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 Nantucket/LV-112 Proudly made in USA
Attention
lighthouse lovers!
If you love lighthouses and want to learn about these guiding lights and navigational aids all over the world, then
The Lighthouse Directory is the website for you. It provides an astounding amount of information, linking to more than 17,200 of the world's lighthouses. Russ Rowlett, Adjunct Professor of Mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, compiled the directory with the assistance of hundreds of lighthouse fans around the world who have enriched this site with their own information and suggestions. For a long time, Rowlett tried to maintain a list of lighthouses from his many friends and contacts, but it had grown too long (and too out of date) to display on the comprehensive site. Rowlett offers special thanks to
Michel Forand for his suggestions and editing, touching essentially every page of the directory, and Jeremy D'Entremont, Ted Sarah and Klaus Huelse, each contributing in vital ways.
The Maine
Lighthouse Museum
Another unique educational resource for U.S. Lighthouse history, Lifesaving and Lightship Services is the Maine Lighthouse Museum (MLM), located in Rockland, Maine, the heart of the Midcoast. Last October, the U.S. Lightship Museum presented a PowerPoint presentation at the MLM about U.S. lightships and
Nantucket/LV-112.
The mission of the Maine Lighthouse Museum is to educate the public regarding the longstanding traditions, heroism and progress of America's Lighthouse and Lifesaving Services and the U.S. Coast Guard through the conservation and interpretation of the nation's most significant collection of lighthouse and lifesaving artifacts. From sparkling lenses to heartwarming stories of the keepers and their families, the Maine Lighthouse Museum is truly America's lighthouse museum. For more information, log on to the
Maine Lighthouse Museum or call 207.594.3301.
American Express
Amex Industrial Services, Inc.
Association of Public Safety Communications Officials - Atlantic Chapter
BAE Systems
Bluefin Robotics
Boston Forge & Welding Corp.
Boston Harbor
Shipyard & Marina
The Boston Foundation
ThreeBees Fund
Burnham Associates, Inc.
Burnham Marine
California Public Safety Radio Association
Cameron International Corporation
Charitable Adult Rides and Services, Inc. C/J Towing & Recovery Claflin & Son Nautical Antiques Crandall Dry Dock Engineers
Capt. Robertson P. Dinsmore Fund
Donahue, Tucker & Ciandella, PLLC
East Boston Foundation
Eastern Bank Charitable
Foundation
Egan Maritime Institute,
Nantucket Shipwreck &
Lifesaving Museum
Fitzgerald Shipyard
Foss Maritime
Friends of the
Boston Harbor Islands
H&H Propeller, Inc.
J. Hewitt Marine
Electrical Services
Kelly Automotive Group
H.F. Lenfest Fund
The Lightship Group, LLC
McAllister Towing &
Transportation Co.
Joe and Pepette Mongrain
Fund
National Trust for
Historic Preservation
New England
Lighthouse Lovers
New London Maritime Society and Custom House Maritime Museum The Sail Loft, LLC, Nantucket Sherwin-Williams
Industrial Marine Coatings Division
T & M Services
Town of Oyster Bay,
Long Island, NY
U.S. Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association
West Marine
U.S. Lighthouse Society
Westerbeke Company
USLM Members
Verizon Foundation
Zuni Maritime Foundation USS Zuni / USCG Tamaroa
Individual Donors
USLM is a member
of the following organizations 
The flag of the United States Lighthouse Service
Teach children about lightships with the book
Lightship
Editorial From School
Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 2: Lightships were anchored where lighthouses could not be built. They protected our ocean harbors as well as points along the Great Lakes. The last one (
Nantucket/LV-613
) was decommissioned in 1983, so this fascinating picture book is a piece of nautical history. Brian Floca's watercolor drawings depict daily life aboard one of these vessels, cooking, sleeping, working, all the while rolling with the rhythm of the waves. Many hazards were involved. Big ships came too close, anchors lost their mooring, and weather caused many problems. But when the fog rolled in, the lightship sprang into action. Lights flashed and horns sounded, allowing ship traffic to make it "through fog and night, past rocks and shoals, past reefs and wrecks, past danger." The drawings are very detailed. Some pages are collages of small scenes. Many are full spreads. The sailors' facial expressions are amusing to watch, and the resident cat appears on almost every page. The front and back endpapers show a cutaway view of one of the vessels. This fascinating, little-known slice of history should prove interesting to every child who loves big boats.
