A day to remember: May 15, 1934
Nantucket/LV-117 rammed
and sunk by the RMS Olympic,
sister ship of RMS Titanic
|
|
"Lightship Nantucket Sunk by RMS Olympic" by Charles Mazoujian. The painting was commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) as part of the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976. Thanks to the generosity of the USCG, a copy of this painting is on display at the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum.
|
|
“The 85th Anniversary of the Sinking of the Nantucket Lightship LV-117”
Article by Michelle Cartwright Soverino, Egan Maritime Institute, published in 2019.
Photos and illustrations furnished by the U.S. Lightship Museum (USLM).
|
|
The Nantucket South Shoals Lightship (LV-117) was anchored 43 miles off the island, stationed by the Nantucket Shoal near the trans-Atlantic shipping channel. Though prone to stormy seas and heavy fog, this position allowed incoming ships to heed the dangerous Shoal from its radio signals. The depth of the ocean decreased dramatically in this area, and many ships would run aground and be wrecked by pounding waves. The Nantucket was built to endure these treacherous conditions. She was a 135-foot vessel, constructed in 1929-30, that went into service in 1931, and was the “pride of the Lighthouse Department, and the finest and most up-to-date of any light vessel yet built” (Inquirer & Mirror, "White Star Liner Olympic Sinks Nantucket Lightship." May 19, 1934).
|
|
Nantucket/LV-117 on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station, c. 1931
|
|
Nantucket Lightship/LV-117 is docked at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, 1931 for maintenance. East Boston is in the background, across the harbor. The lightships stationed in the New England region were administered by the U.S. Lighthouse Service (USLHS) 2nd District prior to 1939. They were serviced at the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, as well as the Chelsea Depot (USLHS). Dry-docking was performed at the Navy Yard and Atlantic Works in East Boston. Bethlehem Atlantic Works was a shipyard from 1853 until 1984. It was owned by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company, located where the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina is today and where Nantucket/LV-112 is presently berthed. Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station marked the entrance of the main shipping lanes into the United States — the transatlantic connection between Europe and North America. As a result of the heavy shipping traffic, the area was dubbed the “Times Square of the Atlantic,” and Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 was nicknamed the "Statue of Liberty of the Sea.” and Photo credit: Leslie Jones
|
|
Nantucket/LV-117 in dry-dock at the Charlestown Navy Yard, c. 1931. The USS Constitution is berthed in foreground. LV-117, launched in 1930, was a diesel-electric propelled vessel, displacing 630 tons. Photo credit: Leslie Jones
|
|
On the morning of May 15, 1934, the Nantucket was on her mooring just outside the Shoal. Not far from her location, the massive White Star Liner Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic, was following the Lightship’s radio signal and, under reduced speed, was heading directly towards her. There was a heavy fog that blanketed the area around Nantucket Shoal that day. In order to avoid collision with the Lightship, the captain and crew of the Olympic had intended to change course; however, due to a grave miscalculation and riding the radio beam too closely, around 11 o’clock that morning the Olympic hit the Nantucket Lightship /LV-117, essentially running the vessel over.
|
|
The crew aboard the Lightship had zero chance to avoid the hit as the Liner was a few hundred feet away when she emerged from the fog-shrouded horizon. "It happened so quick we don't know just how it did happen. We were in the water before we knew it," said First Officer Clinton E. Mosher from the deck of the Olympic after it reached New York. "I barely had time to get on deck and swim for my life," said Radioman John F. Perry. He was stationed in the Radio Room at the time. One of the Lightship's Oilers, L. V. Roberts, was asleep in his bunk when the Olympic ran into the Lightship. "It is really a mystery that I came up so suddenly," he said.
