YEAR BUILT: 1887

BUILT AT: Linwood (PA)

BUILDER: Houston & Woodbridge

APPROPRIATION: $60,000
(Approp. Aug 4, 1886 "for Cape Charles lt-ship station")

CONTRACT PRICE: $60,000

SISTER VESSELS: LV 45

DESIGN: Composite- steel frame, iron hull sheathed w/yellow pine; fastened with iron rivets and screw bolts; 2 masts, daymarks on both; stack ahead of mainmast; 2 aux. steam boilers steam pump

LENGTH: 124'6" (loa); BEAM: 27'0; DRAFT: 116"; TONNAGE: 401 displ

PROPULSION: Sail-schooner rig; fore and main carried on spencer masts

ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: 2 lanterns, each having 8 oil lamps with reflectors

FOG SIGNAL: 12" steam whistle; hand operated 1010 lb bell


CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS: LV 46
-1899: Jun 4-24, Boiler repairs at Portsmouth (VA)
-1891: Jun 25-Jul 16, brought in for general repair"
-1893: Dec 10-Mar 16 1894, boilers repaired
-1895: Both boilers replaced prior to transfer to Smith Point
-1896: Jun 19-Jul 16, major overhaul at Baltimore (MD)
-1898: Overhauled and refitted at 4th District
-1901: Mar 1, repairs for collision damage (relieved by LV 69)
-1903: Apr 10-Jun 3, brought in for repairs (station marked by lighted bell buoy)
-1904: Oct 23-Mar 22 1905, repaired and refitted
-1910: Equipped with submarine bell signal
-1910: Equipped with radio


STATION ASSIGNMENTS: LV 46

1888-1891: Cape Charles (VA) - (station locally called Smiths Island Shoal)
1891-1893: Bush Bluff (VA)
1893-1895: Wolf Trap (VA)
1895-1897: Smith Point (VA)
1897-1898: (laid up at Portsmouth, VA)
1891-1901: Overfalls (DE)
1901-1922: Tail of Horseshoe (VA)
1923: Relief (laid up)


HISTORICAL NOTES: LV 46
-1888: Feb 17 placed on Cape Charles (VA)
-Parted chain and off station 1888 Mar 16-28; again in 1889 Oct 23-Nov 5
-1891: Jul 16, placed on Bush Bluff (VA)
-1893: Jun 7-Jul 5, "relieved" Cape Charles LV 49; (C&GS schooner Drift marked
Bush Bluff during this period)
-1893: Jul 31, "moored off Wolf Trap" (VA) during lighthouse reconstruction
-1893: Aug 28, boiler explosion killed engineer and seaman; fog signal disabled
-1893: Dec 10-Mar 16 1894, withdrawn for repair; relieved by schooner Drift
-1895: Feb 14, placed at Smith Point (VA), marking Lighthouse carried away by ice
-1897: Sep 17, in collision with barges under tow
-1897: Oct 15-Sep 15 1898, laid up in charge of watchman at Portsmouth (VA)
-1898: Sep 15, transferred and towed to 4th District, then overhauled
-1898: Dec 2, placed on Overfalls (DE)
-1899: Feb 11-Mar 14, carried off station by ice
-1901: Transferred to 5th District; Jun placed on Tail of Horseshoe (VA)
-1904: Oct 23-Mar 22 1905, withdrawn for repairs; relieved by LV 7
-1918: Jan 4, carried off station by ice moving out entrance to Chesapeake Bay
into shoal water off Cape Henry; picked up and towed in by ORCHID Jan 6

More notes: LV 46
-1922: Withdrawn from Tail of Horseshoe; station discontinued
-1923: Designated Relief and laid up


RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1923 AGE: 36

SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Not listed after 1923, probably sold that year

COMMANDING OFFICERS: LV 46

1899-1901: Samuel S Baxter, Master
1906-1913: Walter S Barnett, Mate
1913: William Mullen, Mate
1913-1915: Anelius Anderson, Mate
1915-1922: Anelius Anderson, Master
1915: George B Reynolds, Mate
1915-1917: Benjamin L Harris, Mate
1917-1918: Ernst Brownley, Mate
1918-1919: Robert A Dixon, Mate
1919: Luther Muse, Mate
1919-1920: George K Rollinson, Mate
1920-1922: James Lufton, Mate

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Revised: 10/23/06.