-- Ieva Bates, Ann Arbor District Library, MI
(review originally published by Reed Business Information, Inc.)
The book
Lightship
, by Brian Floca, can be purchased on
Amazon.com
. For more information about lightships, click on Brian Floca's
blog
.
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For more information about the U.S. Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association and the U.S. Lightship Service, click on logo
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Lead, Kindly Light
By John Henry Newman
(1801-1890)
"Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!
So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on.
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!
Meantime, along the narrow rugged path,
Thyself hast trod,
Lead, Saviour, lead me home in childlike faith,
Home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life."
Note: "Lead Kindly Light" was a poem originally written by John Henry Newman (1801-1890), who was 33 years old when he found himself on a boat from the Sicilian city of Palermo to Marseille, France. Newman, who was recovering after being dangerously ill with a fever, was on the boat to return to his native England when he penned the lyrics to "Lead, Kindly Light." The context that Newman was recovering from a frightening illness in the middle of the sea gives insight to the lyrics.
Photo above: Pigeon Point Lighthouse in California, by Darvin Atkeson
Poem posted on
LV-112 while in service on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station
"When a sailor gets to thinking
He is one of the best
Let him ship out on a lightship
And take the acid test.
And if he feels like bragging
I don't think that all of his tales
Will be of deep sea sailing
But of the ship that never
Poem provided by Peter Brunk,
USCG-Ret., Commanding Officer,
Nantucket/LV-112, 1970-71, who serves on the USLM Board of Directors
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This comprehensive New England shipwreck website is a helpful resource for SCUBA divers, maritime history researchers and enthusiasts. The site includes many photographs, charts, reference documents and history about many shipwrecks located in New England waters. For more information,
The Sinking of the U-853
by Capt. William Palmer
When the German enemy submarine
U-853 entered U.S. waters off Portland, Maine in 1945, it torpedoed and sank the
USS Eagle-56.
Nantucket/LV-112, converted to an examination vessel,
USS Nantucket (1942-45) during WWII, helped save the crew of the
USS Eagle-56.
This is a book about the
U-853
story, researched and written by
Capt. Bill Palmer
, a long-time shipwreck researcher, diver and preservationist.
Description of book: "Out in the cold Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rhode Island, lies the remains of what was once a feared and mighty hunter. It's not a fish or shark, for that matter it is not even a marine creature. It's what men feared the most when they went to sea aboard their vessel back during the World War II years. It's a German submarine called a U-Boat. The
U-853 was the last German submarine sunk in World War II. She was sunk with all hands just minutes before World War II ended. The once mighty hunter feared by all who put to sea, now lies in 130 feet of water off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island, her grave marked only by a circle on the nautical charts, DANGER Unexploded Depth Charges, May 1945."
Capt. Palmer has been running a charter boat for wreck-diving, shark-fishing and shark-cage-diving off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut for 40 years.
German U-boat attack off Portland, Maine, during WWII, involving
LV-112 (USS Nantucket)
This book is the story of a small U.S. sub-chaser, the
Eagle 56, caught in the crosshairs of a German U-boat, the
U-853, whose brazen commander doomed his own crew in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to record final kills before his country's imminent defeat a few weeks later in May. And it is the account of how one man, Paul M. Lawton, embarked on an unrelenting quest for the truth and changed naval history.
For more information, log onto: "
Due to Enemy Action
"
"In February of 1952, one of the worst storms to ever hit the East Coast struck New England, damaging an oil tanker off the coast of Cape Cod and literally ripping it in half. On a small lifeboat faced with frigid temperatures and 70-foot high waves, four members of the U.S. Coast Guard (Bernie Webber and three other crewmen) set out to rescue the more than 30 stranded sailors trapped aboard the rapidly sinking vessel. 'The Finest Hours' is the story of their heroic mission, which is still considered the greatest small boat rescue in Coast Guard history."
