Name Light Vessel 18

The ex-Trinity House vessel LV18 is the last surviving example of a manned light vessel in British waters, which has been preserved in its original configuration and restored to a high standard of authenticity. The 650grt, 137ft long, steel-hulled LV18 was built in 1956 by Philip & Son of Dartmouth. As a result of Goodwin Sands disaster of November 1954, when an entire lightvessel crew perished during a storm, a new design for the last 5 vessels to be built incorporated new safety features such as watertight doors and a means of escape via the lantern tube. LV's 18 and 19 were built together on the Dartmouth slipways and went into service in 1958. She served with a crew of nine seamen on some of the most exposed stations around the coast before being laid up in 1994. 

LV18 was purchased by her present owner in 2002, The Pharos Trust, a charity set up to preserve this important piece of maritime heritage for her home port of Harwich Haven the operational headquarters of the Trinity House corporation. Financed by Haven Gateway Partnership in conjunction with Essex County and Tendring District councils, the vessel opened in 2011 on Harwich Quay as part of the Harwich Quayside Regeneration Scheme and forms a focal point on the waterfront of this historic maritime town. It has developed as a museum housing thousands of maritime artifacts sharing the experience of the heyday of British shipping and as a community resource. 

This unique historic vessel is the only surviving lightship not to have been stripped of its accommodation, still containing the original crew quarters, galley, mess room and six Gardner diesel generators to power the lantern, foghorns and ships equipment. It also houses one of the largest collections of pirate radio memorabilia that is accessible to the UK public – pirate radio was transmitted from similar vessels out at sea in the 1960s and beyond. LV18 was featured in the 2009 film The Boat That Rocked, about a pirate radio station. 

Update, January 2024: LV18 has been hit by a suspected arson attack. The Pharos Trust has launched a crowdfunder to help pay for restoration costs: https://www.gofundme.com/f/lv18-restoration-fund