Light Vessel 93
{{Short description|1938 UK lightship}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
|infobox caption=Light Vessel 93 |display title=ital }} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Cmglee Trinity Buoy Wharf lunar clock (cropped to light vessel 93).jpg |Ship image size= |Ship caption=At Trinity Buoy Wharf in 2012 |image alt= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= |Ship flag= |Ship owner=*Trinity House (1938–2004)
|Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Philip and Son (Dartmouth, Devon) |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=1938 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service=*(as lightship): 1939–2004
|Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit=*Renovated 1980, 1996
|Ship stricken= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= |Ship status=Extant as of 2024 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type=*Lightship (as originally built) |Ship tonnage=519 gross |Ship displacement= |Ship tons burthen= |Ship length={{cvt|134|ft}}. |Ship beam={{cvt|25|ft}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft= |Ship depth={{cvt|15|ft}} |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship propulsion=None |Ship crew= |Ship notes= }} |
Light Vessel 93 (sometimes known as Lightship 93) was a lightship of Trinity House in England, currently used as a photography studio. She was built in Dartmouth, Devon, in 1938 and served on stations including Galloper sand bank, the River Thames, Goodwin Sands, Inner Dowsing, Sunk Sands and Foxtrot 3. She was sold to Michele Turriani in 2004 and converted into a studio operating at Royal Victoria Dock in London. Turriani attempted to sell the vessel from 2020. In 2024 Light Vessel 93 was moved to King George V Dock.
Trinity House service
Light Vessel 93 was built in 1938 by Philip and Son at Dartmouth, Devon.{{cite web |title=Light Vessel 93 |url=https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/2872/light-vessel-93 |website=National Historic Ships |access-date=30 October 2024}} She entered service in 1939 with Trinity House, the body responsible for operating maritime navigation aids in England and Wales. She was one of the "Nineties" class of light vessel built in the years before and following the Second World War.{{cite book |last1=Renton |first1=Alan |title=Lost Sounds: The Story of Coast Fog Signals |date=2001 |publisher=Dundurn |isbn=978-1-870325-83-7 |page=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qp_GpRyKoD0C |language=en}} Light Vessel 93 measures {{convert|134|ft}} in length, {{convert|25|ft}} in beam and {{convert|15|ft}} in depth. She has a gross tonnage of 519. She has a heavy-duty hull made of rivetted {{convert|22|mm|adj=on}} thick steel.{{cite news |last1=Clover |first1=Jack |title=Lighthouse ship that played host to a Bond girl for sale for £595k |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/celebrity-homes/floating-london-lighthouse-sale-celebrity-photoshoot-studio-olga-kurylenko-b953121.html |access-date=30 October 2024 |work=The Standard |date=1 September 2021 |language=en}} She had no means of propulsion and was positioned by tugs and heavy-duty anchors.
Light Vessel 93 first served as a marker on the Galloper sand bank in the North Sea, off Suffolk. From 1947 to 1953 she was positioned on the River Thames and used to monitor for naval mines, a legacy of the Second World War. Afterwards Light Vessel 93 returned to sea at the Galloper station and at East Goodwin, marking the Goodwin Sands off Kent. In 1971 her steering shelter was replaced by Swan Hunter, who also carried out a renovation in 1980. In 1996 she was further renovated by Holman & Sons of Penzance. Light Vessel 93 was converted to solar power in 1998 and afterwards served to mark the Inner Dowsing sandbank off The Wash; at Sunk Sands off Harwich and at Foxtrot 3, marking a navigation point in the English Channel. Light Vessel 93 left service in 2004 and was sold to a private buyer.
Private ownership
The purchaser of the vessel in 2004 was photographer Michele Turriani who converted it into a photographic studio.{{cite news |last1=Bennett |first1=Rory |title=London 6 bedroom houseboat that has hosted celebrities on sale for £595,000 |url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/property/iconic-6-bedroom-houseboat-used-23405262 |access-date=30 October 2024 |work=My London |date=19 March 2022 |language=en}} Four of the original crew cabins were converted into bedrooms and other spaces converted into two further bedrooms and a large bathroom, with 19th-century copper bath. The {{convert|75|sqm|adj=on}} former engine room was converted into a studio space. Turriani also fitted stained glass to the former light tower, which sits {{convert|45|ft}} above water level. It operated as a studio from the Royal Victoria Dock in London and has been used to photograph the Arctic Monkeys, Mumford and Sons, Andrew Garfield, Daniel Radcliffe, Jessie J, Billie Piper, and Dermot O'Leary. It has also featured in photoshoots for World of Interiors, Elle Décor and twice for Vogue.{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Gary |title=London's Famous Houseboats that You Wish to Come Home to |url=https://www.prestigeonline.com/th/leisure/yachting/london-houseboats-river-thames/ |access-date=30 October 2024 |work=Prestige Online - Thailand |date=27 January 2021 |language=en-TH}}
In 2020 Turriani listed the vessel for sale with a guide price of £700,000. By 2022 it remained unsold and the guide price had been reduced to £595,000. By 2024 the vessel was no longer for sale.{{cite web |title=Lightship Houseboat For Sale, 40.84m, 1939 |url=https://london.boatshed.com/lightship_houseboat-boat-324714.html |website=boatshed.com |access-date=1 November 2024}} In May 2024 the vessel was relocated to King George V Dock to make way for a proposed footbridge.{{cite web |title=LightShip 93 |url=https://docklockandriver.wordpress.com/tag/lightship-93/ |website=Dock, Lock and River Blog |access-date=1 November 2024 |language=en |date=6 June 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline|Trinity House Lightvessel No. 93}}