New rotating beacon installed at Hereford Inlet Lighthouse

PRESS RELEASE

The United States Coast Guard Aids to Navigation Team was on site at the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse on July 19, installing a new VRB-25 rotating beacon, replacing the fixed LED lamp that has been providing aid to mariners since May 12 of this year.

The previous DCB-24 rotating beacon, which operated on the lighthouse property from 1964 to 2018, malfunctioned on May 11 and was replaced temporarily by the LED lamp.

The new VRB-25 is similar to the beacon currently functioning in the Cape May Point Lighthouse and is visible at an 18-nautical-mile range.

North Wildwood City Council adopted a resolution on June 6 formally requesting the Coast Guard to install a rotating  beacon. For its first 50 years, the beacon in the Hereford Inlet Lighthouse tower was a stationary, fixed light. The lighthouse has had a rotating beacon since 1924.

Mayor Patrick Rosenello and City Clerk Scott Jett are currently in discussions with the Coast Guard about the possibility of returning the DCB-24 to the city for display in the lighthouse.