Lightship LV 605 - Relief
Lightship 605 - now called Relief - is one of six all-welded lightships constructed for the U.S. Coast Guard. She served for 25 years as a floating lighthouse and communications platform. Her first duty station was as Overfalls lightship station off Delaware. In 1959, she was transferred to the Blunts (reef) station off Cape Mendocino, California. In 1969, she became Relief, relieving all West Coast lightships when they left station for overhaul. She was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1975, and given to the City of Olympia, Washington.
Relief was purchased from the City of Olympia by Mr. Alan Hosking of Woodside, California in 1979. He donated her to the U.S. Lighthouse Society in December 1986.
In February of 1987, Society volunteers sailed the ship under her own power from Half Moon Bay back to Oakland and docked her at the Ninth Avenue Terminal in the Oakland Estuary. She remained at that location for a period of 15 years, undergoing maintenance and restoration to her 1951 appearance.
The ship was designated listed as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 1990. She was opened to the public as a floating museum in October 2002.
Relief is now berthed at Jack London Square in Oakland, California and is open to the public most Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 4 pm. The ship can be contacted at 510-272-0544.
| Built | 1950, Rice Brothers Shipyard |
| Length | 128 feet |
| Beam | 30 feet |
| Draft | 11 feet |
| Displacement | 617 tons |
| Speed | 11.5 knots |
| Range | 22,000 miles |
| Fuel Capacity | 49,496 gallons |
| Water Capacity | 13,028 gallons |
| Crew | 1 Chief Warrant Officer 18 enlisted |
| Propulsion | Atlas Imperial 8-cylinder diesel 550 horsepower@ 750 rpm; single screw |
| Main Lantern | 450,000 CP |
| Fog Signal | Twin F2T diaphones mounted aft of pilot house |
| Station Assignments | Overfalls DE 1951-1960 Blunts Reef CA 1960-1969 Relief (West Coast) 1969-1975 |
Additional Information:
United States Lighthouse Society
Booklet of General Plans (PDF)
Lightships in the U.S.
USCG Lightship Sailors Association
U.S. Coast Guard Lightships