The Diamond Shoals Lightship (LV 71) was built in 1897 at the Bath Iron Works Ltd., Maine, at a cost of $70,700. Built as a steam screw design, she had steel frame and topsides and a wood bottom, with two masts with lantern galleries and a stack amidships. She was just shy of 123 feet in length, with a beam of 28.5 feet, and a draft of 13.5 feet, displacing 590 tons. Originally destined for service off Overfalls Shoal, Delaware Bay, LV 69 on Diamond Shoals needed repair, so LV 71 was placed there March 9, 1898, and then periodically alternated with LV 69. LV 71 was destroyed by surface gunfire from the German U-boat U-104, after it gave a radio warning that the warship was in the area. The crew were allowed to abandon ship before the lightship was sent to the bottom. LV 71 now rests in approximately 185 feet of water, with a washout under her bow approaching 195 feet in depth. The stern is largely sanded in, with the top of the engine barely protruding from the sand and silt bottom. The light masts are buried in the sand off the wreck.