(Michelle McCue, 9/9/14)
Bernie Webber (later served on
Nantucket/LV-112, 1958-60) and the three other crewmen were awarded the coveted USCG Gold Lifesaving Medal for their heroism in what is considered by maritime historians to be "the greatest small boat rescue in Coast Guard history." Mr. Webber, who was a member of the USCG Lightship Sailors Association, was extremely helpful in assisting the
USLM-Nantucket/LV-112 compile research information and historic documents about
LV-112. He was a pleasure and honor to work with. Bernie passed away in January 2009. He was considered "A Real American Hero" and is dearly missed.
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The full length movie "The Finest Hours' is available on DVD.
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To learn more about
lighthouse news, click on
Lighthouse Digest
Explore the oceans in depth and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution with
Oceanus magazine
Oceanus
explores the oceans in depth, highlighting the research and researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in news, features and interviews written by magazine staff, with full-color photographs and illustrations. Each issue covers a wide spectrum of oceanography, spanning coastal research, marine life, deep-ocean exploration and the ocean's role in climate, as well as ocean technology and policy. To learn more, click on magazine cover above.
Lightships, Lighthouses & Lifeboat Stations:
A Memoir and History
Lightships, Lighthouses & Lifeboat Stations is part history book, part memoir, written by Bernie Webber, recipient of the Coast Guard's highest award, the Gold Life-saving Medal, and hero of the Disney movie The Finest Hours. While the public will recognize Webber's name from the movie and the bestselling book by the same name, few people know that during his lengthy Coast Guard career he served on lightships (ships anchored in dangerous areas to warn other vessels of hazards) in addition to lifeboat stations (small boat rescue stations) and lighthouses. Webber poses the following question: "How did the lightship men cope with the isolation, constant loneliness, boredom, fear, or just sheer terror? All were part of life on board a lightship. Rough seas tossed the ship about, rearing up and down on the anchor chain. This was a world of isolation, noise from operating machinery, and blasts from the powerful foghorn that went on for hours, sometimes days, at a time." Webber answers that question in this book, drawing on a combination of personal experience and meticulous historical research. Discussions of men going mad, lightships being run down by larger ships, anchor chains breaking, and lightships cast upon shoals are offset by humorous stories and the author's reflections on his best days at sea. Fourteen historic photos are included, as well as a foreword by Michael Tougias.(reprinted from Amazon).
Help support the restoration of LV-112 by donating your old car and receive a tax deduction
How it works
We have teamed with Charitable Auto Resources, Inc. (CARS), to accept vehicle donations across the United States. Once
you contact our customer service representative about making a donation, everything will be taken care of, including a receipt for your tax records. Sale proceeds will be donated to the USLM in your name. Donating your vehicle to the U.S. Lightship Museum is as easy as calling our representative toll-free at 855-500-7433.
For more information, click here.
The Lightships
of Cape Cod
Authored by Frederic L. Thompson, 1996, 2nd printing, 112 pages, soft wrap. Signed by the author. Illustrated with over 93 beautifully detailed photographs. Much sought-after, this scarce volume chronicles the history of the lightships in this vital area. Wonderfully detailed black-and-white photographs enhance the author's vivid description of the history and life aboard these vessels. One of the only volumes ever written exclusively on this subject, this fine work will make a fine addition to any library. Price: $14.95 plus shipping ($5.95), total: $20.90. May be purchased online
from the USLM; just click on "Donate" button in this newsletter and add a notation in the area provided. Or mail a check or money order addressed to: U.S. Lightship Museum, PO Box 454, Amesbury, MA 10913
U.S. Lightship Museums
Relief/WLV-605
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A crew member rings the bell on the foredeck of Nantucket New South Shoal No. 1 during low-visibility storm conditions. The i
llustration is from "Life on the South Shoal Lightship" by Gustov Kobbe, Century Magazine, August 1891
Kenrick A. Claflin & Son Nautical Antiques
Click on the website link above to see nautical artifacts available at Kenrick A. Claflin & Son Nautical Antiques, which has donated publications to the USLM.
