US Lightships By Hull Number

The USCG reports 22 US Lightships are still afloat in the US.  The first 16 “LV” designated ships include 8 on the National Historical Register (79, 83, 87, 103, 112, 101, 116, 118). The list also includes #75 which is now a power lighter in New York harbor, #84 which is gutted awaiting becoming scrap, #85 which has been converted for ocean research work, #102 which is used for crab processing and #111 which is a hulk .Of the 6 WLV ships built by the Coast Guard all survive except WLV-189 which was sunk in 1994. That leaves 16 ships that are floating in the US and somewhat recognizable as lightships.  WLV-196 is from the outside in the worst condition—Painted white and blue with rusted hull. She serves as a Marine Bio Researcher in Alaska.  It is possible to put the ship hull number (ex. WLV-605) in your search engine and get up to date location information on these vessels. For more historical information you can visit the USCG Historians site http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/collect.html or more specifically http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/Lightship_Index.html