The most dangerous place to be had to have been on one of these lightships. Talk about being a stationary target.
From
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/Lightship_Index.html.
"Without regard to frequent minor bumps, sideswipes and near-misses,
150 more serious collisions with lightships are documented. Most of these involved sailing vessels, but long tows of multiple barges accounted for a sizeable number. Collision damage ranged from superficial to severe, and, in at least one case, the lightship came out unscathed, with the colliding vessel going down nearby. On another occasion when a lightship was struck by a passing vessel, the impact was sufficient to knock the on-watch lightship crew from their feet, and shatter all 16-lamp chimneys in the masthead lanterns."
A sampling:
LV 68- [1897-1930: Fire Island (NY) about 29 NMs due east of Ambrose Channel LV] - 1916: May 8, rammed by SS PHILADELPHIAN at 0500; side plating cut and stove in to depth of 2 feet; crew shifted coal and swung out boats filled with water to heel ship and reduce leakage. Towed by PHILADELPHIAN toward Ambrose lightship, then picked up by tender PANSY and towed to Depot. Station marked by tender until relief vessel arrived. Mate, Engineer, 3 firemen, and 2 seamen were commended by Secretary of Commerce for their prompt and effective action. 1924: Mar 30, rammed by SS CASTILLIAN opening large hole in port quarter, temporarily patched with tarps and planks and steamed to Depot; new LV 108, then being readied for Five Fathom, was hurriedly painted and placed on station temporarily Mar 31 until replaced by a relief vessel.
LV 111 / WAL 533- 1927 January 6: placed on Northeast End (NJ), replacing Relief LV 79; remained assigned until station discontinued Aug 31, 1932-Thereafter served as shown under Station Assignments. 1935 September 17: collided bow-to-bow with the liner SS Santa Barbara, sustained damage above the waterline.
LV 117- 1931: Feb 8, took aboard 8 man crew of fishing schooner ALOMA, sunk 5 ml from lightship; taken ashore by Coast Guard Feb 9-
1933: Jun 27, parted chain in gale, drifting 32 miles off station despite attempts to go ahead under power; regained station Jun 30 when weather moderated. 1934: Jan 6, in heavy fog, was sideswiped by SS WASHINGTON; radio antenna yards carried away and minor damage to hull plates. 1934: May 15, at 1006 in dense fog,
rammed and sunk by British White Star Line SS OLYMPIC (sister to TITANIC) with loss of 7 of the 11 crew. Four men went down with the ship, 7 survivors being picked up by OLYMPIC. Three of the survivors died later of injuries and exposure. British Gov't later paid for construction of LV 112 - WAL 534 as reparation for this loss.
The Nantucket Lightship #117 was riding at anchor in 192 feet of water off Nantucket Shoals. Its horn boomed into the fog to warn away the trans-Atlantic shipping that passed nearby. Unseen by sailors aboard the Nantucket was the 47,000-ton British luxury liner Olympic. Steering to the lightship’s radio beacon signal, the ocean liner intended to alter course at the last moment and pass close by the Nantucket. On the bridge of the Olympic, someone miscalculated. The liner, sister ship to the Titanic, suddenly materialized out of the fog; its towering bow hung poised like the blade of a guillotine, then severed the lightship in two. Seven of the Nantucket’s 11-man crew died in the collision. In response to the tragedy, the British government replaced the Nantucket with a new lightship [LV112], one resembling a miniature battleship. Its hull was fashioned from armor plate, enclosing a maze of 43 watertight compartments. [She is currently at the U.S. Lighthouse Museum in Staten Island, NY (as of 2006).]
"
Besides the Nantucket in 1934, four other lightships were sunk as the result of being rammed. Fog was a factor in many of these collisions, however most occurred under conditions of reasonably good visibility. Vessels attempting to cross the bow of the lightship without making due allowance for current and leeway were found to be the usual cause."
If not collisions, dangerous weather took its toll. Just a sampling:
Survivors from Five Fathom Lightship #37, which took four men to the bottom with it, told of how their ship foundered off Five Fathom Bank, N.J. after an army of mountainous waves marched across its bulwarks, tore off its ventilators and hatch covers and filled it with water through the resulting deck openings. There were no survivors, however, when Buffalo Lightship #82, located near Buffalo, N.Y., foundered in a gale that swept across Lake Erie in November, 1913. Cross Rip Lightship #6 left no survivors or messages when it vanished off Massachusetts with all hands Feb. 5,1918. Vineyard Sound Lightship #73, which foundered during a 1944 hurricane with the loss of all hands. In December 1936, a 100-mph gale assailed the Swiftsure Lightship #113, anchored in the Strait of Juan de Fuca off the Washington coast.
