Editing Lightship (section)

===Appearance===
[[Image:Lichtschip Breeveertien.jpg|thumb|left|[[Lightvessel No. 11|LV-11]] (originally British lightship ''Trinity House'') is docked in [[Rotterdam]], [[Netherlands]], as ''Breeveertien'' serving as a restaurant]]

[[Image:north carr light ship 1988.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The ''North Carr'' Lightship showing a large foghorn]]

Early lightvessels were equipped with [[Daymark|day markers]] at the tops of their masts, which were the first objects seen from an approaching ship. These operated both at night and in fog, from one hour before sunset to one hour after sunrise, and were in addition to the lights. The markers were primarily red and occasionally white, and their designs varied. Filled circles or globes, as well as pairs of inverted cones were the most common designs among them.

[[File:Huron Lightship early career.jpg|200px|thumb|United States lightship ''Huron'' ''circa'' 1922]]

For visibility purposes, most later lightships had bright red hulls that displayed the name of the station in white, upper-case letters; relief light vessels displayed the word RELIEF instead. Some vessels had hulls colored for specific purposes. For example, the [[Huron Lightship]] was painted black since she was assigned the black buoy side of the entrance to the Lake Huron Cut. From 1854 until 1860, the lightvessel that operated at [[Minots Ledge]], [[Massachusetts]], had a light yellow hull to increase contrast between the blue-green seas and the hills behind it.