(One of our Associate Members sent us a most exciting pictures and wrote the explanation for them.)

The City of Hampton acquired LV 107/WAL 529 soon after its decommissioning
in 1968.  By 1975 Hampton made the decision, in consideration of its budget,
to sell the lightship.  The City of Portsmouth was very interested; after
all, the Lightship Portsmouth Museum (LV 101/WAL 524) opened to the public
in 1967 and by the mid-1970's was receiving about 35,000 visitors annually.
The ship was purchased, brought to Portsmouth in the spring of 1977 and was
temporarily moored near the former Coast Guard base at Berkeley (now a
marina).  Initially there was talk of taking the Portsmouth out of its
cement mooring and placing the Hampton lightship in its place, but the costs
involved in this process did not allow for this plan.  Other locations for
the Hampton Lightship were considered but to no avail, so the ship was sold
in 1980.

(photos please note: Courtesy of the Lightship Portsmouth Museum.)

The photos were taken, according to the date on the back, in April 77'.

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