Lightships were generally over the horizon somewhere and out of sight. The lighthouse setting was often majestic, sometimes stunning. It was a permanent location. The lightship setting was a lonely, barren stretch of often-turbulent water. Lighthouses are picturesque and romantic.
Lighthouses are to be found everywhere.
Many are still operational. Except for an obscure seven, lightships are long gone. The lightship probably earned a bad reputation, and perhaps justifiably. Serving in a lightship was never a bed of roses and over the years the poor ambiance evolved into a stigma. On a lightship the fog signal was just above the living quarters and the compressors just below it.