ARRECIFE - NOSTRA SENORA DE LA LUZ

Looks as though it may be supplying power ashore, cant think of any other reason for it being there!!

Looks like the ship might have something to do with the low profile development near the shore to the left, I wonder if it's a prison?

I reckon it is some sort of floating plant. The structure aft seems to point to that. I know that Lanzarote was a very dry island then, so maybe desalination?

The name is "Virgen de la Luz" and I remeber it when it supplied electricity to Teneriffe in the sixties

Bob Preston.
She is most definatly supplying electicity. For several years she was in Teneriffe, I last saw her there in Aug 1970.

Amazing what you find leafing through your old collections. I believe this is a description of the vessel seen in my photo, taken from a 1971 Marine News(World Ship Society). At the time I took this photo(1973) she was called Nostra Senora de la Luz (Our Lady of the Lights) and was indeed a floating power station. She started life as the Captains's class Frigate HMS Affleck and was one of the 46 American Destroyer escorts of the Buckley class turned over to the RN under lend lease in 1943. Built by Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard. She was laid down as USS Oswald but launched as HMS Affleck.In Feb 1944 she sank U91 with depth charges in the North Atlantic, Affleck was herself torpedoed by U486 off Cherbourg in Dec 1944 and was towed back to the UK for repair. Returned to the USNavy in September 1945 and sold to Portugal in 1947 as a hulk. It is believed she arrived at Antwerp in Feb 1949 for conversion to a power station and took up her duties at Teneriffe in 1954. She was certainly there in 1971 but it is not known if or when she was moved to Lanzarote. An additional funnel was added and her stern was cut away during conversion. I make the assumption that this was her and was the only floating power station in the Canaries at this time but I will stand corrected?

Photo of her in close up here:-
http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=114340&nocache=1

There is more if you search the web.

This was an early post gadgee, nothing lies dormant at SN.