|
|
Launched in 1910, the majestic British ocean liner RMS Olympic was the lead ship of the White Star line’s trio of Olympic-class liners. Unlike the other ships in the class, Olympic had a long career spanning 24 years from 1911 to 1935. Olympic was the largest ocean liner in the world for two periods during 1910–13, interrupted only by the brief tenure of the Titanic. The Olympic represented the great age of ocean liner travel. Olympic was withdrawn from service and sold for scrap in 1935; demolition was completed in 1937. Painting: Fred Pansing, c. 1911
|
|
White Star Line Titanic and Olympic promotional poster, c. 1911. Credit: Peabody Essex Museum
|
|
The Grand Staircase on board the luxury ocean liner Olympic is typical of the interior architecture throughout the ship's first-class accommodations. Many of the competing ocean liners of this era were considered floating palaces and were a testament to the high-quality workmanship and great pride that shipbuilders and shipwrights took in their trade.
|
|
Photo of actual interior 4”x 4” floor tiles from the RMS Olympic, on loan to the U.S. Lightship Museum from Ron Janard, USLM Board member.
|
|
“The men who happened to be on [the Lightship’s] deck had a slight chance for their lives, but those who were down below were like rats in a trap, with no chance whatsoever. It was one of the most distressing catastrophes that have occurred in this section of the coast in recent years. A Lightship stationed as a safe-guard to navigation, warning big ocean liners to keep away from danger, was herself cut down and sent to the bottom by one of the very craft she was there to protect” (Inquirer & Mirror, "White Star Liner Olympic Sinks Nantucket Lightship." May 19, 1934).
|
|
Chesapeake/LV-116 is one of five sister ships of Nantucket/LV-117 still in existence as a museum ship, berthed in Baltimore Harbor. The lightship Chesapeake is owned by the National Park Service and operated by Historic Ships in Baltimore. One other sister vessel, Frying Pan/LV-115, is also still afloat in New York Harbor as a modified, privately owned night club. The other sister vessels were destroyed. Nantucket/LV-117 and her sisters were diesel electric-powered vessels.
|
|
Greg Krawczyk, lead maintenance volunteer for the lightship Chesapeake, and Peter Brunk, USLM Board member and former USCG Commanding Officer of Nantucket/LV-112 (1970-71), swap sea stories in the pilot house of LV-116, sister ship to LV-117.
|
|
Greg Krawczyk stands in front of LV-116's massive 350 HP electric motor (an early hybrid) in the engine room, which was the same main-propulsion system as used in Nantucet/LV-117.
|
|
The Olympic was nearly 75 times the size [tonnage] of the Nantucket Lightship/LV-117. She cut through the Lightship in seconds, breaking the vessel in two, and within a minute or two the LV-117 had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. The Captain of the Olympic ordered his crew to drop the lifeboats and assist the survivors. Seven of the eleven crew, including Captain Braithwaite, were rescued and brought to the safety of the Liner’s decks. Not long after, three members of the Lightship’s crew had died. The Olympic kept watch for a few hours in hopes that the other members of the Lightship’s crew would be found. However, their effort was futile. With her flag half-mast, by late afternoon the Olympic was underway and heading to New York.
|
|
Rescued Nantucket/LV-117 crew members standing on the RMS Olympic’s Grand Stairway—from left to right: L.V. Roberts, Oiler; John F. Perry, Radioman; Captain George W. Braithwaite and First Officer Clinton E. Mosher. Seven LV-117 crew members perished—four of them went down with the LV-117 wreckage and were never recovered. To this day, the LV-117 wreck still lies in 200 feet of water. The wreckage is considered a sacred and protected grave site. Photo: Getty Images
|
|
Word of the tragedy reached the shore quickly, and within an hour the Associated Press had carried the news across the country. “According to the captain of the Olympic, the crash came at 11:05. At 11:22 the news reached The Inquirer and Mirror office over long-distance phone from Boston, seeking information as to the location of the Lightship in relation to Nantucket island, the depth of water where she was moored, etc.” (Inquirer & Mirror, "White Star Liner Olympic Sinks Nantucket Lightship." May 19, 1934).
