Lightship 2000 facts for kids

Lightship 2000, April 2015
Quick facts for kids History
United Kingdom
Name	Light Vessel 14
Operator	Trinity House
Ordered	September 1951
Builder	Philip and Son, Dartmouth, Devon
Cost	£80,685
Yard number	1246
Launched	22 September 1953
Commissioned	27 November 1953
Fate	Sold, 1991
Status	Undergoing restoration
General characteristics
Type	Lightvessel
Displacement	550 long tons (559 t)
Length	137 ft 3 in (41.83 m) o/a
Beam	25 ft (7.6 m)
Draught	15 ft (4.6 m)
Crew	7
Aviation facilities	Helipad (from 1975)

Lightship 2000 (Welsh: Goleulong 2000) was a restored old red lightvessel with a cafe and chapel on board situated in Cardiff Bay. During the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay, the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation called together the churches in Cardiff to discuss the role of Christianity in the Bay. Lightship 2000 was the result of these discussions.

History

The ship was launched in 1953 and from that year until 1989 it was a working lightvessel in a number of locations around the UK, ending its working life off Rhossili on the Gower Peninsula to warn of the Helwick Swatch, a treacherous sandbank. It was purchased in 1993 and refurbished as a floating Christian centre.

The ship closed in 2013 and in May 2015 it left Cardiff. It was planned to restore the ship, and for it to become a floating museum at Newnham on Severn.

Chaplains

Rev'd Monica Mills, a United Reformed Church minister, served as chaplain of Cardiff Bay until early 2010. Mills died on 1 December 2010.

The Rev'd Peter Noble, former Moderator of Synod of the United Reformed Church Wales, took over the post of chaplain in March 2012 and since the closure of the ship has continued to serve as chaplain to Cardiff Bay.