The Baltimore Maritime Museum

Lightship 116 "Chesapeake" was built in 1930 as a manned navigational beacon and fulfilled this role under the US Lightship Service and the US Coast Guard for nearly 40 years. On station in all weather and sea conditions, lightships and their crews guided vital maritime traffic to and from American shores for generations. There are no longer any lightships on duty; they have all been replaced by automatic beacons.

The US Lighthouse Service first assigned Lightship 116 to the Fenwick Island Shoal (DE) Station from 1930-33; after that assignment she marked the entrance to Chesapeake Bay until the beginning of World War II. During 1942-45 Lightship 116 was employed as an armed inspection vessel near the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal (MA). In 1945 the ship returned to the waters off Cape Henry (VA) where her bright red hull, beacon light and "Chesapeake" station designation guided maritime traffic in and out of the Chesapeake Bay for the next 20 years. In 1965, the Chesapeake Lightship Station was replaced by a Coast Guard offshore light tower and Lightship 116's final duty was to mark the approaches to Delaware Bay. In 1970 she was transferred to the National Park Service and used as a sea-going environmental classroom. Then in 1982 she was turned over to the city of Baltimore and she became part of the Baltimore Maritime Museum in 1988.

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