|
|
Watch this 1934 news-reel footage of RMS Olympic entering New York Harbor after the collision with Nantucket/LV-117. The news reel includes interviews with the captain of the Olympic and survivors of LV-117. Credit: British Pathe, WilliamMurdoch.net and YouTube
|
|
In the aftermath of the tragedy, new features were incorporated into the construction of Lightships and construction of the Nantucket Lightship LV-112 was well underway by March of 1936. When launched, LV-112 was the largest Lightship that had ever been built in the United States, and she was paid for by the owners of the White Star Line. The LV-112 was decommissioned in 1975. Lightships were in service until a few years later in 1978 [correction: Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station was actually discontinued in 1983] when the United States Coast Guard determined that unmanned aids to navigation would be just as effective as the Lightships. Today, LV-112 is a National Historic Landmark and operates out of Boston.
|
|
Photo above and below: Nantucket Lightship/LV-112's stern section undergoes construction at the Pusey and Jones Shipyard in Wilmington, DE. The British government and White Star Line paid for the construction of LV-112 as a result of the LV-117 incident. In addition, LV-112 was specifically designed and constructed to withstand the potential hazards and treacherous conditions of Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station. LV-112 was the largest U.S. lightship ever built with extra heavy shell-plating on critical sections of the hull, a protective double hull and 43 water tight compartments. By comparison, the Titanic had 16 presumably watertight compartments. In essence, LV-112 was built to be virtually unsinkable. Nantucket/LV-112 is one of a kind. It has no sister ships. Photo credit for construction photos: Hagley Digital Archives.
|
|
Nantucket/LV-112's inner hull section under construction within LV-112's double hull design that shows two separate engine rooms, divided by watertight bulkheads. LV-112's original power plant was a 600 HP reciprocating compound steam engine, with Babcock & Wilcox oil-fired water-tube boilers. Nantucket/LV-112 underwent a major refit in 1960 that replaced its steam engine with an 8- cylinder 900 HP Cooper-Bessemer diesel engine, in addition to six auxiliary diesel engines to power electrical generators and air compressors.
|
|
Launching of Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 on March 21,1936. Photo credit: Hagley Digital Archives
|
|
Sadly, months after his rescue, Captain Braithwaite died from injuries he endured during the collision. Though the White Star Line, which had since merged with Cunard to become Cunard-White Star Line, was at fault and their insurance agents admitted to that, it took nearly a year for settlement to be reached between the Line and the United States Government, as well as the family members of the crew and Captain who had perished. "The old ocean teaches the hard way," wrote the Inquirer & Mirror in the May 19, 1934 article, "White Star Liner Olympic Sinks Nantucket Lightship." Indeed, the tragic sinking of the LV-117 and the loss of dedicated mariners is full of sorrow and lessons. This event influenced the lifesaving practices of the United States moving forward, and made way for improvements that greatly enhanced their service.
On the 85th [now 87th] anniversary of this tragedy, we reflect on the service of the crew and honor all who perished and lived.
Those who survived the collision and made it to New York:
- Captain George W. Braithewaite of Cambridge.
- Clinton E. Mosher of New Bedford, First Officer.
- John F. Perry of Provincetown, Radioman.
- L. V. Roberts of East Boston, Oiler.
Those who perished on May 15, 1934:
- William W. Perry of Reading, Chief Engineer.
- Isaac Pina of New Bedford, Ship’s Cook.
- Alfred Moneiro of New Bedford, Second Cook.
- Justin F. Richmond of Wodburn, Oiler.
- Matthew S. Rodriques of New Bedford, Seaman.
- John M. Fortes of New Bedford, Seaman.
- Ernest B. George of New Bedford, Seaman.
