lightvessel

thumb|right|Lightship Finngrundet (1903)|Lightship Finngrundet, now a [[museum ship in Stockholm. The day markers can be seen on the masts.]] thumb|right|Fehmarnbelt Lightship|Fehmarnbelt Lightship, now a [[museum ship in Lübeck]] thumb|Bürgermeister O´Swald II was the world's largest manned lightship, the last lightship at position Elbe 1. In the picture on a visit to [[Ystad 12 July 2017.]] A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse in areas deemed unsuitable for proper lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the first modern lightship was invented by Robert Hamblin in 1734 and was located off the Nore sandbank at the mouth of the River Thames in London, England. Lightships have since been rendered obsolete by advancing lighthouse construction techniques, and by large automated navigation buoys (LANBY).

==Construction== thumb|right|Former Belgian lightship West-Hinder II, now a museum ship in [[Zeebrugge]] thumb|left|Some lightships, like this one in Amsterdam, were also equipped with [[foghorns.]]