July 2015

In this issue
National Lighthouse Day
Winter wrap-up
Restoration progress
WHOI/Candlepower Program
Eagle Scout project
Students row to LV-112
Friends of Boston Harbor
Islands event
"Figawi Send Off"
fundraiser for LV-112
Homecoming memories
USLM membership

 

 

 Donate 

All electronic donations will be 

processed by PayPal

  

 

   Subscribe to me on YouTube 

 

 

  

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Rowlett tried to maintain a list of lighthouses from his many friends and contacts, but it had grown too long (and too out of date) to display on the comprehensive site.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.  

  

 

We Salute Our Donors

  

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

California Public Safety Radio Association 


  Cameron International Corporation

 

Charitable Adult Rides and

Services, Inc.


 

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 


 USLM Members  


Verizon Foundation

 

Zuni Maritime Foundation

USS Zuni / USCG Tamaroa  


 Individual Donors

 

 

 

USLM is a Member
of the Following Organizations

 

CAMM Logo 

   

HNSA Logo     

 

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 .

 
For more information about the U.S. Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association and the U.S. Lightship Service, click on logo





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
Sails!"


Poem provided by Peter Brunk,
USCG-Ret., Commanding Officer,
Nantucket/LV-112, 1970-71

 

2016 is the 300th anniversary of Boston Light

To learn more about Boston Light Ticentennial planning and special events, click on the Boston Light.

 

The U.S. Lightship Museum is a member of the Tricentennial Committee.

 

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, experienced and written by Capt. Bill Palmer, a long time shipwreck researcher, diver and preservationist.

 

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.

 

Palmer has been running a charter boat for wreck diving and shark fishing & shark cage diving off the Coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut for 40 years.


A story about a German U-Boat attack off Portland Maine, during WWII, involving LV-112 (USS Nantucket)

  

 

It 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." You can listen to the historic radio broadcast interview of Bernie's harrowing rescue experience at sea. 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.


To learn more about
lighthouse news, click on Lighthouse Digest


 
 
 
Join us on National Lighthouse Day to celebrate relighting of Nantucket Lightship/LV-112's light beacon

 

Nantucket/LV-112 anchored on Nantucket Shoals lightship station, 1946.

 

On Friday, August 7, 2015, Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, a former commissioned U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) floating lighthouse (1936-75), National Historic Landmark and National Treasure, will commemorate the restoration of its historic 500,000-candlepower light beacon (23-mile range) and the activation of its foghorn (14-mile range) at its homeport berth in Boston Harbor. At dusk on August 7, Nantucket/LV-112's bright and guiding main light beacon will be turned on once again for the first time since the ship was decommissioned at the USCG-Base Boston in 1975 and its navigational aids were extinguished. The restoration of LV-112's light beacon, foghorn and radio

Haceta Head Lighthouse, Florence, Oregon. Photo: Craig Tuttle

beacon tower components were made possible by a generous grant awarded to the U.S. Lightship Museum (USLM) by American Express, facilitated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

 

We invite you to attend this unique celebration to be held in conjunction with National Lighthouse Day. This is a day that we look forward to celebrating every year with fanfare in Boston Harbor (details below).

 

The date for celebrating lighthouses is based in America's maritime heritage. On August 7, 1789, the United States Congress approved an act for the "establishment and support of Lighthouse, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers." Two hundred years later, Congress designated August 7 as National Lighthouse Day. It provides recognition for the important maritime role played by lighthouses and lightships (floating lighthouses), vessels stationed in waters where it was unsuitable to build lighthouses.

 

Inside view of St. Augustine Lighthouse, first-order Fresnel lens. Located in Florida in America's oldest port, St. Augustine Lighthouse rises 165 feet above sea level and contains 219 steps that can be climbed by visitors. At the top, the original Fresnel lens still serves the privately maintained beacon that is lit by a 1,000-watt light bulb, maintained by the museum and volunteers. The lens consists of 370 hand-cut glass prisms arranged in a beehive shape towering 12 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter. Photo: Robert Mannino, Jr.

These sentinels of the seas represent the significance of safety, heroism and American ingenuity. It is a day for communities and historic preservationists around the country to rededicate themselves to the protection and restoration of these historic structures. Moreover, it is a day that honors our nation's land-based and floating lighthouses at sea, their current and former high-powered light beacons, which for hundreds of years warned mariners and their ships away from treacherous shoals and reefs, safely guiding them to their ports of call. These essential navigational aids on LV-112 are being restored back to their original and historically accurate configuration, as when LV-112 was a commissioned USCG lightship prior to 1975. Upon completion, the light beacons and fog horn will be operational.

