YEAR BUILT: 1930

BUILT AT: Charleston (SC)

APPROPRIATION: ?

BUILDER: Charleston Drydock & Machine Co

CONTRACT PRICE: $274,434

SISTER VESSELS: LV l00,113,114,115,116

DESIGN: Diesel-electric propelled; steel hull; steel deckhouses; 2 masts; smokestack amidships

LENGTH: 135' 3" (loa); BEAM: 30'0"; DRAFT: 13' 0"; TONNAGE: 630 displ

PROPULSION: Diesel-electric - one 350 HP electric motor driven by any or all of four 75 KW diesel engine/generator units; 350 SEP @ 300 RPM; max speed 10 knots, average 9 knots

ILLUMINATING APPARATUS: 375mm electric lens lantern at each masthead

FOG SIGNAL: Electric diaphragm horn (bi-directional) mounted on mainmast; hand operated bell

CONSTRUCTION NOTES - MODIFICATIONS - EQUIPMENT CHANGES & IMPROVEMENTS: LV 117-

Equipped with radio, radiobeacon, and submarine oscillator when built

STATION ASSIGNMENTS: LV 117

193l-l934: Nantucket Shoals (MA)

(Rammed and sunk on station May 15, 1934 - see Historical Notes)

HISTORICAL NOTES: LV 117-
1931: Feb 8, took aboard 8 man crew of fishing schooner ALOMA, sunk 5 ml from lightship; taken ashore by Coast Guard Feb 9-
1933: Jun 27, parted chain in gale, drifting 32 miles off station despite attempts to go ahead under power; regained station Jun 30 when weather moderated-
1934: Jan 6, in heavy fog, was sideswiped by SS WASHINGTON; radio antenna yards carried away and minor damage to hull plates-
1934: May 15, at 1006 in dense fog, rammed and sunk by British White Star Line SS OLYMPIC (sister to TITANIC) with loss of '7 of the 11 crew. Four men went down with the ship, 7 survivors being picked up by OLYMPIC. Three of the survivors died later of injuries and exposure. British Gov't later paid for construction of LV 112 / WAL 534 as reparation for this loss

More notes:

RETIRED FROM LIGHTSHIP DUTY: Not applicable; sunk while on station by collision with the British liner Olympic in 1934; AGE: 4

SUBSEQUENT DISPOSITION: Rammed and sunk on station May 15, 1934 with loss of 7 of the 11 crew aboard

COMMANDING OFFICERS: LV 117

1931-1934: David B Studley, Master (ashore when vessel was sunk)
1934: George Braithwaite, Mate (in command when vessel was sunk)

To Nantucket Lightship LV117_dive_2004

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Revised: 10/23/06.