LANBY (original) (raw)

LANBY, a contraction of Large Automatic Navigation BuoY, was a type of floating navigational aid designed to replace lightships. Now obsolete, they were originally made in the USA by General Dynamics and adapted by Hawker Siddeley Dynamics for use in British waters in the early 1970s. They consisted of a circular hull with a raised central structure containing a 360° light and foghorn, and sometimes also a radio beacon. They were monitored from onshore and designed to run for extended periods without repair. Their running costs were estimated to be as low as 10% of those of lightships.