This lightvessel was built in 1914 by JI Thorneycroft shipyards in Southampton and decommissioned in 1984. She was moored at the notorious Calshot Spit sandbar at the entrance to Southampton water which lead to the liner and Container Docks. As such this plucky little ship has witnessed the arrival and departures of all the famous household name liners such as Queen Mary, Mauretania, Olympic Aquitania, United States etc to name but a few; that passed in her 60 years of sterling service to Trinity House.

She was thereafter laid up on dry land as a memorial at the newly formed Ocean Village Marina and adjacent shopping Mall in Southampton.

Alas priorities and cityscapes change… the shopping Mall has now been demolished and replaced with various luxury apartment blocks overlooking the Marina.

Meanwhile the sad but proud old lightship has been deteriorating with virtually nil maintenance. It was with this in mind a few years ago I decided to do a mini-photo survey of her before it was too late …-- with a view of some day making a small scratch built model of this vessel.

Meanwhile there are now plans afoot to preserve her seriously and back afloat as a centrepoint attraction for the new Cruise ship terminal within Southampton docks; so at least for now the future looks more upbeat then at the time of the taking of the photos.

To prevent unauthorised access by vandals etc the ship had been surrounded by a ‘temporary’ fence; this has not improved the visual experience much….

I have included a Wikipedia image of the lightship ashore in happier times and in better condition as well as the only internet image in colour I was able to find of the vessel on station—note the different colour scheme.

Additionally I scanned some 35mm film images I took at a few years previously; alas the camera and film quality do not compare with todays high res didgital cameras!!