Lightship Chesapeake
From lighthouses
Baltimore, Maryland
Built: 1930
Decommissioned: 1971
The Lightship Chesapeake was commissioned in 1930 as Light Vessel No. 116 and later renumbered WAL/WLV 538 by the Coast Guard. She was built by Charleston Drydock & Machine Co. in Charleston, SC. First named Fenwick she was on position at Fenwick Island Shoal, DE from 1930-33. Her primary assignment was Chesapeake, Virginia from 1933 to 1965, except when she was an examination vessel from 1942-1945 during WWII. Her last tour of duty was as Delaware, at the mouth of the Delaware Bay from 1966 to 1970, when she was replaced by a large 104 ton buoy beacon. After leaving Delaware Bay she was moored in Cape May, New Jersey until her decommissioning on 6 January 1971. She is currently moored in Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and serves as a museum.
Chesapeake is 133 feet, 3 inches long with a beam of 30 feet, a draft of 13 feet, 9 inches and a displacement of 132 tons. She has a 350-hp diesel-electric propulsion system with a speed of 9 knots. During WWII, she carried 2 x 20 mm rapid fire machine guns.
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Lighthouses: A Photographic Journey
- Conceived and Developed by David S. Carter
- Photographs by Donald W. Carter
- Text by Diana K. Carter, Donald W. Carter & David S. Carter
Copyright © 1995-2011 David S. Carter, Donald W. Carter, & Diana K. Carter. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any means, physical or electronic, in part or in full, without the express permission of the authors, is strictly prohibited.
This article was last modified on 6/5/2009.
