Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - To this day, the only lightship crew to ever be lost to a storm on the Great Lakes is the six-man crew of Lightship Buffalo, who foundered during the "White Hurricane" on Nov. 10, 1913.
Built in 1912, Light Ship Buffalo (LV-82) was a 95-foot steel-hulled lightship stationed off Canada's Point Abino to safeguard one of the busiest maritime corridors in all of North America. She was anchored at Waverly Shoal off Point Abino in Eastern Lake Erie, an infamous underwater hazard located outside the Buffalo Harbor.
For Cpt. Hugh Williams and his tight-knit six-man crew (including brothers Andrew and Cornelius Leahy), duty aboard LV-82 meant enduring months of rolling swells, bitter isolation, and severe freshwater weather to ensure that commercial freighters, passenger steamers and merchant vessels safely navigated the approach to the Erie Canal and Port of Buffalo.
The Lightship Buffalo's enduring legacy of sacrifice was cemented on that November day when the catastrophic Great Lakes Storm struck the region with 80 mph hurricane-force winds, blinding blizzards and colossal 35-foot waves. While commercial ships desperately ran for safe harbors, the crew of the Lightship Buffalo stood fast at their mooring to keep their beacon burning for imperiled mariners.
Ultimately, the vessel foundered in 63 feet of water with all six crew on board.
Three years later, LV-82 was raised and refurbished, eventually returning to active duty on the waters of the Great Lakes until her decommissioning in the mid-1930s.
The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Eastern Great Lakes held a ceremony Tuesday honoring the six crew members lost that day 113 years ago:
- Cpt. Hugh Williams - Michigan
- Mate Andrew Leahy - Ohio
- Engineer Charles Butler - New York
- Asst. Engineer Cornelius Leahy - Ohio
- Seaman William Jensen - Michigan
- Cook Peter Mackey - New York
LV-82 remains the only lightship crew every lost to a storm on the Great Lakes
LV-82 remains the only lightship crew every lost to a storm on the Great Lakes
