Lightship No. 57 US Lv57 – Lake Michigan Lightship Shipwreck (1924)

Shotline Diving Wreck Profile

• Name: Lightship No. 57
• Type: Lightship
• Year Built: 1891
• Builder: Blythe Craig Shipbuilding Company
• Dimensions: Length 90 ft (27.43 m); Beam 20 ft (6.1 m); Depth of hold 8 ft (2.44 m)
• Registered Tonnage: 130 tons
• Depth at Wreck Site: 3.7 m / 12 ft
• Location: South Shore Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Coordinates: N 43° 00.092' / W 087° 53.130'
• Official Number: None after government disposal
• Original Owners: U.S. Light House Board, 12th District
• Number of Masts: Two-masted schooner rig

Wreck Location Map

Vessel Type

• Class & Use: U.S. Lighthouse Service self-propelled wooden lightship
• Rig: Two-masted schooner rig with spencer sail for riding
• Propulsion: Steam screw, single propeller
• Speed: 8 knots maximum
• Hull: White oak, wood-framed, iron-spike fastened

Description

Lightship No. 57 (LV57) was a wooden, two-masted, steam-propelled lightship designed to act as a floating lighthouse. She was part of an experimental trio (LV55, LV56, LV57) constructed to reduce the cost of permanent lighthouse construction by maintaining a mobile lighted station during the navigational season.

Notable construction details:

• White oak planking with 5/8″ iron spike fastening
• Two masts for daymarks; lanterns hoisted to mastheads
• Fog signal: 6″ steam whistle and hand-operated bell
• Anchor system: 5-ton sinker with 2-inch chain
• Initial lighting: Oil-burning lens lanterns; later refitted with fog and submarine bells

History

• Builder: Blythe Craig Shipbuilding Company
• Location Built: Toledo, Ohio
• Year Launched: 1891
• Owner/Operator: U.S. Light House Board, 12th District
• Station: Grays Reef, Lake Michigan (18 mi west of present Mackinac Bridge)

Operational Career:

• 1891–1923: Served without major incident at Grays Reef Station
• Function: Warned mariners of dangerous rocky ridge, assisted ships in distress, self-relocated in heavy weather
• Value at Construction: $14,225
• Last Duty Year: 1923 (Replaced by Lightship 61)

Significant Incidents

• 1924: Retired and sold for $465 to Milwaukee scrap dealer Louis Harris
• Pig iron ballast and other removable material salvaged
• Hull abandoned and repurposed as clubhouse at South Shore Beach, Milwaukee
• Late 1920s: Storms damaged and partially sank the vessel against the 1913 South Shore seawall
• Ultimately buried under park landfill south of Russell Avenue

Final Disposition

Current Status:

• Buried under the shoreline at South Shore Park, Milwaukee
• Lies with bow north and stern south; depth 6–12 ft (1.8–3.7 m)
• Discovered in 1993 via diver observation; now protected under sediment and landfill

Current Condition & Accessibility

Condition:

• Buried in sand and silt
• Remains largely intact but inaccessible under landfill
• Recognized as Wisconsin’s only surviving lightship wreck

Resources & Links

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Lightship 57 is the only surviving lightship wreck in Wisconsin waters, representing a unique transitional period in Great Lakes navigation history. As the first generation of self-propelled U.S. lightships, it demonstrated the shift from fixed lighthouses to mobile aids to navigation for treacherous areas like Grays Reef.

While inaccessible today under Milwaukee’s shoreline landfill, the wreck holds high archaeological and historical value, providing insight into late 19th-century U.S. Lighthouse Service vessel design and the evolution of floating navigational aids on the Great Lakes.