December 2024

Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, a floating lighthouse anchored on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station (1936-75), is blanketed in fog, 1946. Click the red arrow to hear the fog horn and see the light beacon in action.

During foggy conditions, it was not uncommon for the thundering fog horn on Nantucket/LV-112 to sound every 20-30 seconds for a week or more. Nantucket Shoals Station was plagued with heavy fog during a large portion of the year, creating an extremely hazardous situation for the lightship and transatlantic shipping to and from Europe and the United States. As a result of the isolated and extremely remote location, it was considered the most dangerous lightship station in the world. Despite the hazards, Nantucket Lightship helped guide thousands of ships with valuable cargo to safety, as well as saving many lives. Established in 1854, Nantucket Lightship Station operated until l983, helping to guide vital transatlantic commerce and passengers safely to their ports of call.

Now undergoing restoration, Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 is berthed in its homeport of Boston on the East Boston waterfront, 2024

The generous support that the U.S. Lightship Museum has received since we rescued a neglected and decaying Nantucket/LV-112 from being scrapped in 2009 has been transformational. LV-112 is unique — a one-of a-kind historic maritime treasure. It is living history and a time machine that has helped save many lives and brought so many together from all over the world to share their memories and historic experiences. Your contributions will help the USLM carry on its mission to complete LV-112’s restoration and preservation and to continue providing a floating learning center for everyone to learn from and enjoy. Until recently, LV-112 was a victim of obscurity and in extreme need of rescue, virtually a dead ship. Today, our supporters and volunteers are working diligently to ensure this rich treasure trove of sea history will be shared with the public, keeping this famous lightship’s heritage alive for generations to come.

Your ongoing support is much appreciated. Donations made by December 31, 2024, are tax-deductible in the current tax year, as permitted by law. Checks need to be dated by that date and mailed soon thereafter (the check does not need to be in our hands by year’s end). Please address checks to: U.S. Lightship Museum, PO Box 454, Amesbury, MA 01913. Gifts made via credit card, (click on Donate button below) however, need to be fully processed by December 31 to achieve a 2024 tax deduction.

How you can help Nantucket Lightship/LV-112's

light beacon keep shining and our historic cause moving forward 

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Artist's 1936 rendering of Nantucket/LV-112 donated to USLM

This 1936 pencil drawing of Nantucket/LV-112 on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station was given to Flaviel “Jack” Rollinson (1934–2006) by a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) friend, Jim Conrad, in 1975. Jack was a lieutenant in the USCG, enlisting after he graduated from high school in 1952 and serving until his retirement in 1975. The drawing belonged to Conrad’s father, who was in the U.S. Lighthouse Service (USLHS). Nantucket/LV-112 was built by the USLHS in 1936. Credit: Gift from Jack’s wife, Betty Rollinson. Artist’s name not legible.

Lt. Jack Rollinson (USCG)

Lt. Rollinson (USCG Ret) served on Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 in the mid-1960s. He also served on the former buoy tender USCGC Lilac (WAGL-227), now a museum ship in New York City, and as a group commander at Chincoteague, VA, in addition to other assignments. His father was in the USCG, and his mother was the daughter of a Cape Hatteras lighthouse keeper, born in the lighthouse keeper’s quarters in North Carolina. Other people in his mother's family were Cape Hatteras Lighthouse keepers. So it was no surprise when Jack joined the Coast Guard.

Arial photo of Nantucket/LV-112 while anchored on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station in 1965, during Jack’s assignment on LV-112. Credit: Betty Rollinson

More details on this notable USCG family ...

Jack Rollinson was born in Frisco, NC, to Leonard L. Rollinson (1904–63), a Surfman who served in the USCG during WWII, and Hilda Fulcher Rollinson (1915–95), daughter of Charles Haywood Fulcher, who began his career with the U.S. Lighthouse Service in 1903 in Baltimore, MD, transferring to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1906, where he served as a first assistant keeper until 1920. Fulcher was one of the longest-serving keepers at Cape Hatteras. There were other Fulcher family members who served as head lighthouse keepers.

Cape Hatteras Light, Buxton, NC (Outer Banks), protects one of the most hazardous sections of the Atlantic Coast, known as a “graveyard of the Atlantic," similar to Nantucket Shoals and the outer shores of Cape Cod.

During his tenure at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Fulcher witnessed the Navy radio station pick up a distress signal from the Titanic in 1912, the 1913 installation of incandescent oil vapor lamps at the lighthouse, which greatly increased the strength of the beam, and the 1918 sinking of the Diamond Shoals Lightship by a German U-Boat.

