Considering that lightships and the seamen who served on them are a thing of the past, I am attempting to preserve some of the memories I still possess, at age 83, of life aboard what essentially was a floating lighthouse. The last U.S. lightship was decommissioned in 1985. These vessels were replaced by more technologically advanced lighthouses and large navigational buoys.
I reported for duty on the lightship Relief in May 1956 at the age of 17.
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