 

Tungsten halogen light bulb (1,000 watts) used inside LV-112's foremast light beacon Fresnel lens (same type of light bulb used in St. Augustine Lighthouse)
Planned activities for LV-112/National Lighthouse Day 

In Boston, this historic event will be held on the waterfront pier, adjacent to Nantucket/LV-112, at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina in historic East Boston. There will be maritime history displays, food, beverages and live music. This will be a day for everyone to have fun learning about an important segment of our nation's maritime heritage. Available for tours will be the actual USCG rescue boat, CG36500, whose crew led a courageous lifesaving rescue mission in horrific sea conditions during the historic SS Pendleton shipwreck in 1952. The CG36500 is owned and maintained by the Orleans Historical Society. This amazing story will be featured in the Walt Disney Pictures full-length feature film "The Finest Hours" (based on the book), scheduled for release in January 2016. More information will be forthcoming about this historic celebration, which also will serve as a fundraiser to support the ongoing restoration of Nantucket/LV-112.

 

CG36500 lifeboat underway, after restoration

 

Date and times: Friday, August 7, 3-9pm (rain or shine) LV-112's light beacon relighting: 8:15-8:30pm  

Location: Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina, 256 Marginal St., East Boston

Ticket price: $50 (donation); to purchase ticket, click here and go to "Donate" button

Contact: For more information, call: 617.797.0135,


Good riddance to winter,

hello spring and summer!

 

LV-112 at her snow- and ice-bound berth, 2015

If you're feeling hot from the summer weather, then you'll probably cool off after reading this message. After a horrific and miserable winter season, in Boston Harbor spring and summer are certainly welcomed. As shown in the photos, LV-112 was trapped in ice for many sub-zero days. Needless to say, there were many anxious days and nights worrying about the prospects of LV-112's hull becoming damaged by the thick heavy harbor ice that repeatedly squeezed the hull's shell plating and the passing of large broken pack ice that collided with LV-112 during periods of thawing.

  

 

A hardy shoveling crew kept the decks of LV-112 cleared during the onslaught of winter storms.
 

LV-112 trapped and surrounded by frozen seawater
 

We were reminded of Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, which was trapped, crushed and swallowed up by ice in the frigid Antarctic sea. However, all things considered, LV-112 fared well. Volunteers came to the rescue and helped with keeping the historic floating lighthouse secure and her decks clear of deep snow. When the relentless weekly snowstorms and occasional blizzards became overwhelming, we needed to hire snow-removal help.     

 

John Rogers, a volunteer and East Boston school teacher, takes a break from shoveling and watches the ice packs flow past LV-112. 


Nantucket/LV-112's
restoration continues moving forward

 

Volunteer Jim Hewitt stands next to a vintage RCA CR103 radar unit that he just picked up in Pasadena, MD, from Capt. Greg Krawczyk (USN Ret). Greg, a ChesapeakeLightship/LV-116 volunteer and member of the Board of Trustees of the USS Slater, kindly loaned the radar unit to the USLM for installation on LV-112. The RCA-103 is what was previously used on LV-112 while in service, prior to 1975.

 

Capt. Greg Krawczyk during a visit to Nantucket/LV-112
 

As a result of LV-112's current restoration phase, the ship has been temporally closed to the general public from June 13 to July 31. In June, LV-112 was moved to a nearby pier so crane work could be started on the light and radio beacon tower. LV-112 will moved back to its berth at the end of July. Volunteers who are former shipyard workers and the ship-repair specialists from the Lightship Group, LLC, are presently tackling the electrical, mechanical/power and structural restoration projects on LV-112. They are restoring LV-112's main electrical switchboard and the diesel engines that supply power to the air compressors and electric generators. Shipboard power systems are also undergoing rigorous cleaning, refurbishment and preparation for pressure testing.

 

Lightship Group technicians (left to right) Gary Kugler and Chris Tortolanni prepare one of LV-112's three GM 3-71 diesel 30KW generator engines for starting.

Lightship Group technician Jamie Zussy refurbishes LV-112 foghorn components. Preparing LV-112 for independent shipboard systems repowering, after laying dormant and inactive for more than 20 years, is a daunting challenge. During the restoration process, it is essential to maintain the historic integrity of LV-112, a USCG lightship that operated 1936-75. Since LV-112 has always been a lightship museum, we are fortunate to possess many of the original service manuals, construction blueprints and other former USCG LV-112 lightship service documents. H&H Propeller, of Salem, MA, generously donated machining services to repair one of the foghorn's vital components.

