LV-118 was built by the Rice Brothers of East Boothbay, Maine in 1938. The contract price was $223,900 and was the last lightship built for the U.S. Lighthouse Service.
The lightship first served at the CORNFIELD light station off Cornfield Point near Old Saybrook Connecticut until 1957. In 1956 her hull designation and number were changed to WAL-539.
In 1958 she was re-assigned to the CROSS RIP light station in Nantucket Sound off the coast of Massachusetts. She remained there until 1962.
In 1962 she was moved to the BOSTON light station until 1972. The ship was decommissioned in November of 1972.
She was then donated to the Lewes Historical Society in August of 1973 and put on display at the Lewes Delaware waterfront. Although this lightship was never assigned to the OVERFALLS light station, following the standard of marking the sides of lightships with the name of their duty station, the closest lightship station to Lewes DE is the OVERFALLS station that guarded the Overfalls Shoal.
The Overfalls has undergone extensive restoration and is open for public tours. For tour information and admission prices, visit the Overfalls Foundation web site.
In 2011 Lightship 118-539, OVERFALLS, was designated a National Historic Landmark.
Top photo taken August, 2012 by T. Pasek. Bottom photo September, 2007 by A. Pasek.
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