hi guys,, a group was recently formed on facebook from people living in Neath who have taken an interest in LV72, https://www.facebook.com/groups/787159187984566/
we are trying to find out more on her history(still waiting to hear back from trinity house) if anyone here can add to it or maybe has photos of her in service, please get in touch,
heritage lottery funding could be available, but there are certain criterias that have to be met,, the fact that lv72 is already on the historic ships register and a dday veteran is a good start,,, if funding is applied for and approved the next criterias to get it are harder,, basically lv72 would need to offer the community and people who use her something in return, so an end purpose for the vessel needs to be agreed before funding can be applied for, at the moment it seems they wouldn’t give funding just to carry out an inspection to see if she can be saved in the first place. but will keep enquiring,, provisional costs for an inspection where she sits, seem to be in the region of 10-15k, this is the history we have compiled so far,
Built by John Crown & Sons of Sunderland in 1903 this steel Light Vessel has a number of claims to fame, from the time of its first commission for Trinity House in 1903 until 1944 it served on at least three stations including the Shipwash station off Dover until it was Closed in 1912.
LV72 was one of two Light Vessels which saw service during the Normandy landings, LV68 carrying the name KANSAS and LV72 carrying the name JUNO the vessels marked a safe passage through a minefield for the landing craft on route to the invasion beaches.
Juno (No. 72) Lightvessel was established on 18 June 1944 remaining on station until 27 January 1945 when she was towed to Le Havre for damage repairs following various collisions and heavy seas.
One month later she was relaid in a new position at a station named Seine. On 3 March 1946 she was replaced by a French Light Vessel named Le Havre and towed to Harwich
Following the war the vessel passed through a number of different stations firstly Smith Knoll Station off East Anglia (1946-49) before moving south to Varne Station in the English Chanel (1949-53).
Exceptionally high tides at the end of January 1953 flooded Immingham Graving Dock,.whilst in the dry dock, the Trinity House light vessel VARNE- LV72 filled and turned over.(presumably she was in for repairs before her next posting)
In 1953 the vessel began its longest posting on the English and Welsh Grounds where she would stay until 1972 apart from the Evening of Nov 30th 1954 when her anchor chain parted and drifted off station and tugs were required to reposition her before she ran aground
The vessel was laid up at the Trinity House berth in Swansea in 1972 and was decommissioned and sold the following year.
When sold she was the oldest vessel in the Trinity House fleet.
The vessel was bought by the Steel Supply Co who intended to scrap the her having arrived in the river Neath on 30th May 1973. Her new owners decided against scrapping the vessel and had her painted yellow, and for a short time she was used as the company’s office. Unfortunately this was short lived and the vessel has been left to slowly rust away. There was at one point a plan to convert the vessel into a floating night club but it didn’t come to fruition.
Apparently its a unique light vessel,
Optics- originally equipped with Catoptric 9-2W oil lamps, they were later replaced with electric lamps in 1948, however the rotational gear was left untouched
Fog horn : Siren, powered by 2 – 15 hp Hornsby Oil engines, driving air pumps, after conversion “F” Diaphone with 4 – 5 mile range
making the vessel possibly the only light vessel powered by both Oil and Electricity
Technical data
Length: 116 feet (ca. 35,36 m)
Beam: 24 feet (ca. 7,20 m)
Draught: 15 feet (ca. 4,50 m)
Displacement: 257 t
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