A 'Nantucket–helping–Nantucket' moment

USS Nantucket (LCS 27) Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ship underway.

USS Nantucket (LCS 27) Commissioning Day at the Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston Harbor, Nov. 16, 2024.

In November, our LV-112 volunteers got the thrill of a lifetime — an invitation

to tour the USS Nantucket (LCS 27), the newest littoral combat ship in the

U.S. Navy, as well as being invited to attend the ship’s commissioning in Boston Harbor. In the days before the commissioning, several Nantucket (LCS 27) Navy crew members visited Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, helping us with restoration of LV-112’s crews quarters. It was an extraordinary “Nantucket-helping-Nantucket” moment! The U.S. Lightship Museum is sincerely grateful to the USS Nantucket (LCS 27) Commissioning Committee and crew of the LCS 27 for inviting us to share in the commissioning activities of LCS 27 and helping with Nantucket Lightship/LV-112’s restoration and preservation.

Heading out to sea from Boston Harbor, the USS Nantucket (LCS 27) passes Nantucket Lightship/LV-112, berthed in the background.

Photo credit: Joseph Milano, President, Union Oyster House, Honorary Consul General Thailand. The famous Union Oyster House is America's oldest restaurant on Boston's Freedom Trail (1826) and a National Historic Landmark.

Visiting Nantucket/LV-112 in April 2023 were crew members of the USS Nantucket (LCS-27) (left to right): CDR Angela Eickelmann, Executive Officer; CMDCS Monica Bolton, Senior Enlisted Leader; CDR Kari Yakubisin, Commanding Officer; GM1 Victor Hernandez, Gunners Mate; BMC Eric Chavez, Boatswains Mate; LCDR Kelly O'Bryant, Combat Systems Officer.

Navy crew from the LCS 27 came to LV-112 to help with our crews quarters restoration. LV-112 has 23 sleeping berths. Twelve are steel pipe berth frames that require arduous prep-and-paint restoration. The LCS 27 crew was a tremendous help with the restoration project work. A total of eight hard-working LCS 27 crew members came over for two days to help.

U.S. Navy crew from LCS 27 (left to right): FC2 Janca, BM2 Sullivan, FC3 Chapman, FC1 Olsen

U.S. Navy crew from LCS 27 (left to right) QMCS Gillaspie, DC1 Skelton, MM1 King, ENFN O’Niel

USS Nantucket (LS 112), was modified from a lightship to a U.S. Navy examination vessel for service during WWII and was reassigned to guard the entrance to Portland, Maine Harbor, from 1942-45.

Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 was renamed USS Nantucket (LS 112) during WWII, when it was removed from lightship duty and converted to an armed examination vessel (1942-45) and reassigned to Portland, Maine Harbor, to monitor and inspect vessels entering and leaving the harbor for possible enemy intruders. Portland Harbor was a major shipbuilding port for the war effort, building Liberty Ships. Also, Nazi U-Boats were attacking and sinking shipping off the U.S. East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico during WWII. In fact, shortly before Germany surrendered in 1945, the last German U-Boat to enter American waters sank a U.S. Navy ship (USS Eagle-56) near Portland Harbor. The USS Nantucket helped save surviving crew members from the sinking.

Nautical chart used by Nazi U-Boats to navigate U.S. coastal waters. At the time of WWII, only 1918 U.S. charts could be obtained for the Nazis to copy.

USS Nantucket, Passiac Class Monitor, 1862, was the first USS Nantucket — one of 10 Passiac Class Iron-Clad Monitors built for the U.S. Navy. The Passiac Class Monitors were an improved version of the USS Monitor, built in 1862. The USS Nantucket was built at the Bethleham Atlantic Works, East Boston, MA, and served during the Civil War. The iron-clad vessel was sold at auction in 1900 to a Boston enterprise, final fate unknown.

USS Nantucket (IX-18), built in 1873-76 as the USS Ranger, was renamed in 1917 as the USS Rockport and renamed again in 1918 as the USS Nantucket. It originally was built as a screw steamer with full-rig auxiliary sail and served as a gunboat of the U.S. Navy from 1876 to 1920, and later as a training ship with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy from 1909 to 1941. The ship was built in Wilmington, DE, by Harlan & Hollingsworth, which began as Betts, Pusey & Harlan. Samuel Pusey established Pusey and Jones Corp., a major shipbuilder in Wilmington, which built Nantucket/LV-112 in 1936. The IX-18 was scrapped in 1958.

