Nantucket Lightship

[harveyr933]

Thought those of you that have been by her in Wareham Harbor would be interested in this....
http://wareham-ma.villagesoup.com/p/his ... am/1275615

Nice to see she won't sit there and rot.

[Jim Walsh]

Great piece of history. It would be nice to see her back on the shoals where she belongs. It'll never happen, but it would be remarkable. Thanks for sharing.

[s2sailorlis]

Wasn't this also at Captains Cove Seaport (Bridgeport, CT) back in the late 80's/early 90's?

[Oswego John]

If anyone is interested in lightships, especially the Nantucket I and Nantucket II, I suggest that they google "Ambrose Lightship". Interesting info with photos on pages 1 and 2.

I well remember the now called Nantucket II. (Yes, I'm that old.) It was called "The Ambrose Lightship". It was stationed at the entrance of the Ambrose channel, which leads into New York harbour.

You don't hear much about the story of the European freighter that sunk it in 1960. The cargo ship's electronics were locked onto the lightship from far out, not locked on to a few miles to the side of the lightship. The nav. guidance system was spot on. The freighter tee-boned the Ambrose lightship and sunk it. Since then, they built a tower and the Ambrose was the last lightship leading into NY.

I'm a little hazy how the USCG renames ships. I think the vessel is L87. But then, which lightship called Ambrose is tied up at The South St Seaport museum in NYC? Anyhow, there is a lot of nautical history involved with lightships.

Very interesting reading

OJ

[Steve Laume]

I fished with my Dad in the late 60s. He had a 23' wooden inboard docked in Indian River Bay. Running that inlet was quite an experience at times. We would make off shore runs to go fishing and I remember being rather fascinated by the Delaware Light Ship. I believe it is now on display in Lewis, De.

They always looked like they would be kind of a miserable rolly ride if you had to sit out a storm on one of those things, Steve.

[Neil Gordon]

I'm a little hazy how the USCG renames ships. I think the vessel is L87. But then, which lightship called Ambrose is tied up at The South St Seaport museum in NYC?

The name on the side was essentially a large, floating billboard for those whose navigation skills might actually have been bad enough so they didn't know which lightship they had stumbled upon. If what was "AMBROSE" was re-stationed to Nantucket, it would have been repainted. Temporary duty would be performed by lightships with "RELIEF" painted on the sides.

Radio direction finding did in fact create a significant risk of collision, as ships honed in. The same happens with more modern technology, too, with autopilots set to steer to a GPS waypoint that's also a nav aid.

"AMBROSE" (described as a 1907 lightship) is open to visitors. I was on board there about five weeks ago... assisting with the down-rigging the schooner Lettie G. Howard. Lettie G is moored outboard of the lightship and we used the still working davits to assist in man-handling the Lettie G spars... they were moved from Lettie G, across AMBROSE, to the pier, then to below decks on PEKING for winter storage. It was pretty cool going into the cavernous, non-public spaces below decks on PEKING, by the way!

[Jim Walsh]

Another interesting fact about Peking is that she is the vessel on which was filmed the movie Around Cape Horn by the famous Irving Johnson. For those who haven't seen it it is available at the Mystic Seaport Store.

[Neil Gordon]

Another interesting fact about Peking is that she is the vessel on which was filmed the movie Around Cape Horn by the famous Irving Johnson. For those who haven't seen it it is available at the Mystic Seaport Store.

Here's 6 minutes worth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5dxfAJ6hdE