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This past March 27th, the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society honored the memory and service of Alexander Andersen with the placement of a U.S. Lighthouse Service Memorial Marker by his gravesite at the Oaklawn Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland. Andersen served from 1910 to 1937, exclusively on United States Lighthouse Service lightships.
The ceremony was held in partnership with Historic Ships Baltimore, the organization that is the custodian of Chesapeake Lightship LV 116 upon which Andersen served as captain of the lightship throughout the 1930s.
Alexander Andersen started his Lighthouse Service career in the early 1900s as a mate on Light Vessel 52 at the Fenwick Island Shoal off the coast of Delaware. In 1913, he was transferred to the LV 49 off the coast Virginia at the Cape Charles station. In 1915 he was promoted to Master of the Cape Lookout Lightship LV 80, which was later moved to become the Cape Charles Lightship LV 80 off the coast of Virginia.
In 1930, just a few months after the beginning of Great Depression, Andersen was transferred to become the Master of the newly completed Light Vessel 116, which commenced service on July 31, 1930 as the Fenwick Island Lightship off the coast of Delaware.
In 1933, the LV 116 was moved to serve off the coast of Virginia and renamed the Chesapeake Lightship LV 116. Alexander Andersen remained as the captain of the Chesapeake Lightship LV 116 until his retirement on October 6, 1937.
This story appeared in the
May/Jun 2021 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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