There are no Lightships on duty any more.  Automated beacons have replaced them all.  But ships like the Chesapeake were once a common sight along our shores, marking the entrances to channels and warning of hazards to navigation.  These ships also provided weather information and helped in sea rescues.

Built in 1930 and designated, WLV-538, The Lightship Chesapeake marked  the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware Bays for almost 50 years.  Drafted into the Second World War, she was fitted with two rapid firing 20mm guns and served as harbor patrol until peace returned.  She remained in service until 1971.

That year she was transferred to the National Park Service, which used her as a sea-going classroom.  In 1982 she was turned over to the city of Baltimore, and in 1988 became part of the Baltimore Maritime Museum. 

The 133-foot ship has a beam of 30 feet, carried a crew of 16 and has a 1000 watt lamp on her masthead. 

The ship was held in position by huge anchors, the main one, a mushroom anchor, weighed 7500 pounds.

The Lightship Chesapeake is one of four exhibits of the Baltimore Maritime Museum located at the Inner Harbor.  The other ships on display are the USS Torsk, a World War Tow Submarine, the US Coast Guard Cutter Taney and the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse.

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