The John Sebastian Lightship, currently the home of Cabot Cruising Club, was built in 1885 as a Light Vessel (LV 55) – a batch order for Trinity House of three (LB54, LV55 and LV59) by Charles Hill & Sons, Albion Yard, Bristol. Built in the same dock as the SS Great Britain, the hull was wood with iron beams. Without an engine, she was towed to the areas of greatest need and her crew lived there only to keep her light in good working order and make sure no ships floundered on the hazards she marked. She was a welcome sight for sailors on their way back into port.
When the Light Vessel was on Bristol Channel duty moored 12 miles out from Avonmouth, there was a tradition for members of the Cruising Club to visit, taking newspapers and groceries for the crew.
She remained in service until springing a leak in 1953, when she was towed to Barry Docks for repair. She was sold out of service in 1954 to Portishead for scrap where her lantern and metal work were removed. With no residual value, the vessel was set alight. She burned for days but did not succumb. She floundered and was abandoned where she lay. Just a deck and hull remained, but some saw the vision of a cosy clubhouse if they could just obtain the hull. Cabot Cruising Club bought it for £275.00 in 1954.
Working throughout the seasons, begging and borrowing tools and materials, Cabot Cruising Club gradually turned her from an empty, blackened shell to a usable space which opened in 1959. She has been maintained and improved by club members throughout the years and work continues. They called her the John Sebastian after the father and son who left these shores some 462 years earlier.
She is now the last remaining wooden lightship still afloat in the world.
The history of the John Sebastian is set out in ‘The John Sebastian Light Vessel 55 – A History’ collated by Jackie Corcoran and available on the Cabot Cruising Club website.