Brenton
Reef Lights History
On March 3, 1851 Congress
appropriated $15,000 for the first Brenton Reef Lightship. Silas
H. Cottrell & Company of Newport built the LV 14 or Ledyard.
It was launched on December 31, 1852 and was placed on Brenton
Reef the following March.
At just a 150 tons, some in the Lighthouse Board felt LV 14 was
too small for such an exposed station and wanted it replaced
by a larger ship. After just three years at Brenton Reef, LV
14 was replaced by LV-11.The new ship was placed on station on
July 1856. On October 19, 1865 a heavy gale tore LV 11 from its
anchor and pushed it on to some rocks. She was badly damaged
and had to be towed to Newport for repairs. After she was fixed,
LV 11 was placed back on station.
The third Brenton Reef Lightship, LV 39, replaced LV 11 on November
4, 1897. The 387-ton wooden vessel had previously been assigned
to Vineyard South in Massachusetts and Five-Fathom Bank in New
Jersey. In 1905 the battleship Iowa hit LV 39. The bow of the
light ship was damaged.
In March 1935 LV 39 left Brenton Reef for the last time. It was
towed to the lighthouse depot in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Its
crew picked up the new Brenton Reef Lightship, LV 102, and sailed
it back to back to Brenton Reef. The new lightship was built
of steel and was equipped with a 200 horsepower engine. It would
be the last lightship to serve on Brenton Reef. It was discontinued
on September 28, 1962 and was replaced by the Brenton Reef Offshore
Light Station. Before it left Rhode Island, it sailed into Newport
for an open house.
In the late 1950's the Coast Guard decided to replace lightships
with light towers that look like oil rigs. Brenton Reef Offshore
Light Station was the second tower to be built on the East Coast.
It was built by the Perini Corporation at cost of $465,000. The
unmanned tower received its power by an underwater cable from
Beavertail Light.
The Brenton Reef Light tower was removed in 1992. It had become
too expensive to maintain and service. It was replaced by a 9X35
LWR buoy.
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