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'Seagoing Santa Claus'
Credit: U.S. Coast Guard publication,
December, 1940
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[Note: To see entire eNews, click link above newsletter]
Season's greetings!
Blanketed with ice,
Nantucket
"Weather" we like it or not (pun intended), it's that time of year again. Photos show former U.S. Coast Guard crew members removing the heavily encrusted ice from
LV-112's
superstructure, rigging and lifeboats, which was extremely dangerous when performed on station and underway in rough seas. Throughout the winter season, ice buildup is common and causes the lightships to become top-heavy and more prone to capsizing in stormy seas. During recent winter seasons, we've had to remove over a two-foot thickness of solid ice buildup on the 3.5-inch-wide dock lines of
LV-112.
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Nantucket/LV-112 supporters:
We salute our volunteers, friends, visitors and those who served on LV-112
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LV-112 berthed in Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY, in 2010, after being acquired by the U.S. Lightship Museum in 2009. On the foredeck are volunteers from Oyster Bay, New England and members of the USCG Lightship Sailors Association
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In 2010, members of the USCG Lightship Sailors Association and local Oyster Bay area residents flew in from all over the country, rallying with other volunteers to give their generous time to prepare Nantucket/LV-112 for its journey back to its homeport of Boston. It was mid-January with bone-chilling temperatures hovering in the low teens, certainly a great team-building exercise and opportunity to bond with new friends. Most of the people in the photo above are still LV-112 volunteers and supporters to this day.
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In 2018, visitors from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)/University of Massachusetts-Boston boarded LV-!12 for a tour and discussion session. Fortunately, for the OLLI group during their visit, the venerable USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") was underway in the harbor that day (background of photo)
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LV-112, 1946
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New volunteers, Tim McCarthy and Patrick Spadaccino, help with LV-112's bow lines
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When the U.S. Lightship Museum acquired Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 in 2009,
it had suffered from many years of neglect. Our initial goal was to rescue the historic former USCG
floating lighthouse from the ship breakers and restore it back to glory. Over the past nine years, this unique lightship has become more than just a large inanimate, steel-
constructed ship. It is more than a historic artifact and time capsule.
The more we familiarized ourselves with LV-112, we came to believe that this ship with its guiding light beacon and thundering foghorn has a soul and spirit. This National Historic Landmark and National Treasure attracts volunteers, former USCG lightship sailors and visitors from around the U.S. and the world. Moreover,
LV-112's
state-of-the-art construction, completed from 1935-36, is a testament to passionate, talented, highly skilled engineers and craftsman who took genuine pride in their professions, planting their soul and spirit into their work. It exemplifies the culture of the times, proudly made in the USA.
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Shipyard workers constructing LV-112's stern section at Pusey & Jones Shipyard, 1935. Photo credit: Hagley Digital Archives
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Shipyard welder working on
LV-112 at Pusey & Jones Shipyard, 1935
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Additionally, Nantucket/LV-112 helped save lives and guided transatlantic commerce and passengers during the golden age of the great ocean liners, helping them safely reach their ports of call. From 1854-1983, LV-112 and her predecessors on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station helped guide many of the largest and most famous ocean liners in the world including the SS Normandie, RMS Queen Mary and SS United States. As the first U.S. landmark encountered by European emigrants seeking a better life in the United States, in addition to other voyagers, LV-112 and her lightship predecessors on Nantucket Shoals Station, were nicknamed the "Statue
of Liberty of the Sea." The ship also served in WWII from 1942-45 as a converted examination vessel (renamed
USS Nantucket
), helping to defend our nation as part of the U.S.Navy/Coast Guard coastal defense forces.
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Nantucket/LV-112 as a converted, armed examination vessel (renamed USS Nantucket) during WWII, 1942-45. LV-112 was taken off Nantucket Shoals Station, replaced with a buoy and reassigned to protect the entrance of the harbor in Portland, Maine
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LV-112 guided the SS Normandie to and from Europe and the United States. The Normandie entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat. In 1942, she caught fire and capsized at her berth in New York Harbor and was finally scrapped in 1946
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In 2010, LV-112 was finally transported back to its original homeport of Boston and berthed at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina, previously Bethlehem Atlantic Works (where she formerly was
serviced and dry-
docked while an active USCG lightship, 1936-75).
