stern-light

“Vessels under 23 feet should carry sidelights and a stern-light if practical, though they are not required by law.”

Simon & Schuster: Sailing Fundamentals

“Such scenes as this discredit the value of experience, and attach a terrible reality to the conclusion of Coleridge, that "it is like the stern-light of a vessel -- illuminating only the path over which we have traveled.”

The Redemption of David Corson

“Beguiled by the bonfire, or mistaking Ruby's lantern for the tossing stern-light of a comrade, the second ship had charged full-tilt on the reef and hung herself upon it, as a hunter across a fence.”

I Saw Three Ships and Other Winter Tales

“I always find them carrying their faint stern-light.”

The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles