1849-1906

Location & historical notes: Texas, at the entrance to Galveston Harbor.  It was replaced by buoyage.

Lightships assigned:

1849- 1853: "XX "

Appropriation: $12,500
Built: 1849
Cost: $11,000
Design: Wood hull; 2 masts; daymark on mainmast only; schooner rigged
Tonnage: 149
Illumination: Single lantern having one oil lamp with 9 wicks, 35 feet above water
Fog Signal: Hand operated bell
Station: 1849-1870?: Galveston (TX)
Notes: Original station position given as 29-20-50 North, 94-43-30 West; hull color "sandy yellow". Sister to Atchafalaya Bay lightship. Withdrawn from station 1853 to serve as quarantine ship during a summer "epidemic". In Mar 1859 Congress appropriated funds for construction of range beacons to replace the lightship which was "so much decayed as to be unworthy of repairs authorized by Congress". Even though the range lights were placed in operation in 1860, the Lighthouse Board did not discontinue the station "until Congress could again pass upon the case". How long this vessel remained in service is unclear, but the aging LV 28 was transferred from Bowlers Rock (VA) and placed on the Galveston station in 1870

1853-1854: station vacant

1854-1860: "XX "

{SEE ABOVE}

1860-1870:  ? (station was thought to be vacant during this time frame)

1870-1906: LV-28

YEAR BUILT: 1864

BUILT AT: Norfolk (VA)

APPROPRIATION: ?

BUILDER: ?

CONTRACT PRICE: $16,000

SISTER VESSELS: None

DESIGN: Wood framed & planked, 2 masts, black hoop-iron daymark on mainmast only

LENGTH: 82' (lbp), BEAM: 22', DRAFT: 9', TONNAGE: 83 gross

PROPULSION: Sail

ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: Single lantern having 8 oil lamps

FOG SIGNAL: Hand operated bell

CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS: LV 28-

1880/81: Rebuilt at New Orleans; light changed to red-
1882: Light list states Straw color with black lettering; showing a single
red light 48 feet above water, visible 12 1/4 miles-
1888: Rebuilt and enlarged to 101 tons gross - no particulars given-
1892: New lamps with reflectors installed-
1895: New 22 ft "square stern sailboat supplied"-
1898: May, major hull repairs-
1903: May 22, hauled and repaired-
1904: May 18, "now being repaired"

STATION ASSIGNMENTS:LV28
1864-1868: Bowlers Rock (VA)
1868-1869: Relief (5th District)
1870-1906: Galveston (TX)

(1894: Position moved 1 1/4 mi eastward)
(Galveston station discontinued Apr23, 1906 )
(Prior to 1867 when No. 28 was assigned, official records identify this vessel as "Bowlers Rock Light Vessel")

HISTORICAL NOTES: LV 28-

1864: Placed on Bowlers Rock (VA), (withdrawn when station discontinued 1868)-
1868/69: Relief duty (5th District)-
1869: Dec 20, towed to New Orleans (LA) by tender GERANIUM arriving Jan 11,1870:
both vessels then received "some repairs"-
1870: Placed on Galveston (TX), replacing lightship called "Galveston" at that
time, but later referred to as "XX"-
1892: Replaced by can buoy while being repaired-
1892: Sep 25, damaged by fire caused by defective lamp-
1894: Position moved 1 1/4 mi eastward so that lightship fog signal would be nearer the end of the jetties''-
1898: May-Sep, withdrawn when submarine mines were laid across Galveston Harbor
entrance during Spanish-American War-
1900: Sep, parted chain during hurricane, driven into Galveston Bay and
anchored; "sustained severe injury"-
1906: Apr 23, withdrawn: station discontinued-
1907: "Laid up at Galveston with a master and cook aboard"-
1910: Out of commission - "not used as an aid to navigation"

More notes:

RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1906 AGE: 42

SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Sold May 22, 1911

COMMANDING OFFICERS: LV 28

1881-1893: Martin Stocker, Asat Keeper
1893-1899: Martin Stocker, Master
1905-1907: Theodore Colson, Master

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