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USNC LV 72 Lightship, South Wales

steve @w_n.photography
Feb 19, 2017
3 min read

This site has been on my list for about five years but never got around to visiting, which is funny as i live in the same town!

I remember as a child i use to ask my dad about this ship, who is a fellow explorer with great knowledge on derelict military sites (Also who i have got location info on most of my to-do list from) he use to tell me that "army men" use to run it but i never believed him.

The LV 72 lightship was responsible for saving over 30 shipwrecked soldiers during the D-DAY landings.

The entire lower levels are flooded and have been filled with clay/mud over the years so i couldnt have a mooch down there, i was gutted

Now for the info......

VESSEL DESIGNATION: LV 72

YEAR BUILT: 1900

BUILT AT: Quincy (MA)

APPROPRIATION: ?

BUILDER: Fore River Shipbuilding Co

CONTRACT PRICE: $89,000

SISTER VESSELS: None

DESIGN: Steam screw; steel hull, 2 masts with lantern galleries; stack amidships

LENGTH: 123'6" (loa); BEAM: 28'6"; DRAFT: 12'6"; TONNAGE: 693 displ

PROPULSION: Steam - 350 IHP reciprocating engine, (builder listed speed at 6 1/2 knots)

ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: Cluster of three 100cp electric lens lanterns mounted in gallery at each masthead

FOG SIGNAL: 12" steam chime whistle, hand operated 1000-lb bell

CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS:

-1904: Equipped with radio telegraph equipment by USN -1905: Equipped with 18" searchlight with beam kept southeasterly at 45 degree angle to horizon while on Diamond Shoal -1906: Original lights replaced by single 375mm electric lens lantern at each mast head -1910: Submarine bell signal installed -1912: Equipped with radio provided by USLHS -1922: Equipped with radio-beacon -1931: Fog signal changed to steam diaphragm horn (Leslie 17" Typhon)

STATION ASSIGNMENTS:

-1900-1922: Diamond Shoal (NC) -1922-1927: Relief (5th district) -1927-1928: Cape Charles (VA) -1928-1933: Chesapeake (VA) -1934-1937: Cross Rip (MA)

-(From 1900-1918 LV 72 and LV 71 alternately relieved each other at 3 month intervals on Diamond station.

When not on the Diamond station, LV 72 was also used to relieve other stations as shown below:

-1903: Jul 1-Oct 1, temporary duty on Cape Charles (VA)

-1904: Oct 1-Jan 1, 1905, temporary duty on Overfalls (DE)

-1906: Mar 31-Jul 1, temporary duty on Cape Lookout Shoals (NC)

-(1928: Cape Charles station renamed Chesapeake)

HISTORICAL NOTES:

-1900: Delivered by contractor in spring; assigned to Diamond Shoals station

-1905: While on Diamond station, showed searchlight in southeasterly direction and 45 degree angle to horizon "to provide earlier warning than masthead lights"

-1907 May 21, steamed to New York, picking up supplies for all lighthouses in 5th District, returning to Portsmouth VA May 29

-1915: Jan 26, while relieving Fenwick Island Shoal, picked up 39 shipwrecked men from lifeboats of steamer WASHINGTON; later transferred to passing steamer HAMILTON

-1924: Aug 25, dragged off station in hurricane force winds and mountainous seas; ship completely submerged several times by boarding seas; pumped 3000 gallons fresh water overboard to trim ship down by the stern

-1927: Mar 2, while on Cape Charles, parted chain in heavy gale; unable to make headway under power; returned to station Mar- 4 when weather moderated

-1927: Dec 4, during severe NE storm, boarding seas broke ports in after house, flooding radio shack and engine room

RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1937 AGE: 37

SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Sold 1937

COMMANDING OFFICERS: LV 72

1900-1905: Arthur C Vany, Mate 1905-1906: Robert H Bertram, Mate 1906-?: Charles S Swanberg, Mate ?-1915: John Hanson, Master 1915: James F Mason, Master 1915-1925: Unaka B Jennet, Master 1917: Benjamin L. Harris, 1st Mate 1918-1919: Charley E O'Neal, Mate 1919-1923: Walter Barnett, 1st Mate 1920-1922?- Benjamin L. Harris, Master 1925-?: Anelius Anderson, Master 1925-?: Robert A Dixon, 1st Mate 1920-1927: Frank L Dixon, Mate 1927-1928: August Knipps, Mate 1929-?: Dallas K Tillette, Mate 1928-1929: Thomas S Simmons, Mate ?-1929: Charles L Swanberg, Master

SOURCES:

Willard Flint. Lightships of the United States Government: Reference Notes. Washington, D.C., U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters: U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office, 1989.

Lightship Files, U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office.

U.S. Lightship Sailors Association.

Here is the site as it stands today.............