She was one of three federal lightvessels designed for use during the navigational season as an experiment to avoid the construction of a much more expensive permanent lighthouse.

Her wooden hull was 90 feet (27 m) long, and was built of white oak planks that were fastened together with 5.8-inch (150 mm) iron spikes.

[3] From 1891 to 1923 Light Vessel No.57 was stationed at Gray's Reef, a ridge of rock 18 miles (29 km) west of the Mackinac Bridge in northeastern Lake Michigan.

In 1924 she was sold to the South Shore Yacht Club, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,[4] and was no longer in the federal government's records.

One of the divers reported that while most of the ship was buried under silt in 6 to 12 feet (1.8 to 3.7 m) of water, with some parts of her hull poking through the lake floor.