Most visitors, including teachers, students, youths, young adults and senior citizens who have visited
LV-112
, leave after their tour and or event with a smile on their face, awestruck by its history and presence, virtually always expressing their heart-felt emotions and fascination with its heritage.
The East Boston community has been especially supportive, including the East Boston Foundation, which over the years has awarded us several grants including a 2018 grant of $12,500 for LV-112's restoration.
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RMS Queen Mary was the flagship of the Cunard-White Star Line from May 1936 until October 1946. The famous ocean liner was retired in 1967 and is now permanently moored in Long Beach, CA, as a hotel, museum and tourist attraction. LV-112 guided the Queen Mary in and out of the United States for virtually her whole career and both were built in 1936
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Photo at right: LV-112 photographed by a U.S. Lightship Service supply ship crew member during a storm on Nantucket Shoals Station, c. 1940
LV-112 also brings back powerful memories to former crew members whose experiences were pleasant at times, but also, life-threatening and horrific, such as the torment of constant nausea and battling cruel stormy seas during hurricanes and subfreezing Nor'easters during the winter months.
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Richard Fichter, MKCS USCG Ret., recently visited LV-112 for a tour.
He also is a veteran lightship sailor who served on Buzzards Lightship/LS-110/WAL-532, from 1959-61. In addition, Richard serves on the Board of Directors of the Coast Guard Heritage Museum in Barnstable, MA
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Timing is everything
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Capt. Jon Hickey (USCG), Special Advisor for Domestic Policy Office of the Vice President of the United States, and his friend, Erin O'Brien, visited Nantucket/LV-112 this fall
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While moving into the fall season, on a Saturday at 4pm, just as we were closing
LV-112
for the day, two visitors appeared and asked for a tour. The gentleman introduced himself as Jon Hickey. Originally from Raynham, MA, he now is in the U.S. Coast Guard, lives in Virginia and indicated that his uncle may have served on
LV-112
. In addition, he said he currently was assigned to the White House as a Special Advisor to the Vice President of the United States.
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Capt. Jon Hickey, Special Advisor for Domestic Policy Office of the Vice President of the U.S.
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Capt. Hickey has a distinguished career in the U.S. Coast Guard. In addition to other high-profile assignments, he previously was the commanding officer of the Project Resident Office in Lockport, LA. He led the 43-person unit in the project management and oversight of the Fast Response Cutter (FRC) Sentinel Class Cutter shipbuilding program, a $4 billion major system acquisition project to replace the Coast Guard's aged and obsolete 110-foot patrol boat fleet with 58 state-of-the-art, 154-foot cutters. The FRCs are being built by
Bollinger Shipyards, LLC
, based in Lockport, LA. To date, Bollinger has completed 31 FRCs.
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USCGC Bernard C. Webber (WPC-1101), the first Fast Response Cutter (FRC) Sentinel Class built by Bollinger Shipyards, was launched in 2011
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Each FRC Sentinel Class Cutter is named for an enlisted Coast Guard hero who distinguished him or herself in the line of duty. The first FRC cutter built was named the USCGC Bernard C.Webber (WPC-1101). Bernie Webber was coxswain of the 36-foot wooden Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat CG36500 that ventured out in 60-foot seas to rescue the crew of the stricken T2 tanker SS Pendleton, which had broken in two during a winter storm off Chatham, MA, on February 18, 1952. The rescue of the Pendleton survivors is considered one of the most daring rescues of the U.S. Coast Guard. Bernie also served on Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 from 1958-60 and assisted the USLM in 2009 with LV-112 research material, just prior to his death in 2009.
The story of the Pendleton rescue has been made into a major motion picture titled "The Finest Hours," based on the
best-selling nonfiction book by Michael Tougias and Casey Sherman.
Nautical experts have called it the most daring small-boat rescue in history.
