lightships
Anchored warning vessels
Lightships are vessels equipped with a powerful light, anchored in waters too deep or treacherous for a permanent lighthouse.
They serve the same navigational purpose—warning ships away from hazards or marking channels—but can be positioned where fixed structures cannot be built.
Most have been replaced by automated buoys or offshore platforms, making them largely historical: The old lightship has been converted into a floating museum.
Guiding light source
- channelPassage for transmission
- shoalShallow water hazard
- hazardSource of potential harm
- sandbarUnderwater ridge of sediment
fairway · mariner · anchorage · harbor · pilotage · buoy · seamark · lantern
English lighthouse and buoy authority
- AmbroseName meaning deathless
- NantucketMassachusetts island resort
- decommissionedRemoved from active service
- obsoleteNo longer in use
automated · nineteenth-century · maritime heritage · museum · preservation · retired · historic · replaced
Staying atop liquid
- mooredSecured by line
- hullOuter covering or frame
- anchorSecures ships to seabed
- crewWorking team aboard
tender · mast · foghorn · quarters · deck · displacement · stationed · relief
Electric light fixture
- opticOf the eye
- FresnelStepped-groove lens design
- radio beaconTransmitter broadcasting navigation signals
- diaphoneCompressed-air fog signal
reflector · kerosene · acetylene · electric · signal · visibility · rotation · candlepower
beacon
Guiding light source
sandbar · fairway · mariner · anchorage · harbor · pilotage · buoy · seamark · lantern · warning
Trinity House
English lighthouse and buoy authority
- AmbroseName meaning deathless
- NantucketMassachusetts island resort
- decommissionedRemoved from active service
obsolete · automated · nineteenth-century · maritime heritage · museum · preservation · retired · historic · replaced · Victorian
floating
Staying atop liquid
crew · tender · mast · foghorn · quarters · deck · displacement · stationed · relief · watchkeeper
lamp
Electric light fixture
- opticOf the eye
- FresnelStepped-groove lens design
- radio beaconTransmitter broadcasting navigation signals
diaphone · reflector · kerosene · acetylene · electric · signal · visibility · rotation · candlepower · mechanism
- lighthouseslightkeepers, beacons
- navigation aidscompass, maps, road signs, signs, GPS
- lighthouse partstower, fresnel lens, gallery, foghorn, fog signal
- nautical chartsnautical chart, nautical charts, sea chart, marine charts, sea charts