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.