After Capt. Hickey's visit to LV-112, the USLM, with the assistance of Ron Janard, a USLM Board member and historian and membership director for the USCG Lightship Sailors Association, researched Capt. Hickey's uncle,
Gerald Meunier. We discovered that he served on Stonehorse Lightship/LV-101 (WAL-524) from 1961-62. Stonehorse/LV-101 (built 1915) and Nantucket/LV-112 (built 1936) were both constructed by Pusey & Jones Shipyard in Wilmington, DE. Today, LV-101 is a lightship museum in Portsmouth, VA. But rather than "STONEHORSE" being painted on her hull, LV-101 is now identified as "PORTSMOUTH" because it is presently is located in Portsmouth, VA (there was never a Portsmouth lightship). During her career as a USCG lightship, LV-101 also served on lightship stations in Cape Charles, VA, and Overfalls, DE, and was a Relief lightship in the USCG
5th District.
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Stonehorse Lightship/LV-101, which served from 1951-63 on Stonehorse Shoals Station, located off the coast of Massachusetts
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Inspiring children,
tomorrow's historic preservationists
One of the USLM's primary objectives is to inspire and motivate children to become interested in learning about history; also that experiencing the past can be fun and rewarding. By adopting this thinking, they will become tomorrow's stewards and preservationists of our nation's cherished historic sites. Some of the children who visited LV-112 have been so motivated, they composed a lively song about the ship and sent us inspiring messages, such as a 9-year-old East Boston student who wrote, "This was the best day of my life!" One group of schoolchildren even collected their personal toys and sold them to raise money to help restore Nantucket/LV-112.
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Emeline, age 5 and in kindergarten, is standing in LV-112's engine room entrance area above the main engine, as she turned to the lightship engine room chapter in her book, "Lightship" by Brian Floca. Emeline first learned about lightships in the book that she borrowed from the Portland (ME) Public Library, which inspired her to visit an actual lightship, Nantucket/LV-112, the closest lightship museum to Portland, where she lives. As she toured the Nantucket, she compared her visit to the lightship compartments in the book. There are nine lightship museums in the United States. Nantucket/LV-112 is the only one in New England
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Emeline and her Dad climbed up to LV-112's flying bridge to view the harbor, waving to passengers on passing harbor tour vessels
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In LV-112's windlass room, John Rogers, a tour guide and East Boston school teacher, explains the how lightships and their crews had to remain anchored on station during hurricanes and other types of severe weather
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Students on a school field trip talking on LV-112's radio room, sound-powered telephone to their classmates in the pilot house at the opposite end of the nearly 150-foot lightship. A sound-powered telephone is a communication device that allows users to talk to each other with the use of a handset, similar to a conventional telephone, but without the use of external power. This technology has been used since at least 1944 for both routine and emergency communication on ships to allow communication between key locations on a vessel if power, including batteries, is not available. All of LV-112's sound-powered telephones have been restored to operational condition.
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First-ever wedding celebrated on
Nantucket/LV-112
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USLM Board member and volunteer John Rogers and Claire Fleming celebrated their wedding with family and friends this past summer on Nantucket/LV-112. We believe it is the only wedding that has ever taken place on LV-112 during its 82-year history
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Pastor Bradley Teeter officiated the wedding of John and Claire on the foredeck of LV-112
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During John and Claire's marriage ceremony, they participated in "The Log Cutting Tradition" on LV-112's foredeck, which originates from Germany. Pastor Teeter, who was born in Germany, first shared the suggestion. He phrased it beautifully when he said, "Sawing with a cross-cut saw is symbolic of marriage; you only pull, you never push your partner away from you." He added, "This has honestly stayed with me and provided an image I strive to live by." The log that John and Claire sawed through was from a sugar maple tree, very much a symbol of the sweet and unique life here in New England
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Friends and family watched with great anticipation on LV-112's foredeck and flying bridge while John and Claire recited their vows to each other. After the unique ceremony, everyone celebrated with great fanfare, food, drink, joyous live music and dancing on LV-112's weather deck. History was made!
