YEAR BUILT: 1852
BUILT AT: Somerset (MA)
BUILDER: J. M. Hood
APPROPRIATION: ?
CONTRACT PRICE: $12,000
SISTER VESSELS: None
DESIGN: Wood - oak & yellow pine, iron fastened, bowsprit, 2 masts, oval daymark on mainmast only
LENGTH: 694" (lbp)
BEAM: 23'O" DRAFT: 81"
TONNAGE: 140 gross
PROPULSION: Sail- schooner rig
ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: Single lantern on main, 8 oil lamps with reflectors
FOG SIGNAL: Hand operated bell
CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS: LV 3-
Said to have been named OLD HICKORY when
launched-
1868/69: Supplied with new oil lamps and reflectors-
1875: Bottom re-coppered; 1879 extensively repaired at New Bedford-
1883:Interior arrangement changed "for greater comfort and heathfullness"-
Bowsprit removed between 1892 and 1895-
1901: Aug white stripe repainted to have lower edge flush with spar deck;
name and number painted in black on white stripe-
1916: Masts removed; replaced by steel skeleton light structure on deckhouse;
oil lamps replaced with single acetylene lens lantern-
1917: Fog bell modified to strike by machinery-
1919 Equipped with radio; discontinued 1922
STATION ASSIGNMENTS: LV 3
1852-1916: Shovelful Shoal (MA)
1916: Relief (MA)
1916-1923: Handkerchief Shoal (MA)
(1877 Station position relocated 1/2 mi
southward)
(1884 Jan 4, station position moved 3/4 mi northeasterly due to formation of
shoal spots on the track between Shovelful and Pollock Rip lightships)
(Shovelfull station discontinued 1916; moved and renamed Stonehorse)
(Prior to 1867 when No. 3 was assigned vessel was referred to in official
records as "Shovelfull" or "the Shovelfull")
HISTORICAL NOTES: LV 3-
1852: Placed on Shovelfull Shoal (MA)-
1872: Mar 7, carried off station by moving ice, replaced Mar 12-
1875: Feb 14, carried off station by ice, dragged over shoal damaging-
1879: Mar 31, broke adrift in storm, returned to station Apr 5-
1899: Feb 13, Dragged eastward by ice, returned to station Apr 15-
Passing vessels collided with Shovelfull lightship in 1884; 1889 Mar 27 0430;
1892 Aug; 1893 Feb 23; 1896; 1898; 1899 Mar 22; 1900 Aug 28 & Oct 21;
1901 May 15 0400; 1902 Aug 10; 1904 Jan 8; 1905 Mar 7; 1906 Oct 8. Except for
4 instances of coal barges under tow, all collisions involved sailing vessels.
More notes:
RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: 1924
AGE: 72
SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Condemned and sold
1924-
1956: Was observed at Boston MA in use as floating clubhouse
COMMANDING OFFICERS: LV 3
1852 - ?: Samuel D Clifford, Keeper
1890-1893: Charles L Ireland, Keeper
1893-1900: Charles L Ireland, Master
1901-1902: Judah Berry Jr, Mate
1902-1904: Albert W Huntley, Master
1905-?: Lucas Robbins, Mate
?-1914: Zemira C McDonald, Mate
1914 -1915: F H Nickerson, Mate
?-1916: Abram E Bearse, Master
1915-1917: Millard F Rogers, Mate
1917-1924: Edgar P Eldridge, Mate
1916-1918: J B Frizzell, Master
1918-?: Ebenezer F Kelley, Master
Copyright © 2003 United States Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association
INC. All rights reserved.
Copyrights also protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of
1998
Revised: 10/23/06.