Spurn Lightship: The iconic Yorkshire ship which served as a floating lighthouse for decades
This iconic Humber vessel, familiar to several generations of sailors on the estuary and along the Yorkshire coast, was built in 1927 by the Goole Shipbuilding and Repairing Co. then anchored 4.5 miles (7.2km) east of the Spurn peninsula to serve as a floating lighthouse on the busy shipping lanes. It served for 48 years as a navigation aid primarily for cargo vessels using Humber ports until decommissioned in 1975.
It served for 48 years as a navigation aid primarily for cargo vessels using Humber ports until decommissioned in 1975.
Named prosaically the LV No. 12, the 100ft (30.5m) craft was commissioned by the Humber Conservancy as the first-ever lightship in that maritime position.
At the beginning of World War II she was moved to a position off Grimsby to mark a submerged steel mesh anti-submarine defence boom that was constructed across the Humber but returned to her pre-war duties in May 1945.
In the severe North Sea storm of 31st January 1953, which wreaked havoc down the east coast and is said to have been our worst natural disaster of the 20th century, the LV No. 12 was driven off her anchor and drifted onto shoals a dozen miles to the south where her reserve anchors managed to hold fast.
After the storm she returned to her station.
Her black livery was replaced with red in 1959, when she was renamed the Bull and reassigned as a marker of potential sandbank hazards known as the Bull Shallows in the mouth of the Humber, and a new lightship named the LV. No. 14, took on her role off Spurn.
In the 1980s the LV No.12 was acquired by Hull City Council, her original black paintwork restored, and berthed in Hull Marina as a heritage attraction.
As she approaches her 100th anniversary a more recent 14-month restoration as part of the £30m Hull Maritime Project has transformed the lightship into a floating museum.