Vineyard Sound Lightship (LV-73)
Lightship · United States · Lost 1944 · Buzzards Bay & Vineyard Sound
The lightship marking the entrance to Vineyard Sound foundered at her mooring in the 1944 hurricane, taking twelve of her Coast Guard crew down with her.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Lightship LV-73 marked the Vineyard Sound station at the meeting of Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound when the Great Atlantic Hurricane struck on September 14, 1944. Residents ashore at Westport reported strange lights near her position that night; by morning she was gone. Wartime secrecy delayed confirmation of her fate until Navy divers found her wreck on September 23, with her mooring chains still fast, showing she sank on station rather than drifting off. Twelve of her seventeen-man crew died; five who were on leave survived.
Vessel
- 1901
- LV-73 / WAL-503
- Spedden Shipbuilding Company
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Steel
- 123.75 ft
- 28.5 ft
- 693
- Steam, single screw, with auxiliary sail as built
- United States Lighthouse Service / United States Coast Guard
Loss
- September 14, 1944
- Storm
- Three miles west of Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts
- Buzzards Bay / Vineyard Sound approaches
- Not established
- Not established
- 17
- 12
- Warrant Officer Edgar Sevigny
The Wreck Today
- 46-80
- Bow and stern intact as of 1963 survey; masts and funnel sheared off; sand has filled the engine room.
- Not established
- September 23, 1944 (Navy divers); relocated with side-scan sonar in 1963
- U.S. Government property; salvage prohibited
Position
- 41.397° N 71.020° W
- Surveyed position
- Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts
Position as published by the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources, citing NOAA AWOIS.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources
Full loss narrative, casualty count, coordinates, discovery, and construction history.
NOAA Automated Wreck and Obstruction Information System
Wreck position.
