Overfalls Lightship
Lewes Maritime History Trail
The Lightship Overfalls is one of the 179 ships
that servrd as floating lighthouses on America's
three coasts and the Great Lakes between 1820
and 1985. Lightships were used where it was not
feasible to build a lighthouse, possibly because
the water was too deep or the shoals were
constantly shifting. Each ship had a light for
visibility at night and some mechanism for making
noise in fog.
Several of these ships served in and around
Delaware Bay from 1823 to 1972, eventually being
replaced by either lighthouses or buoys.
Throughout this period the ships were constantly
being upgraded: from sail to mechanical propulsion,
from wood to steel construction, from oil lams to
electric lights, and a variety of improvements that
added to human safety and comfort. Even so,
lightship duty was hazardous for the crews because
the ships remained on station in severe storms
when all other vessels were advised to seek
shelter. In addition, the foghorns were deafening
for those on board and often led to permanent
hearing damage. Foghorns on the vessel in front
of you, for example, could be heard for up to
five miles.
Although the lightship, LV 118, did not serve
on the Overfalls station, she is similar to the last
ship that did. And she is an historic vessel in her
own right, serving on three stations on the New
England Coast from 1938 to 1972. In 1973, she was
brought to Delaware and given the name Overfalls
in honor of the lightship station closet to Lewes.
Marker is on Shipcarpenter Street near Pilottown Road, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
