''Light Vessel No.57'' (also known as ''Lightship No.57'' or ''LV57'') was an American

lightvessel A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, t ...

that was built in 1891 and served on the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

(Lake Michigan), west of the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connects ...

(the reef is now the site of the

Grays Reef Light The Grays Reef Light is a lighthouse located in northeastern Lake Michigan, west of Waugoshance Island in Bliss Township, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. History In the 1880s, as shipments of iron o ...

), from her construction to her retirement in 1924. She was partly dismantled, used as a clubhouse, and wrecked by a storm at some time after 1928. On December 16, 1996 the remains of ''Light Vessel No.57'' were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

''Light Vessel No.57'' was built in 1891 in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

Craig Shipbuilding '' Light Vessel No.57'' at Toledo, Ohio Craig Shipbuilding was a shipbuilding company in Long Beach, California. To support the World War I demand for ships Craig Shipbuilding shipyard switched over to military construction and built: US N ...

at a cost of $14,225. She was one of three federal lightvessels designed for use during the navigational season as an experiment to avoid the construction of a much more expensive permanent lighthouse. Her wooden hull was long, and was built of

white oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...

planks that were fastened together with iron spikes. Her

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

was wide, and her

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

was deep. She also had a gross register tonnage of 130 tons, with a

net register tonnage Net register tonnage (NRT, nrt, n.r.t.) is a ship's cargo volume capacity expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated by subtracting non-revenue-earning spaces i.e. spaces not available for carrying cargo, ...

of 101 tons. She had two masts, with clusters of three oil-burning lens lanterns that were hoisted onto each masthead. She had a top speed of . From 1891 to 1923 ''Light Vessel No.57'' was stationed at Gray's Reef, a ridge of rock west of the

Mackinac Bridge The Mackinac Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac, connecting the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge (familiarly known as "Big Mac" and "Mighty Mac") is the worl ...

in northeastern

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

. Due to the increased ship traffic in the area, it was decided that she would be moved to Gray's Reef to make the area safer.

Later history

''Light Vessel No.57'' was retired in 1923. In 1924 she was sold to the South Shore Yacht Club,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, and was no longer in the federal government's records. Later she was condemned, dismantled, and moved to Milwaukee. She lay in Norwegian Alley for several years. In 1928 ''Light Vessel No.57'' was taken to South Shore Beach, Milwaukee and used as a clubhouse until she was wrecked by a storm several years later. A November 28, 1926 issue of the ''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'' reported that ''Light Vessel No.57'' was bought by a junk dealer who "removed the pig iron and sold it with all else removable and salable."

Wreck of ''Light Vessel No.57''

The remains of ''Light Vessel No.57'' were discovered by divers along the shore, about south off the tip of South Shore Park. One of the divers reported that while most of the ship was buried under silt in of water, with some parts of her hull poking through the lake floor.

Legacy

In November 2018, the Sprecher Brewery released a beer named after ''Light Vessel No.57''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Light Vessel No.57 1891 ships Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Steamships of the United States Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast Ships built in Toledo, Ohio Wreck diving sites in the United States