This ship was built to replace LV-44, badly damaged in the New England Hurricane of 1938, for the Cornfield Point station.

[4] She is the last riveted-hull lightship built for the United States Lighthouse Service, all subsequent ships having welded hulls.

[2][5] The light was a duplex 375 mm (14.8 in) lantern on a single mast, at 57 ft (17 m) above the water line.

[4] A severe storm in December 1970 damaged the ship, leading to her decommissioning on November 7, 1972.

The ship's condition deteriorated and a failed attempt in 1999 to sell her led to the formation of a separate group, the Overfalls Maritime Museum Foundation, to take over the maintenance and restore the vessel.