The beginnings

The first original lightship could have been a particular version of the Roman galley ships. These ships, rowed by slaves, had a mast stump with an iron basket , in which possibly a fire burned at night. These "lightships" were meant to deter pirates and guide trading ships into the harbour.

But the actual development of lightship starts in the 15th century. The Dutch had so called lightships positioned outside their harbours, which only withdrew when the whole fishing fleet had returned home. Note that this process was practised daily.

From the year 1683 we have similar information. From sun down to sunrise a ship with a light would have been positioned in the Kattegat.

The existence of these ships, alas, is supported with few documents.


History begins

The first ship just for this purpose was called NORE and positioned in 1731. It was a private ship anchored in the Thames estuary. And, to pre-empt it, the history of manned light vessels ended on the 1st of April 1994 with the withdrawal of the Belgium lightship from the station WEST-HINDER.

For nearly 100 years only the British maintained lightvessels, until the idea spread to the European mainland.

Moving to Station

The first light ships sailed to their positions. Only later did they get towed to their positions by steam tugs. Now most of them received sparse rigging or no sails at all. The first engines were less for moving, but for preventing the ships drifting off station in heavy seas and for relieving the tension on the anchor chains. Not until the 20th century were ships equipped with strong engines, so they can move under their own power.

Differences at night

In the middle of the 19th century the number of lightships grew to such an extent that differences needed to be instated. The highest number was reached at the beginning of the 20th century when there were over 350 light ships world wide.

There were different characters under discussion. Possible variations were: lamps or rings of lamps with fixed lights; on one, two or three masts. For ships with one mast the lights were one on top of the other and with some rigging even in a triangular formation.

The preferred light colour was white, its range was the best . Red or green light therefore were rarely used.

After the invention of lights circling round the mast another choice was the flashing light. The danger of mixing up different stations was reduced considerably. The newer light vessels already had fixed lamps which generated particular characteristics.

Hull Construction

The shape and construction of the hulls had to be different to usual ships, due to the different stresses these ships had to withstand. Because hulls had the tendencies to adapt to running seas and the wind often came from amidships, designers were forced to invent new hull shapes.

The original light ships were especially stable sailing ships or pilot cutters converted for this purpose. All had wooden hulls. In time country specific ship types were developed, which were better adapted to the task.

From the middle of the 19th century some iron light vessels were built. But since this material was not reputed to be very durable, builders returned to wooden hulls. From 1861 there was a middle way, composite building. The shadows were made from iron and the planking from wood. Only from 1870 ships were completely built from iron. Interesting to note that is was Sweden and Finland who first used this material for their light ships.

Hulls made from steel

Weser III built in 1888 started the iron age finally. The ship was redesigned several times and served until 1977 on several stations. Most of the new builds from 1906 received steam driven propulsion. From 1912 diesel engines with 300 to 500 horse power with 9 knots. Several ships were built with this spec. Only after WWII two further remarkable new ships were built. First the largest light ship in the world "Elbe 1" with 1000t and second the light ship "Borkumriff". The special thing about "Borkumriff" was that the deck housings were made from light metal.

The actual size and shape of the ships depended on the area in which they served and the advancements of technical development. The largest and most stable ships were stationed at the Elbe 1 and Nantucket (USA) stations. These stations were troubled by particular formations of nature.

The light ship days are numbered

The light vessel "Borkumriff" was the last manned light vessel in Germany to be withdrawn from her station on the 15th of July 1988. This station too was now served by an unmanned lightship (UFS). The development of UFS goes back to the year 1901. In a German-Scottish co-operation a UFS by the name of Otter Rock (station name) was developed. This ship was so successful that for decades many examples were built. Here too different hull shapes and forms were developed, depending on currents and wave conditions. For the long ocean swells round types were preferred, for the steeper harder North Sea swells only oval or hull shaped UFS were suitable.

So today world wide there are no light ships on the open seas. No men who risk life and health for the good of shipping. They were all replaces by UFS full of electronics serving off the coasts.

A word to finish

The record for durability belongs to the Danish copper clad ships of over 100 years of age. Future generations will see how durable the metal and electronics of UFS turns out.

1731

1805

1830

1864

1888

 

1904

1936

1954

1983