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The ex-Trinity House vessel LV18 is the last surviving example of a manned light vessel in British waters, which has been preserved in its original configuration and restored to a high standard of authenticity. The 650grt, 137ft long, steel-hulled LV18 was built in 1956 by Philip & Son of Dartmouth. As a result of Goodwin Sands disaster of November 1954, when an entire lightvessel crew perished during a storm, a new design for the last 5 vessels to be built incorporated new safety features such as watertight doors and a means of escape via the lantern tube. LV's 18 and 19 were built together on the Dartmouth slipways and went into service in 1958. She served with a crew of nine seamen on some of the most exposed stations around the coast before being laid up in 1994.
LV18 was purchased by her present owner in 2002, The Pharos Trust, a charity set up to preserve this important piece of maritime heritage for her home port of Harwich Haven the operational headquarters of the Trinity House corporation. Financed by Haven Gateway Partnership in conjunction with Essex County and Tendring District councils, the vessel opened in 2011 on Harwich Quay as part of the Harwich Quayside Regeneration Scheme and forms a focal point on the waterfront of this historic maritime town. It has developed as a museum housing thousands of maritime artifacts sharing the experience of the heyday of British shipping and as a community resource.
This unique historic vessel is the only surviving lightship not to have been stripped of its accommodation, still containing the original crew quarters, galley, mess room and six Gardner diesel generators to power the lantern, foghorns and ships equipment. It also houses one of the largest collections of pirate radio memorabilia that is accessible to the UK public – pirate radio was transmitted from similar vessels out at sea in the 1960s and beyond. LV18 was featured in the 2009 film The Boat That Rocked, about a pirate radio station.
Update, January 2024: LV18 has been hit by a suspected arson attack. The Pharos Trust has launched a crowdfunder to help pay for restoration costs: https://www.gofundme.com/f/lv18-restoration-fund
Launched at the yard pf Philip & Sons, Dartmouth to Trinity House adnd placed on station at Saint Gowan
Served at various stations wiht a crew of up to nine
Major refit, including the removal of the mizzen mast andaddition of the helideck
Retired from service and used as an offshore support vessel
Sold to Sea Containers Ltd as a potential visitor centre
Chartered to Tony O'Neil for restoration and first used as a mother ship for revival broadcasts of offshore radio
Radio Caroline, for one month off Harwich
Radio MI Amigo off Harwich
Radio MI Amigo and Harwich Community radio
Pharos Trust established as a charity to preserve LV18
BBC radio pirate radio Essex, off Harwich began
Chartered to Richard Curtis Film Company as Radio Sunshine
Opened as a permanent visitor attraction on Harwich Quay, £460,000 funded by Haven Gateway Partners
Radio MI Amigo
BBC pirate radioEssex, marking 50th Anniversary of marine offenses act
60th anniversary of the launch of LV18
Travelled to Ipswich to promote Turn the Tide to Plastics Project
Opening of a new audio visual exhibition funded by Harwich Haven Authority
Radio MI Amigo trial medium wave broadcast via Carillon Radio transmitters
If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk
National Historic Ships UK acknowledges the financial support of its sponsors