 

LV-112's original main light beacon (aft mast), radio beacon/radar antenna structure, auxiliary duplex light beacon (foremast) and foghorn (top of amidships deckhouse) are shown in this LV-112 photo, c. 1965. These components are currently being restored and reconstructed back to their original and historically accurate configuration, as when LV-112 was a commissioned USCG lightship, up to 1975. Upon completion, the light beacons and foghorn will be operational. 
 
Upon completion of this restoration phase, LV-112's exterior rehabilitation will be virtually complete. Moreover, a large portion of LV-112's interior restoration of on board mechanical/electrical systems is well underway. Nonetheless, a considerable amount of restoration work will remain. But LV-112 will again be open to the general public and continue with its educational programs and related activities on a relatively limited schedule until LV-112's restoration is completed.  

 

 

USLM attends teacher workshop at

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

 

As part of the USLM's ongoing development of its Candlepower education program, in June the USLM attended one of the unique educational development programs offered by WHOI, with this course titled "What are the fish we are eating? How studying fish diets tells about their changing ecosystems."

  

  

 

During the teacher workshop, presenter Joel Llopiz of the WHOI Biology Department and his assistant examine a krill specimen under the microscope.
 
In the Llopiz lab, a teacher who attended the workshop examines a specimen of an otolith, a hard structure located behind the brain of a fish that helps with balance, orientation and sound detection. 

 

The program was very enlightening and well presented by WHOI staff at the WHOI Exhibit Center and Llopiz lab. The workshop included a PowerPoint presentation and hands-on experience at WHOI's Llopiz lab. These programs are offered by, WHOI's Sea Grant Program for teachers/professional educators. The WHOI Sea Grant Program supports research, education and extension projects that encourage environmental stewardship, long-term economic development and responsible use of the nation's coastal and ocean resources. WHOI and Nantucket Lightship/LV-112's relationship dates back to when LV-112 was used as a oceanographic reporting and research vessel for WHOI while a commissioned USCG lightship, in addition to other East Coast USCG lightvessels. The USLM is developing a program that will be offered to students and the general public that will replicate some of the WHOI research and reporting done on LV-112 as a USCG lightship.

 

REMUS SharkCam exhibit at WHOI Exhibit Center

 

 

 
Nantucket/LV-112 chosen for Eagle Scout Service project

 

 
As a leadership requirement to become an Eagle Scout, Connor Smith, of the Boy Scout-Unit 21, Knox Trail Council, Framingham, MA, this past spring chose LV-112 to be his Eagle Scout Service Project.

The Eagle Scout Service Project, is the opportunity for a Boy Scout, Varsity Scout or qualified Venturer in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of his community. This is the culmination of the Eagle Scout candidate's leadership training, and it requires a significant effort on his part. The project must benefit an organization other than the BSA and cannot be performed for an individual or a private business. Nonprofit organizations that benefit the general public and or a community are best suited for a service project.  



 

The idea for a project may be an original one or one already done by someone else. In either case, the Scout must plan, develop and lead others in doing the project. There is no numerical minimum amount of time or requirement for the length of time in which the project needs to be completed, but that it be enough to "demonstrate leadership." The exact implementation of requirements varies among different districts and councils.

 

The rigorous nature of the required service project is a major step in the completion of the Eagle rank. Very often, the Eagle Project is what highlights the full impact of the Scouting program to the community at large. The National Eagle Scout Association researched the total volunteer hours of the Eagle service projects ever done, totaling more than 100 million hours of service. Each year, new Eagle Scouts are adding more than 3 million more hours.

 

 

To meet the requirements of the service project, Connor organized, administered and supervised a group of other scouts and helpers to assist with the restoration and preservation of LV-112. Together, they prepared areas of the historic lightship for paint coatings and restoration of the pilothouse components. In addition, Connor secured a donation of project materials from Lowe's Home Improvement Store. Thank you, Connor and your team!


Students row across Boston Harbor to visit Nantucket/LV-112
Photos: William Dexter

This past spring, a group of high school students from the Fenway School in Boston and their instructors from Hull Lifesaving Museum's Boston Rowing Center, set their course to Nantucket Lightship/LV-112. Their rowing crafts are traditionally known as Cornish pilot gigs and are wood constructed. The Cornish pilot gig is a six-oared rowing boat, 32 feet long with a beam of 4 feet 10 inches. Pilot gigs were recognized as one of the first shore-based lifeboats that went to vessels in distress, with recorded rescues going back as far as the late 17th century.

