Chesapeake Light Ship

Lightship 116 was commissioned in 1930 and initially assigned to Fenwick Island Shoals, Delaware, where it served until 1933, before being transferred to the Chesapeake Lightship Station off the coast of Virginia. From 1942 to 1945, during World War II, Lightship 116 was repurposed as an armed inspection vessel, patrolling the mouth of the Cape Cod Canal. Following the war, the vessel returned to the Chesapeake station, where it remained for two decades, until it was replaced by a Coast Guard Offshore Light Tower. Its final duty, from 1965 to 1970, was to mark the southern approaches to Delaware Bay. In 1971, Lightship 116 began a new chapter as a floating educational center operated by the National Park Service on the Potomac River. In 1982, it was added to the Baltimore Maritime Museum collection, where it continues to serve as a historic and educational exhibit. 

Pier 3- East Pratt Street Inner Harbor, MD (410) 539-1797