Lost Lightship Sailors Memorial

The Lost Lightship Sailors Memorial honors United States Lightship Service sailors who died in the performance of duty. It pays tribute to all lightship sailors lost while serving fellow mariners and includes names added in 2014: John Walton of Craysfort Lightship LV-AA, Edward Walter Preston of LV 106 / 528 Relief, Charles G. Massey of LV 101 / WAL 539 Overfalls, and Raymond Woodrow Gifford Sr. of LV 110 / WAL 532 Relief. It recalls losses at Cross Rip in 1918, Nantucket Shoals in 1934, and Vineyard Sound in 1944, and includes the bell from the Vineyard lightship, which once warned ships of dangerous reefs near the entrances to Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound. On September 14, 1944, that lightship sank in a hurricane with the loss of all 13 men aboard, and nineteen years later the bell was raised by the Fairhaven Whalers Diving Club and presented to the Life Saving Museum of Cape Cod National Seashore. The memorial names the dead of Vineyard Lightship LV#73 lost September 14-15, 1944, and Nantucket Lightship LV#117 lost May 15, 1934, including George Brathwaite, later lost due to injuries. It also records other lightship losses: Five Fathom Bank Lightship LV#37 launch on April 22, 1874; Cross Ledge Lightship LV#19 launch on October 29, 1875; Five Fathom Station Relief LV#37 on August 24, 1893; Rush Bluff Lightship LV#46 on August 28, 1893; Hens and Chickens Lightship LV#2 launch in 1897; Buffalo Lightship LV#82 on November 10, 1913; Cross Rip Lightship LV#6 on February 5, 1918; Lightship LV#95 Relief in July 1938; Stonehorse Lightship LV#103 launch on May 18, 1955; Portland Lightship LV#111 on February 21, 1955; and Huron Lightship LV#103 launch on May 7, 1958.

Fairhaven, Massachusetts · United States