  

 

    

The original purpose of the Cornish pilot gig was as a general workboat, and the craft is used for taking pilots out to incoming vessels off the Atlantic. At the time, the race would be the first gig to get their pilot on board a vessel (often about to run aground on rocks) got the job, and hence the payment.

 

 

 

Today, pilot gigs are used primarily for sport, with approximately 100 clubs spanning the globe. The main concentration is within Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, but clubs also exist in Somerset, Devon, Dorset, Wales and London. Internationally there are pilot gig clubs in France, the Netherlands, the Faroe Islands, Australia and the USA.

 

The Hull lifesaving Museum , Hull MA, sponsors extensive rowing programs. For more information, contact: info@hulllifesavingmuseum.org or 781.925.5433


Friends of Boston Harbor Islands tour LV-112
  
Volunteers of FBHI on foredeck of Nantucket/LV-112
 

The Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands (FBHI) recently held a fundraising tour on LV-112 to help benefit the FBHI and the USLM/LV-112. Proceeds from the ticket sales to board and tour LV-112 and enjoy the waterfront setting in Boston Harbor were split between the USLM and FBHI. Also, KO Pies, located in East Location at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina, generously donated their famous meat pies and sausage rolls. FBHI members also donated other food selections, beverages and support for merchandise sales.

  

FBHI volunteer member rings LV-112's fog bell.

The Volunteers and Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands is a 501(c) nonprofit organization environmental and educational organization that encourages public use of the islands, balanced with the need to protect their fragile ecosystem and historic environment. Their diverse membership provides services to the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area through volunteer programs, public education and advocacy efforts. The Friends have been recognized by local, state and national organizations for their dedicated grassroots efforts to promote appreciation and preservation of this unique recreational resource, located so near to a major metropolitan area.

 

Susanne Gail Marsh from FBHI poses with Mako shark jaws in LV-112 crew's quarters.

 

In addition, the Friends now serve the National Park with its 34 islands spread over 50 square miles of Boston Harbor. The Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area is truly one of America's great parks, with panoramic vistas, sweeping beaches, historic forts, schools and hospitals, miles of walking trails, and acres of natural landscapes. The organization takes great pride in serving this historic treasure. FBHI also offer guided boat tours of the Boston Harbor islands and lighthouses. For more information, click here.  


Nantucket Island business owners sponsor Boston Harbor fundraising event for Nantucket/LV-112
  
Left to right: Rob Caron, Peter Mugford and Jesse Biggers with model of Nantucket/LV-112 at Pier 6 restaurant on Boston Harbor waterfront, Charlestown
 
Charlestown resident P.J. Mugford hosted a sold-out fundraiser, " Figawi Send Off Party" on May 17 at the Pier 6 restaurant, adjacent to the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston. Nearly 200 people came out for this effort to raise funds to help restore and preserve Nantucket/LV-112 and help the Pete Frates Foundation. Proceeds were split between these two nonprofits. The event was sponsored by a Nantucket Island business, the  Sail Loft, clothing store.

 

Mugford, who is co-owner of the Sail Loft, partnered with owners of the Muskeget Group Private Holding Company, including owners, U.S. Marines veteran  Robert Caron of Beacon Hill and Jesse Biggers of the South End. Upon decommissioning in 1975, LV-112 was transported to Nantucket Island and began retirement as a museum, open to the general public through the 1980s.

Homecoming memories

Nantucket/LV-112 passes historic Boston Light as she enters Boston Harbor in 2010, towed from Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY. Recent LV-112 visitors, Steve and Margaret Eckman, took this photo from Georges Island in May 2010.

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/LV-112, signed by marine artist Gerald Levey
When you become a member of the U.S. Lightship Museum (USLM), you will be helping rescue and preserve Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, a National Historic Landmark and National Treasure that is an important part of our nation's maritime heritage. Plus you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are a contributing partner in the legacy of the world's most famous and largest U.S. lightship ever built. The USLM is a member of the Council of Maritime Museums (CAMM) and the Historic Naval Ships Association (HNSA). 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.

 Donate 

All electronic donations will be processed by PayPal.

 

 

 

We thank everyone for their ongoing
contributions and support
 

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.

 

www.nantucketlightshiplv-112.org