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Lively foot-stompin' music was performed by the talented Boston area Cajun and Zydeco band, Squeezebox Stompers. The groom, John Rogers, couldn't resist getting into the act
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'Crossed the Bar'
Supporter of Nantucket/LV-112,
H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest dies at 88
Sadly, H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest passed away on August 5, 2018. He was a philanthropist, committed to historic preservation. He also helped provide funding resources to nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing the oceanographic, environmental and nautical sciences as well as history and the arts. After serving his country in the U.S. Navy and making his fortune in the cable TV industry, he decided to donate most of his wealth to what he considered, worthy causes and organizations that were compatible with his interests and passions, virtually all of which were intended to benefit humanity and help protect and preserve our nation's heritage.
The U.S. Lightship Museum is extremely grateful for all of Mr. Lenfest's generous support to our historic cause of preserving Nantucket/LV-112. He was unique, visionary and generous donor and will be profoundly missed. A more in-depth Associated Press article can be viewed by clicking
here
.
View a biographical video by clicking
here.
Edward Prescott Walkley,
Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, 1948-50
Edward Prescott Walkley passed away on November 17. He was a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and life member (No. 33) of the USCG Lightship Sailors Association. He proudly served on Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 from 1948-50.
The USLM
extends its deepest condolences to his family for their loss.
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LV-112 as she appeared during Edward Walkley's service on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station in 1949
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 Andy Fitzgerald,
CG36500 crew member,
SS Pendleton rescue, 1952
On November 15, Andy Fitzgerald, the last survivor of the of the CG36500 four man SS Pendleton USCG rescue crew, passed away at age 87. He was 20 years old during his participation in the famous rescue of the Pendleton crew. Andy and his crewmates were each awarded the Gold Lifesaving Medal, the Coast Guard's highest honor.
Click here
to see New York Times article and movie trailer.
Photo credit: WBUR-Radio Boston, 2016
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The heroic USCG crew of the CG36500 after rescuing 32 crew members from the sinking Pendleton. Photo credit: Richard Kelsey, 1952
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Thank you, Boston Harbor
Shipyard & Marina!
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One of two 26-foot former USCG Motor Surf Boats donated to the U.S. Lightship Museum by the City of Revere, MA
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The USLM wants to express its sincere gratitude to Dan Noonan and his team at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina (BHS&M) for generously restoring one of the USLM's two U.S. Coast Guard Motor Surf Boats back to operational condition. They did a fantastic job on the restoration. Everything on the boat now works great. Dan has been a longstanding committed and generous supporter of the USLM and
Nantucket/LV-112
. In fact, it was Dan Noonan who originally offered and provided
LV-112's
homeport berth in 2010 at the BHS&M.
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Dan Noonan piloting the surf boat during a trial run. The surf boat's heavily constructed fiberglass hull is rated for 14 passengers and will cruise at 19 knots with its 4-cylinder Cummins diesel engine
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Two years ago, the City of Revere, MA, and the Revere Police Department generously donated two former 26-foot USCG Motor Surf Boats to the U.S. Lightship Museum. The boats were originally donated to the Revere Police Department several years ago for use as harbor patrol vessels. However, Revere determined that the boats were not needed and they remained in dry-dock, uncovered and exposed to the weather for several years. USLM Board member and volunteer Ron Janard originally discovered the boats, which led to our contacting the Revere Police Department. The USLM will be using the restored surf boat as a work boat and for USLM educational programs in conjunction with LV-112. The USLM is presently considering the future of its other surf boat.
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A USCG Motor Surf Boat in service, being hoisted on the USCGC Eagle
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Support LV-112's restoration!
Become a USLM member today
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For a gift of $1,000 or more, donors will receive a limited-edition, fine-art print of the SS United States passing Nantucket/LV-112, signed by marine artist Gerald Levey
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Discover the value-added membership benefits when you become a member of the U.S. Lightship Museum (USLM). The USLM is a member of the Council of American Maritime Museums (CAMM). All USLM members will be granted reciprocal privileges (free admission) at participating CAMM institutions. For more information about the benefits and the USLM Membership program, click on USLM Membership.
All electronic donations will be processed by PayPal.
We thank everyone for their ongoing
contributions
and support
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