Brenton Reef Light

Infobox Lighthouse


caption = Brenton Reef Light (USCG)
location = Narragansett, Rhode Island
coordinates = coord|41|25|35|N|71|23|22|W|region:US_type:landmark
yearlit = 1962
automated =
yeardeactivated = 1989
foundation = steel tower
construction =
shape = square platform with tower at one corner
height = 87 feet
lens = Crouse Hinds DCE-36 airways beacon
range = 25 mi.
characteristic = white, two flashes every 10 seconds

The Brenton Reef Light was a steel tower lighthouse at the entrance to Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, south of Beavertail Point. Erected to replace a lightship in 1962, it was decommissioned in 1989 due to its deteriorating condition.

History

This offshore station was marked by a succession of lightships beginning in 1853, with new vessels being assigned to the station in 1856, 1897, and 1935. In the early 1960s the United States Coast Guard initiated a program to replace these lightships with large steel towers, commonly known as Texas towers. Brenton reef was selected for such replacement, but a somewhat smaller, automated facility was constructed instead. It was connected to the Beavertail Light by submarine cables and maintained by coast guardsmen out of the Newport, Rhode Island station. At its activation in 1962 it became the second such light tower on the east coast.

These towers deteriorated relatively quickly, and in 1983 the coast guard first suggested decommissioning it. It was retained, however, due to the proximity of the America's Cup races. In 1989 the coast guard announced that the light was to be removed, and in 1992 it was dismantled. The following year the pieces were sunk off Long Island as part of an artificial reef. A lighted buoy replaced the tower at a position somewhat further south, where it remains at present.

References

*cite web
title = Rhode Island Light Stations
url = http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/history/WEBLIGHTHOUSES/LHRI.html
publisher = United States Coast Guard
accessdate = 2008-06-12
*cite map
title = Chart 13221: Narragansett Bay
publisher = NOAA
url = http://historicalcharts.noaa.gov/tiled_jpgs_done/zoomifyURLDrivenWebPage.htm?zoomifyImagePath=13221-3-1976
date = 1976
scale = 1:20,000
accessdate = 2008-06-12
*cite map
title = Chart 13218: Martha's Vineyard to Block Island
publisher = NOAA
url = http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/13218.shtml
date = 2008-02-16
scale = 1:80,000
accessdate = 2008-06-12
*cite web
title = Rhode Island Lighthouse History: Brenton Reef Lights History
url = http://www.rhodeislandlighthousehistory.info/brenton_reef_lights_history.html
first = R. | last = Holmes
accessdate = 2008-06-12