# Spurn Lightvessel



## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

Anybody know the call sign of Spurn Light vessel. on station about 1959 to 1985.


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## John Leary (Mar 30, 2005)

Tai Pan
From the ITU List of Radiodetermination and Special Service Stations 1966, it is given as SL.
Hope that helps
Regards
John


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

John Leary said:


> Tai Pan
> From the ITU List of Radiodetermination and Special Service Stations 1966, it is given as SL.
> Hope that helps
> Regards
> John


That would be the DF beacon characteristic, I think - not the radio call sign.

John T


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## Bob S (Jul 12, 2004)

She's preserved at Hull, here's a photo I took last year.

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1187508

Any idea why she is painted black? Maybe there is a website with more information.

Regards

Bob


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## Moulder (Aug 19, 2006)

trotterdotpom said:


> That would be the DF beacon characteristic, I think - not the radio call sign.
> 
> John T


I wouldn't have thought she would have been assigned a full radio callsign - would there have been any other radio equipment onboard other than the DF broadcast transmitter?

Steve.
(Thumb)


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## bobharrison2002 (Apr 12, 2008)

The following link has the original call sign as MMH 

http://www.fotothing.com/T1MELESS/photo/4294902264032e4bd9d28e3865c2661d/

Bob


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

There is nothing listed to any Lightvessel in the 1963 ITU List of Call Signs. Three letter call signs are usually Coast Stations. 

There must have been some form of communication and therefore some sort of radio installation apart from the DF beacons. Though just because they don't seem to be listed, doesn't mean that they didn't have a radio call sign

David
+


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Moulder said:


> I wouldn't have thought she would have been assigned a full radio callsign - would there have been any other radio equipment onboard other than the DF broadcast transmitter?
> 
> Steve.
> (Thumb)


There must have been RT on the vessel, just for communication with the crew. She was on station until 1975, so that may have become VHF by then.

The call sign MMH is mentioned on another site, but that was used back in the '30s when communications were probably by radiotelegraphy. Being in a fixed position she may have been classed as a "coast station". Another site gives the call sign GOMMH. I thought all 5 letter callsigns were used by aircraft. This site is relating to a radio amateur hook up of some sort but I can't relocate it.

I recall using Lighthouse RT equipment and all that was ever used was the name of the Light. However, I was under the impression that all licenced radio transmitters were issued a callsign.

Passing the vessel, I too often wondered why she was black, but put it down to the fact that Humber Conservancy Commission ran it rather than Trinity House. Maybe it was to match Spurn Lighthouse which was half black, half white. The lighthouse was Trinity House though.

Maybe we have a member in the Hull area who can ring up the museum and satisfy everyone's curiosity.

John T


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## Moulder (Aug 19, 2006)

bobharrison2002 said:


> The following link has the original call sign as MMH
> 
> http://www.fotothing.com/T1MELESS/photo/4294902264032e4bd9d28e3865c2661d/
> 
> Bob


Ah thats a very interesting page - confirms that a crew was onboard and that she had a radio installation. The 3 letter callsign would be ok - I seem to recall the Met Ships that were on station had 3 character calls?

Indeed, if anyone in the Hull area could visit her at the marina then perhaps the callsign is on a bulkhead somehwere?


Steve.
(Thumb)


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## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

Thanks all. one of our ROA members wants the info, they are going to set up an amateur station for a special event station. he says that there is still a Gannett 2 and a guardian 1 still on board.


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## Moulder (Aug 19, 2006)

Tai Pan said:


> Thanks all. one of our ROA members wants the info, they are going to set up an amateur station for a special event station. he says that there is still a Gannett 2 and a guardian 1 still on board.


In that case it appears that she already has an amateur callsign - see bottom of table below.

Ship Name Type Amateur Callsign QTH / Location State Chief OP 
Ship Name Type Amateur Callsign QTH / Location State Chief OP 
LV AMRUMBANK Lightvessel DFØMF Emden Germany DF9BB 
LV BORKUMRIFF Lightvessel DLØBRF Borkum Germany DL1PY 
LV BORKUMRIFF Lightvessel DPØBF At Sea Germany DL1PY 
LV ELBE 1 Lightvessel DLØCUX Cuxhaven Germany DK1KQ 
LV ELBE 3 (II) * Lightvessel DLØSWA Hamburg Germany DL8HCI 
LV ELBE 3 (I) * Lightvessel DAØBHV Bremerhaven Germany DL5EBE 
LV FEHMARNBELT * Lightvessel DLØFFF Lübeck * Germany DL2RPS 
LV FEHMARNBELT ** Lightvessel not active ** At Sea Germany ** 
LV WESER Lightvessel DFØWH Wilhelmshaven Germany DL1BK 
LV LV "13" * Lightvessel DLØMFH Hamburg Germany DJ7DH 
LV LAESOE RENDE Lightvessel DFØLR Kiel Germany DL2AH 
LV WESTHINDER I * Lightvessel ON6WP/p Kreubeke Belgium ON6WP 
LV WESTHINDER II * Lightvessel ON4BRN Zeebrugge Belgium ON4CBM 
LV WESTHINDER III * Lightvessel ON9BD Antwerpen Belgium ON4GDB 
LV NOORDHINDER Lightvessel PA6NH Hellevoetsluis Netherlands PA2CNR 
LV TEXEL Lightvessel PA6LST Den Helder Netherlands PI4ADH 
LV DEN HELDER Lightvessel PA3ADH Den Helder Netherlands nil 
LV FYRSKIB XXI Lightvessel OZ7DAL Ebeltoft Denmark nil 
LV MOTORFYRSKIB I Lightvessel OZ1VYL Esbjerg Denmark nil 
LV FYRSKIB XVII Lightvessel OZØY Copenhagen Denmark OZ9MM 
LV SKAGENS REV Lightvessel OZ7DAL Ebeltoft Denmark nil 
LV FINNGRUNDET Lightvessel 7SØSFJ Stockholm Sweden nil 
LV FLADEN Lightvessel SK6FL Gothenburg Sweden SK6NM 
LV ALMAGRUNDET Lightvessel SK5BB Vesteraas Sweden nil 
LV HELSINKI Lightvessel OH5AD Hamina Finland nil 
LV RELANDERSGRUND Lightvessel OH5AA Kotka Finland nil 
LV SPURN LIGHTSHIP Lightvessel GB2SL Hull Great Britain nil 


