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Photographer: Jeffrey W. Churill
Photographer: Keith W. Churill |
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Vessel Description: Steel hull steam screw, single tubular lantern mast, small aft jigger mast for riding sail; steel pilothouse; smokestack amidships. Propulsion: Steam - (1) compound reciprocating engine, 175 IHP; equipped with (2) coal fired Scotch boilers. Lighting System: (1) 300mm acetylene lens lantern Fog Signal Devices: 10" steam whistle; hand operated bell History of LV103 / WAL526: This small ship was built in New York City in 1920 and launched as Lightship #103 of the United States Lighthouse Service. She conducted and passed her sea trials and conditional acceptance on December 3 & 4 of 1920. Steaming from New York to Maine, she was then towed on May 18 by HIBISCUS, along with LV99, to the St Lawrence River entrance. Both lightships then steamed to Ogdensburg NY, where they met with CROCUS who escorted them to Detroit. LV103 then steamed to Milwaukee arriving in port on June 9, 1921 being assigned to Relief Duty. The ship was later renamed U.S. Coast Guard WAL526. Under this name, she went into service as a relief vessel for other lightships, on various shoals throughout Northern Lake Michigan. She served as the Gray's Reef Light from 1923 - 1927 and again in 1930. In 1934 she served as the North Manitou Shoal light. In 1935 she was assigned to her final location at the Corsica Shoals, 6 miles North of Port Huron. For the next 36 years she guided ships into the entrance of the narrow channel between Lake Huron and the St. Clair River. In 1936, the hull was repainted, changing her color from red to black. From 1945 on she was the only black lightship in service. In 1949 she received diesel engines replacing her original steam driven engines. Servicing until 1971, she was the only lightship on the Great Lakes for the last 30 years of her service. Lighted buoys slowly replaced the need for these lightships. Visiting the Lightship: The City of Port Huron acquired the Huron, mooring her at her present location. In 1989 she was officially designated a National Historic Landmark. She has since been dry docked as the last surviving Lightship on the Great lakes and turned into a museum allowing you to get a first hand look at how the sailors lived while stationed on a lightship. Located just south of the Blue Water Bridges on the St. Clair River, the new Thomas Edison Depot Museum & the Historic Huron Lightship Museum are open for tours Fridays from 1:00 to 8:00 p.m. (May 17-September 27, 2002) and Daily from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. in the Summer. The Port Huron Museum, Depot Museum and Lightship Museum normal hours are 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday the balance of the year. Purchase a Passport and SAVE up to 50%! Passports are valid for and available at all three museums and cost $3.00 for students and seniors, $5.00 for adults. Children six and under are FREE accompanied by an adult. Please call 810-982-0891 or visit web site www.phmuseum.org for additional information and verification of fees. Other Local Attractions: Just South of the Lightship is the dock for the U.S.S. Bramble, a 150 foot Coast Guard buoy tender. Throughout most of the summer months she is docked here. To the North is a river park that overlooks the St. Clair River and the Blue Water Bridge. Approximately 1 mile North of the lightship is the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. Many scuba divers are seen in the area drift diving the many shipwrecks lining the river bottom.
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Built:
1920 in Morris Heights, NY
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