Joshua Appleby was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 lighthouse keeper

Lighthouse keeper

A lighthouse keeper is the person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning...

 remembered for having lost his life in the Great Havana Hurricane of 1846

Great Havana Hurricane of 1846

The Great Havana Hurricane of 1846 was a powerful late season hurricane that caused extensive damage and up to 255 deaths as it moved across Cuba, Florida, and the eastern United States before dissipating over the Canadian Maritimes.-Meteorological history:...

.

A native of Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

, Joshua Appleby served as keeper of the Sand Key Light

Sand Key Light

Sand Key Light is located six nautical miles southwest of Key West, Florida, between Sand Key Channel and Rock Key Channel, two of the channels into Key West. It is located on a reef that is intermittently covered by sand. At times the key has been substantial enough to have trees, and in 1900 nine...

 in the Florida Keys

Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are a coral archipelago in southeast United States. They begin at the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and extend in a gentle arc south-southwest and then westward to Key West, the westernmost of the inhabited islands, and on to the uninhabited Dry...

. On the day of the disaster, the hurricane began battering the lighthouse at ten in the morning and, eventually, all of Sand Key was submerged and the lighthouse destroyed by the gale forces of wind and tide. Appleby, his 51-year-old daughter Eliza, and his 11-year-old grandson Thomas were swept away to become additional victims of the hurricane which was calculated to have caused the deaths of at least 255 people.

In commemoration of the long-ago loss of Appleby, his family and the lighthouse, the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 commissioned, on August 8, 1998, Joshua Appleby, a St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...

-based, 175 ft. Coastal Buoy Tender named in honor of the keeper.