LV-112 berthed at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina on the East Boston waterfront

 

Designated a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2012, Nantucket/LV-112 has received a $250,000 grant from American Express to rebuild its navigational light beacon, radio beacon structures, foghorn and on-board electrical systems. "This project will restore the heart of the lightship, allowing it to shine for the first time in 40 years," said Timothy J. McClimon, president of the American Express Foundation and vice president of corporate social responsibility at American Express, who authored an article published in the Huffington Post. "The grant also will help the lightship to be more accessible to the public year round."

 

This photo of LV-112 (c. 1965) shows the fully intact radio beacon antenna structures on top of the main and foremast. The primary 500,000-candlepower light beacon is located on main mast. Foghorn is shown on top of midship deck house

Top of LV-112's main and foremast as they appear today, with radio beacon antenna structures removed and radio beacon antenna relocated by previous stewards

Radio Beacon Structure Plan illustrates the original LV-112 radio and light beacon structures (highlighted), which are being restored back to the historically accurate 1960-75 configuration

 

The Huffington Post article continues (edited): 

"American Express knows that historic places, like the Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, contribute to a sense of national and local identity, and they play an important role in attracting visitors and revitalizing neighborhoods," McClimon continued. "Through the National Treasures program, American Express is assisting the National Trust for Historic Preservation in mounting campaigns to protect endangered sites across America, and we are making grants to support some sites with their preservation and restoration projects.

 

Commitment to historic preservation

With a long history of philanthropy, American Express is deeply committed to historic preservation, providing more than $50 million in grants to preserve historic places globally. As a partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, American Express has contributed $15 million in the past 10 years to help promote and enable the preservation of cultural and historic places like the Nantucket Lightship/LV-112.

  

LV-112's hull restoration during 2012 dry-dock at the Fitzgerald Shipyard in Boston Harbor. Additional hull restoration and dry-docking is currently being planned

 

Helping save 'The Statue of Liberty of the Sea'

Nearly 80 years after it began safeguarding the trans-Atlantic shipping lanes with its powerful guiding light, radio beacon and foghorn, Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 will once again be illuminated in its homeport of Boston. The "Statue of Liberty of the Sea," as it's affectionately known, is a symbol of America's development. Anchored 100 miles off the U.S. mainland near the dangerous Nantucket Shoals from 1936-75, it was the last landmark seen by vessels departing the United States and the first beacon seen by many immigrants entering U.S. waters. Restoration is underway on this former U.S. Coast Guard floating lighthouse to make it accessible for future generations to better understand the vital lightship era of our nation's maritime history and to function as a floating learning center.

LV-112's hull before and after recent restoration, among key steps initially taken to restore the historic lightship

Working with a dedicated corps of volunteers, Bob Mannino is the lead caretaker for the Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, currently berthed in East Boston. With a lifelong passion for maritime history, Mannino worked to establish the United States Lightship Museum in 2009 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and preserving the famous lightship. Back then, the Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 had been orphaned and on the verge of being dismantled. As highlighted in the discussion below, McClimon and Mannino share a similar philosophy that saving historic places not only helps preserve the past, but can provide powerful educational opportunities for active learning and discovery for future generations

McClimon: With a heritage of preserving historic sites around the world, American Express recognizes the power of nonprofit-business partnerships to save sites and rally communities. Have you seen the value?

Mannino: Partnerships with other nonprofit organizations and the business community can be absolutely transformational. Even though Nantucket/LV-112 is the largest and most famous lightship in American history, like many historic projects, we face funding challenges. We gained a tremendous boost when the National Trust selected Nantucket/LV-112 as a National Treasure, leading to this pivotal grant from your Foundation.

McClimon: Restoration work is underway right now to make the ship's navigational warning signals operational once again. Why was this step in restoration so important to you and the Museum?

East Boston fourth-grade students visit LV-112, learning first-hand about its remarkable role in maritime history

Mannino: To fully tell its remarkable story, we needed to restore LV-112's light beacon, a powerful navigational aid that once guided transoceanic ships through the treacherous waters around Nantucket Shoals, the most remote lightship station in the world and the only one located in international waters. Nantucket Lightship/LV-112's 500,000-candlepower light is symbolic of our new Candlepower Program, a hands-on educational opportunity in which schoolchildren visit our ship to learn why our nation needed lightships, the crew's courage during horrific storms and near-collisions, and the scientific data they collected to help scientists better understand our climate, oceanographic environment and weather. In additional to motivating children to learn and succeed, the course is designed to inspire them to become guiding lights -- "candlepower of the future" -- recognizing their key role in helping to preserve America's historic treasures for generations to come.

McClimon: After this phase of preservation is completed in 2015, I know there are some exciting public activities being planned. Can you tell me what's in store?

HAM radio operators broadcasting and receiving voice and Morse code communications to other lighthouses and lightships all over the world during the annual International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend in LV-112's radio room; LV-112's callsign is W1NLS

Mannino: We are excited to be invited by the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Park Service to participate in the 2016 Tri-centennial Celebration of Boston Light, America's first and oldest lighthouse site. Joint planning is now underway to nationally promote this event, with our restored beacon shining forth as the pride of the lightship. Every summer, we also participate in the annual International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend, based in Scotland, with Nantucket/LV-112 one of more than 500 registered HAM radio stations that broadcast and receive voice and Morse code messages transmitted from lighthouses and lightships around the world. We invite the public to LV-112 to participate in these events. LV-112's newly restored light beacon is scheduled to be relighted and celebrated on National Lighthouse Day, August 7, 2015. More information about LV-112 and National Lighthouse Day will be announced at a later date.   

Boston Light (foreground), which will celebrate its 300th anniversary in 2016, and Graves Light help guide a cruise ship into Boston Harbor. Credit: Photo above and Minot's Ledge Light (at top of left column) by Carl Spence Photography

McClimon: We know local community engagement is critical to sustaining historic places and that your organization is proof of this, with your entire staff being composed entirely of volunteers. Helping preserve local historic places doesn't have to be complicated. What are ways people can get involved with Nantucket Lightship or in their own community?

Mannino: The general public is fascinated by the story of lightships, which were anchored miles off the coast and largely out of sight. Now that Nantucket/LV-112 is back to its original homeport of Boston and berthed in the heart of the harbor, it has unparalleled visibility and magnetism, drawing people of all ages from the local community as well as tourists from around the world to learn its story and admire its unique design and sturdy construction. Showing support for historic places can be as simple as taking and sharing a photo of a site, going on a tour or buying a souvenir from a gift shop. For those who really want to get involved, we continuously reach out to people from all walks of life to volunteer, and many are giving their time and skills to advance our project's mission.

To learn more about National Treasures and nominate a historic place in your community, please visit SavingPlaces.org. Follow National Trust for Historic Preservation on Twitter.

Striving for completion

Although, Nantucket/LV-112's restoration is 50 percent completed, we still have a long way to go before we are in a maintenance and preservation-only mode. We still have to raise approximately $1.2 million to virtually complete LV-112's restoration goals, at which point we could focus primarily on educational programs for students and the general public

The pace and progress of LV-112's restoration is dependent on the generosity of our donors. We are sincerely grateful for the commitment of all our volunteers and donors who have helped us achieve LV-112's restoration progress to date. We are especially appreciative to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express for their ongoing support to our cause. Everyone's support of historic preservation is critical to saving America's national treasures, historic sites and landmarks.