Savannah Light, Maritime lighthouse at Savannah River entrance, Georgia, US
Savannah Light was a steel tower lighthouse that stood at the entrance to Savannah River with automated signal systems. The structure used a Texas tower design, a common configuration for offshore lighthouses of that era.
Savannah Light, a Texas Tower-type automated light controlled from Tybee Island Light Station, was built and placed in operation in 1964. On 27 November 1996 the Singapore container ship Neptune Jade struck the tower, shearing off and destroying the entire structure. It was the second Texas Tower demolished after such a collision, following Ambrose Light. A buoy marked the wreckage until a salvage company retrieved it from the ocean floor for scrapping, and a lighted buoy replaced the tower.
The tower was automated from the start, run by personnel at the Tybee Island Light Station rather than by an on-site keeper. Its name comes from the Savannah River entrance it marked. After the 1996 collision a lighted buoy took over its role, and the tower's USCG number was 3-0340.
Nothing of the tower remains: the wreckage was lifted from the ocean floor and scrapped, and a lighted buoy replaced it. Boaters entering the Savannah River entrance pass the buoy that now marks the spot; there is no structure to visit or land on.
The wreckage was not left in place: a buoy marked the site until a salvage company was contracted to lift the structure off the ocean floor for scrapping. The tower was replaced by a lighted buoy, and the French record lists its identifiers as ARLHS USA-1320 and USCG 3-0340.
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