To learn more about Nantucket Lightship/LV-117 and the Olympic, be sure to visit the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, opening for the 2022 season on May 27. Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 is already open for the season on Saturdays, 10am to 4pm, May to October, and by appointment on all other days throughout the year. For more information, contact the USLM via email. To view LV-112's restoration progress, click here.
|
|
Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 berthed in Boston Harbor on the East Boston waterfront, 2021.
|
|
The National Lightship Sailors memorial
|
|
The National Lightship Sailors memorial was created by the U.S. Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association International in conjunction with the City of New Bedford, MA. The memorial is dedicated to all U.S. lightship sailors, memorializing those who perished in the performance of their duties, which includes the lightship sailors who perished in the line of duty on Nantucket Lightship/LV-117, May 15, 1934. For more information about the Lightship Sailors memorial, click here.
|
|
|
|
How you can
help Nantucket/LV-112's
light beacon keep shining
|
All electronic donations will be securely processed by PayPal |
|
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 lighthouse 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.
|
|
Support LV-112's restoration!
Become a USLM member today
|
|
|
|
For a gift of $1,000 or more, donors will receive a limited-edition, fine-art print of the SS United States passing Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, signed by marine artist Gerald Levey.
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.
|
|
American Express
Amex Industrial Services, Incorporated
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
Boston Marine Society
Burnham Associates, Inc.
Burnham Marine
California Public Safety Radio Association
Cameron International Corporation
Charitable Adult Rides and
Services, Inc.
City of Boston
Community Preservation Act
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
Eastern Salt Company
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
SR Johnson Fund
Kelly Automotive Group
H.F. Lenfest Fund
The Lightship Group, LLC
McAllister Towing &
Transportation Co.
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)
Joe and Pepette Mongrain
Fund
National Park Service
Save America's Treasures
|
|
National Trust for
Historic Preservation
New England
Lighthouse Lovers
New London Maritime Society and Custom House Maritime Museum
Patriot Marine, LLC
The Sail Loft, LLC, Nantucket
Sherwin-Williams
Industrial Marine Coatings Division
State Street Corporation
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
|
|
Nantucket/LV-112
Proudly made in USA
|
|
USLM is a member
of the following organizations
|
|
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.
|
|
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
Sails!"
Poem provided by Peter Brunk, USCG-Ret., Commanding Officer, Nantucket/LV-112, 1970-71, who serves on the USLM Board of Directors.
|
|
|
|
|
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 numerous shipwrecks located in New England waters. For more information, click here.
|
|
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 the 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.
Book description: "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.
|
|
"The Finest Hours—" Book and Movie |
|
"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, who 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.
|
|
The full-length movie "The Finest Hours' is available on DVD. |
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
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 |
|
Massachusetts Lighthouses and Lightships |
|
"Massachusetts Lighthouses and Lightships" by Arthur P. Richmond is an indispensable addition to the lighthouse enthusiast's library, required reading for those interested in New England maritime history, and a delight for anyone who enjoys coastal Massachusetts. More than 800 images, many never before published, include historic plans that describe the details of these aids to navigation, and archival and contemporary photos that trace through their history. The book covers all the lighthouses and lightships that marked the shores (exclusive of Cape Cod and the Islands) and guided mariners through the challenging waters surrounding Massachusetts. This volume also explores the interiors of towers, shows the lantern rooms of rarely-visited lighthouses, and gives fascinating facts about these beacons through their 200-year history. U.S. Lightship Museum (USLM): Excellent book-one of the better books published, about lighthouses and lightships. Credit: Review-Amazon Books/USLM |
|
At left (prior to COVID), students visit LV-112's pilot house and pretend they are steering the lightship. At right, a crew member rings the bell on the foredeck of Nantucket New South Shoal No. 1 during low-visibility storm conditions. The illustration 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. |
|
|
The United States Lightship Museum
The U.S. Lightship Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the rescue and preservation of Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, a National Historic Landmark and a National Treasure. LV-112 is a museum and floating learning center, open to the general public -- a place for people of all ages to learn about our nation's seafaring history and the technologies that advanced the nautical and marine sciences.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