(Thumb)


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## david.hopcroft (Jun 29, 2005)

There is more amateur radio info at 

http://www.qrz.com

Enter the call sign at top left in the box. Also G0MMH is an amateur call sign - G zero MMH.

I did a couple of DF calibrations at Spurn LTV many years ago !

David
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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Eeeeee by G0MMH, as they used to say in the Land of Green Ginger, Thanks for clearing that part up, David.

John T


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## Bob S (Jul 12, 2004)

Still had a copy of the information board on my PC, might be of interest.

Regards

Bob


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## vzh7gk (Mar 10, 2008)

Gents,

I asked the question originally via the Radio Officers' Association web site. They kindly asked the question on my behalf here (forgot I had an account from 3 years ago!).
The vessel in question is in Gloucester Docks, presently named Sula. She does have the original MF R/T kit on board. She was not a Trinity House LV which is why the Marconi Gannet II Tx and Guardian I Rx have not been destroyed (apparently Marconi are only aware of another 2 of these sets of Tx/Rx worldwide). There is presently no amateur radio station or license associated with the vessel but the vessel's owner is hoping we can put her 'on the air' for International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. Finding the original c/s (I'm sure she must have been issued with one) might help the owner choose the Special Event c/s suffix.

Regards,
Graham G4FUJ
R/O 1978 - 1991


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## Bob S (Jul 12, 2004)

I saw the SULA at Gloucester a few months ago, she is now used as a therapy centre.

http://www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk/vessels/lightshipsula.htm

Regards

Bob


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

The plot thickens. According to the Spurn LV website, the vessel on display in Hull was transferred to the nearby Bull LV position. Did the "Sula" replace her at the Spurn location?

John T


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## GBXZ (Nov 4, 2008)

Re the hull colour, my very old copy of "The Observer's Book of Ships"states that in England and Scotland lightships are painted red, and in Ireland they are black.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Probably the red was a bit too close to orange.

John T


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## GBXZ (Nov 4, 2008)

A bit beyond the Boyne that remark J T


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## vzh7gk (Mar 10, 2008)

Bob S,
That's the one. On station at Spurn from approx '59 to '75?

GBXZ
I believe the red hull colour applied to Trinity House Light Vessels. What is now SULA belonged to the Humber Conservancy Commission (or something along those lines).

Cheers,


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## vzh7gk (Mar 10, 2008)

Had this from another source:

Humber Conservancy Board Lightship 14 Sula (Spurn, Beaucette, Conwy, Haven) 

1959 (Cook, Welton and Gemmell, Beverley, Yorkshire). Decommissioned 1985. 34.75 m (114 ft) steel lightship; round skeletal light tower with lantern and gallery amidships. Entire vessel painted red. The ship served its entire career in the North Sea on the Spurn station, where it replaced Lightship 12 (now at the Hull Marina in downtown Hull). Sold in 1987, it became the Beaucette, the club ship of the Beaucette Yacht Club in Guernsey, Channel Islands. In 1989 the marina owners moved it to their marina at Conwy, in North Wales, where it was known briefly as the Conwy. In 1990 it was sold to the Milford Haven Port Authority in South Wales. Renamed Haven, it was moored at the Milford Marina as a tourist attraction. In 1997 it was sold to English investors who planned to use the vessel as an adventure center at Bantry in the south of Ireland. These plans did not bear fruit, and for most of the next decade the ship was moored off Bear Island at Castletownbere, County Cork. There is a 2004 photo of the ship in Ireland. The ship was moved to a scrapyard in Waterford later in 2004, but it was not scrapped. In June 2007 it was sold to new owners who plan to use it as an alternative healing center at Gloucester. In November it was towed across the Irish Sea to Sharpness Shipyard, near Gloucester, for restoration and renovation. In March 2010, the ship was renamed Sula. As of summer 2010, the renovation was nearly complete, and the necessary permits to moor the ship at Llanthony Quay in Gloucester had been approved. Google has a satellite view of this area. Site and vessel closed for renovation. Owner: Lightship Therapies.


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## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

I think it may have been mentioned on SN somewhere else, but the former Humber Lightship LV 13 (ex Trinity House) is now in Hamburg and you can have bed and breakfast on board. Great to see these old vessels kept in use.

John T


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## Jan the lightship man (May 25, 2008)

Gents, peeps mixing up two vessels: the newer Spurn lightship (now SULA moored in Gloucester) took over the station from the black one in Hull in 1959 Hence you may find two Spurn light-vessels.

Jan (owner of SULA) 2E0UPA


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## cueball44 (Feb 15, 2010)

Jan the lightship man said:


> Gents, peeps mixing up two vessels: the newer Spurn lightship (now SULA moored in Gloucester) took over the station from the black one in Hull in 1959 Hence you may find two Spurn light-vessels.
> 
> Jan (owner of SULA) 2E0UPA


I was on the Spurn Lightship (now Sula) in 1978.


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