page_title: Lightvessel
section_title: German lightships
hierarchical_section_title: Lightvessel / Lightvessel service / German lightships
caption_attribution_description: English: Lightvessel FS 3 on position G-B (German Bight)
context_page_description: A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the first modern lightvessel was off the Nore sandbank at the mouth of the River Thames in England, placed there by its inventor Robert Hamblin in 1734. The type has become largely obsolete; lighthouses replaced some stations as the construction techniques for lighthouses advanced, while large, automated buoys replaced others.
context_section_description: There are currently three identical unmanned German lightvessels in service, named FS1, FS3 and FS4. The initialism FS is short for Feuerschiff , which means lightvessel in German. Two of them are normally located at
  54°10.8′N 007°27.5′E German Bight (GB in charts and notices, G—B on vessels)
  54°09.9′N 006°20.7′E German Bight Western Approach (GW/EMS)
  Both positions have the same characteristics:
  white isophase light with a cycle period of 8s at 12m elevation and a range of 17 nautical miles
  foghorn with morse code R and 30s cycle period
  radar beacon with morse code T
  All three ships are operated by the Waterways and Shipping Office Wilhelmshaven and can be seen in the harbour of Wilhelmshaven during maintenance.
caption: FS3 at position German Bight
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