Lightship Chesapeake, LV-116 / WAL 538

(moved to) Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD, cir. 1930

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This 133 foot ship was built in 1930 by the Charleston Drydock and Machine Company in Charleston, South Carolina for a contract price of $274,434. Powered by a 350 HP diesel electric engine, in her heyday she was capable of 10 knots. Like most other lightships, she was assigned to several stations throughout her career and would have born the name of that station during the assignment: 1930 - 1933: Fenwick Island Shoal (DE); 1933 - 1942: Chesapeake (VA); 1942 - 1945: Examination Vessel, WW II (during which she was armed with two 20 mm cannon); 1945 - 1965: Chesapeake (VA); and 1965 - 1970: Delaware (DE). She was the last of six lightships assigned to the Chesapeake lightship station at the mouth of the Bay where she worked until being replaced by the current "Texas tower" style Chesapeake Light Station. Upon retirement, she took back the name "Chesapeake" and was transferred to the National Park Service and put on display. In 1982 Chesapeake was moved to Baltimore's Inner Harbor where she is docked as a living museum along with the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse, U.S. Coast Guard cutter Taney, WWII submarine USS Torsk, and the 1855 USS Constellation. She is now a National Historic Landmark.

Location: Baltimore Inner Harbor 39.2836°N 76.6054°W
Access: See Historic Ships in Baltimore
Date Built: Commissioned 1930
Cost: $274,434
Builder: Charleston Drydock and Machine Company
Status: Decommissioned and moved to a museum setting