In photo above, a Freedom Class littoral combat ship is underway. The USS Nantucket (LCS 27), a ship in this class, was commissioned at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston on Nov. 16, 2024.

U.S. Lightship Museum (LV-112) volunteers toured the USS Nantucket (LCS 27) and visited the ship’s state-of-the-art bridge (pilot house).

The technically advanced navigational systems and controls in the pilot house of USS Nantucket (LCS 27) are a stark contrast to Nantucket/LV-112’s (below).

Nantucket Lightship/LV-112’s newly constructed 1936 pilot house seems very basic by today's standards. At the time, LV-112 was considered state-of-the-art design and construction. From 1936–75 during LV-112’s service as a USCG commissioned lightship, many modifications and upgrades were installed as military and marine navigational systems advanced through the years.

Our collaborative outreach programs…

Maine Lighthouse Museum features Nantucket Lightship/LV-112

The U.S. Lightship Museum continues to forge new collaborative partnerships and cultivate existing ones with community and regional institutional organizations, in an effort to help educate youths and the general public about historic preservation, important environmental, oceanographic, nautical and cultural topics that make learning fun and inspirational.

The Maine Lighthouse Museum located in Rockland, ME, has a U.S. lightship exhibit that features Nantucket/LV-112 and a scale model of LV-112 as an examination vessel (USS Nantucket LS112) during WWII, 1942-45. The U.S. Lightship Museum loaned the USS Nantucket model for the exhibit.

If you love lighthouses and maritime history, the Maine Lighthouse Museum is a very worthwhile visit. The incredible museum serves as “keepers” of our nation’s largest lighthouse museum — a priceless collection of mementoes that pay tribute to America’s lighthouse heritage and the men, women and children who dedicated their lives to sending out the light. The museum includes an exhibit featuring LV-112.

The Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum, Nantucket Island, also includes an exhibit on Nantucket Lightship history.

The Maine Lighthouse Museum conserves and interprets the museum’s incredible collection of Fresnel lenses, USLHS and USLSS artifacts, books, historic documents and vintage images for future generations to learn from and enjoy. It is located on the scenic Rockport, Maine Harbor waterfront.

If you are planning a visit to the Maine Lighthouse Museum and are driving from the south (through Portland), drop into the Kennebec Tavern in Bath, ME, serving patrons for 27 years on the shores of the Kennebec River. The atmosphere is inviting and the food is worth the visit. As you enter the restaurant's reception area, to our surprise, there is a large-scale model of Nantucket/LV-112.

A large-scale model of Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 is located at the Kennebec Tavern, Bath, ME.

The USLM sets up its exhibit booth at various outdoor field events, including educational and recreational exhibits throughout the season. With the guidance of a friendly local pirate, youngsters get a self-demonstration and physics lesson with the U.S. Lightship Museum’s “Work Smarter Not Harder” block-and-tackle exhibit at the Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 exhibit booth. In addition to events held on the lightship in East Boston, venues include the South Boston Seaport District, regional historical societies, shoreline conservation parks such as Belle Isle Marsh, and other key locations.

The U.S. Lightship Museum is now a member of 'Museums for All'

The U.S. Lightship Museum (USLM) has joined Museums for All, a signature access program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), administered by the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), to encourage people of all backgrounds to visit museums regularly and build lifelong museum-going habits. The program supports those receiving food assistance (SNAP) benefits, who can visit Nantucket/LV-112 for free, up to four people, with the presentation of a SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Similar free and reduced admission is available to eligible members of the public at more than 850 museums across the country. Museums for All is part of the USLM’s broad commitment to seek, include and welcome all audiences. For more information about Museums for All, click here.

ACK Marine and General Contracting, LLC

American Express

Amex Industrial

Services, Inc.

Association of Public Safety Communications Officials - Atlantic Chapter

BAE Systems

Battery Wharf Hotel

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

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

Red Top Boats Water Taxi

The Sail Loft, LLC, Nantucket

Sea Tow Boston

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 

U.S. Lighthouse Society

West Marine

Westerbeke Company

Verizon Foundation

Zuni Maritime Foundation

USS Zuni / USCG Tamaroa  

Individual Donors

USLM Members  

Nantucket/LV-112

Ambrose/LV-87

Overfalls/LV-118

Chesapeake.LV-116

Portsmouth/LV-101

Huron/LV-103

Swiftsure/LV-83

Columbia/WLV-604

Relief/WLV-605