Name Light Vessel 78 Calshotspit

LV 78 was built in 1914 by J Thornycroft of Southampton for Trinity House. Her hull is made of iron and she was built for service at Calshot Spit at the entrance to the Port of Southampton where it acted as a floating lighthouse at the entrance to Southampton Water, guiding flying boats into their terminals and warning ships of sandbanks.  Six crew lived in cramped conditions keeping the light and foghorn operating and recording shipping movements and was replaced by a buoy in the mid-1960s.

She became familiar to generations of ocean travellers entering and leaving the port and, after service, she was transported by road to Ocean Village, Southampton Docks where she was an exhibit on dry land at the entrance to a dock redevelopment between 2010 and 2019.

On the 12th December 2019 she was moved to the Solent Sky Museum in Southampton.  The operation to move the lightship saw it travel 1.2km out of the docks and along to the museum on self-propelling rollers. Museum volunteers are now working on the vessel's restoration, with the eventual aim of her becoming part of a museum cafe.