Emblematic of the port of Le Havre and built in Graville in 1935, the lightboat was anchored offshore to guide ships, in storms or foggy weather, towards the entrance to the channel.
Also called lightships, lightships are part of the history of safety at sea. Complementary to land lighthouses, these lantern-carrying ships aim to signal to boats access to the port and the dangers: sandbanks , rocks, capes and currents. In the 18th century, several operated at the mouth of the Thames. The first two boats were built for the port of Le Havre in 1911-1912.
Built in 1935 by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée in Graville, the lightboat visible in Le Havre was then called the Dyck, named after the bank to which it was initially assigned. She is the first of a new generation with a wide hull, flat bottom and powerful engines. First anchored near Dunkirk, she emerged as a survivor of the Second World War and returned to Le Havre. Renamed Le Havre and recommissioned on July 5, 1950, she and her eight crew members spent a long career in the harbor in pairs with another ship which she relayed every two weeks.
Decommissioned on May 18, 1981, the lightboat was replaced by an automatic lightbuoy. The City of Le Havre bought it from the Lighthouses and Beacons service in 1986 to save it from destruction. She handed it over to the Maritime and Port Museum Association which is carrying out several restoration campaigns. Classified as a historic monument in 2017, the lightboat is today moored at Quai Renaud, Eure basin, alongside two other ships classified as historic monuments: the co-pilot Marie-Fernand (1894) and an American tugboat from the second World War.
Museum info: Maritime and Industrial Heritage
Address: Bassin de L'Eure - Quai Renaud, 76600 Le Havre, France