom until she was handed over to the city of Baltimore in 1982. In 1988 Chesapeake became part of the Baltimore Maritime Museum, now the Historic Ships In Baltimore museum and is moored at Pier 3 in Baltimore's Inner Harbor

Inner Harbor

The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and iconic landmark of the City of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as “the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the World.” The Inner Harbor is actually the end of the...

 at 39°17′8.51"N 76°36′31.62"W. She is open for touring after a paid admission to the Museum, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

.

Name and Station Assignments

• FENWICK, Fenwick Island Shoal, DE (1930–33)
• CHESAPEAKE, Chesapeake, VA (1933–42)
• LS-116, Examination and Guard Vessel WWII Sandwich, MA (1942–45)
• CHESAPEAKE, Chesapeake, VA (1945–65)
• DELAWARE, Delaware Bay, DE (1966–1970)

Resources

• National Register Number: 80000349
• U.S. Coast Guard: Lightship (LV 116)
• Interviews with LV-116's former crew members and the first commanding officer's daughter, conducted by NPS historian Frank Hebblethwaite.

External links

• HNSA Web Page: Lightship Chesapeake
• List of Lightships remaining today
• More information on US Lightships
• Local US Light House Society chapter who assist in the restoration of CHESAPEAKE
• web site for the Historic Ships in Baltimore museum where Lightship CHESAPEAKE is on display and can be toured
• web site for the volunteers working to maintain and restore the Lightship Chesapeake LS/LV116-WAL/WLV538
• CHESAPEAKE (lightship), Baltimore City, including photo in 2004, at Maryland Historical Trust
• Lightship 116, Pier 3, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Independent City, MD: 18 drawings, 16 data pages, 2 photo caption pages, at Historic American Engineering Record
• Chesapeake Bay Lighthouse Project - Lightship Chesapeake

Additional reading

• United States Coast Guard, Aids to Navigation, (Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1945).
• Putnam, George R., Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1933).