Editing Lightship (section)

====History====
The first United States lightship was established at [[Chesapeake Bay]] in 1820, and the total number around the coast peaked in 1909 with 56 locations marked. Of those ships, 168 were constructed by the [[United States Lighthouse Service]] and six by the [[United States Coast Guard]], which absorbed it in 1939. From 1820 until 1983, there were 179 lightships built for the U.S. government, and they were assigned to 116 separate light stations on four coasts (including the [[Great Lakes]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/maritime/|title=Maritime Heritage Program - National Park Service|website=www.nps.gov|access-date=21 February 2019}}</ref>

[[Image:Jsj-380-Light Ship Sandy Hook.jpg|thumb|right|Lightship #51 at [[Sandy Hook]], New Jersey, as it appeared in the 1890s.]]

The first United States lightships were small wooden vessels with without any propelling power. The first United States iron-hulled lightship was stationed at Merrill's Shell Bank, Louisiana, in 1847. Wood was still the preferred building material at the time due to its lower cost and ability to withstand shock loading. Wooden lightships often survived more than 50 years in northern waters, where the danger of rotting was reduced. Lightvessel 16 guarded Sandy Hook and [[Ambrose Channel|Ambrose]] stations for more than 80 years; she had both an inner hull and an outer hull with the space between was filled with salt to harden the wood and reduce decay. Several lightships built with composite wood and steel hulls in 1897 proved less durable than either wood or steel. The first modern steel lightship in United States service was lightvessel 44 built in 1882. One of the last United States wooden hulled lightships built, lightvessel 74, went into service at Portland, Maine, in 1902. The first United States lightships with steam engine propulsion were built in 1891 for service on the Great Lakes where seasonal ice required prompt evacuation of light stations to avoid destruction of the lightships.<ref name="proceedings">White, Richard D., Jr., LT USCG "Destination Nowhere - Twilight of the Lightship" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' March 1976 pp.67-68</ref>

The official use of lightships in the United States ended on March 29, 1985, when the [[United States Coast Guard]] decommissioned its last such ship, the ''Nantucket I''. Many lightships were replaced with [[Texas Tower (lighthouse)|Texas Towers]] or [[Lanby buoy|large navigational buoys]]{{Snd}}both of which are cheaper to operate than lightvessels. In fact, lighthouses often replaced lightships.<ref name="cmich.edu">{{cite web|url=https://www.cmich.edu/library/clarke/Pages/default.aspx|title=Clarke Home - Central Michigan University|website=www.cmich.edu|access-date=21 February 2019}}</ref>