December 2023

Click the arrow above to see and hear Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 on National Lighthouse Day. When the U.S. Lightship Museum (USLM) acquired LV-112 in late 2009, it was a "dead ship"; nothing was operational on the historic floating lighthouse. As a result of donors' generous contributions, the USLM has brought LV-112 back to life. Today, the majority of the ship's onboard systems are in working order, including its powerful foghorn and main rotating light beacon, designed to be seen 23 miles at sea.

LV-112 crew members celebrate Christmas in 1959 in the crew's quarters with "decorations and goodies from home" (in photo, garland and Christmas tree bulbs hang from the overhead). At the time, LV-112 (also known as WAL-534 and WLV-534), was anchored offshore on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station, 100 miles off the U.S. mainland in more than 200 feet of water. Photo credit: "Lightships, Lighthouses, & Lifeboat Stations" by Bernie Webber, who served on Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 from 1958-60.

The restoration work presently underway is made possible by the generosity and commitment of donors and volunteers. Everyone who has donated money, in-kind donations and volunteered their time and efforts can take credit for helping rescue Nantucket/LV-112 from near destruction and assisting with rehabilitating LV-112 back to its former glory. After the most recent dry-dock restoration, which was completed in March 2021, LV-112’s most critical phase of structural restoration is virtually accomplished. 

Nantucket Lightship/LV-112's homeport berth in Boston Harbor, 2023

As shown in this 2011 photo, Nantucket Lightship/LV-112's first dry-docking under the U.S. Lightship Museum's (USLM) ownership was completed in 2011-12 at the Fitzgerald Shipyard, Chelsea, MA (Boston Harbor). The USLM assumed ownership of LV-112 in late 2009, rescuing the famed lightship and National Historic Landmark from scrapping after many years of neglect. It was the first time in 20 years that the ship had been dry-docked. Standing in the foreground is Peter Brunk (USCG, Ret.), who from 1970-71 served as LV-112's commanding officer. Peter is a member of the USLM Board of Directors. The photo below shows how the lightship hull looked after the 2011-12 restoration, with the Fitzgerald Shipyard crew who performed the work.

With eight years of marine growth below the waterline, the second photo above taken in 2020, shows the lightship's hull prior to its second dry-docking at the Fitzgerald Shipyard, 2020-21. This dry-docking encompassed LV-112's most critical and comprehensive restoration, involving major structural steel project work in the ship's bow section, which had endured the most stress while anchored at sea on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station for 39 years (1936-75). The photo of the lightship and Boston cityscape was taken by Georgia Flanagan. The photo below is LV-112 after the 2020-21 restoration, ready for launching.

Shipfitters who work for our contractor, The Lightship Group, are positioned on top of LV-112's main mast radio beacon antenna structure to which the antenna will be secured. The main rotating light beacon (removed in photo for servicing) and radar antenna are designed to be mounted within the entire frame structure. During our restoration, we are installing these elements where they belong so the ship is historically accurate — exactly as it was as a commissioned USCG floating lighthouse.

At left, after restoration: LV-112 floor frames in lower hold. At right, before restoration: severe corrosion of floor frames after 85 years of exposure to sea water.

LV-112's windlass room after the recent restoration.

Restored forward area of anchor windlass room with main and auxilliary anchor chains leading to both anchors.

A shipyard welder cutting out corroded steel—fabricating, cropping and welding in new floor frame webbing sections throughout the forward lower hold. This was an extremely arduous and uncomfortable task for the shipfitters, often having to work in cramped spaces, positioning themselves in awkward positions. In addition, several water-tight bulkheads (no longer water-tight) had to be completely replaced with pre-primed ABS certified steel plating. All existing sandblasted and new replacement steel was prepped with the application of industrial marine grade protective coatings.

In the ship’s bow section, forward lower hold, the ballast/trim tanks and anchor manger were in much worse condition than originally anticipated after sandblasting and removal of the main and auxiliary anchor chain—approximately 2,000 feet. The LV-112 anchor manger prior to the restoration reveals severely corroded structural steel sections. The severity of the corrosion from seawater penetration during LV-112's service as a U.S. Coast Guard floating lighthouse (1936-75) was not discovered until the 26 tons of anchor chain was removed. This work had to be done to prevent a potential catastrophic failure of the structure, dislodging shell plating below the waterline.

Rebuilt anchor manger—all 2,000 feet of main and auxiliary anchor chain that was removed was cleaned, re-coated and re-installed.

Before and after 2020-21 restoration: LV-112 stern-section ship’s stores in the lower hold. This area of the ship was cleaned and prepped, and new coatings were applied. The next step is detailing the proper identification with label plates and stenciling on the watertight compartments, making the identification historically accurate.

The port and starboard passageways had been previously painted with lead-based paint coatings that were peeling, cracked and had to be mitigated in addition to other restoration. Some of the interior hull insulation also had to be repaired. All the asbestos insulation on the heating pipes was removed and replaced with fiberglass insulation.

Both starboard and port double-hull passageways were restored. The old peeling lead paint was removed in addition to being encapsulated with multiple coats of industrial marine epoxy coatings.

Workers from AMEX Industrial Services are applying a base coat primer of epoxy on LV-112's crew's quarters interior surfaces before the final protective color coatings are applied. All overheads and bulkhead surfaces were cleaned and prepared before applying the protective coatings. This process is carefully done on all the ship's surfaces before multi-part protective coatings are applied. 

The two photos above show the neglected condition of Nantucket/LV-112 in 2009, when ownership was assumed by the U.S. Lightship Museum. At the time, LV-112 was a "dead ship" — nothing on board was operational. It was berthed in Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY, at the time, virtually neglected for many years and on the verge of being scrapped. Through the commitment and generous support of our donors and volunteers, Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 has been brought back to life for all to enjoy and learn from. Although LV-112's restoration has taken longer than anticipated, the generosity of the USLM's donors and volunteers has been transformational and helped us achieve nearly 70 percent completion. However, we still have a way to go before LV-112's restoration is essentially completed, which will require additional funding.

In 2009, marine surveyor Charlie Deroko from Brooklyn, NY, conducted a "trip and tow" survey of LV-112's exterior shell plating of the entire waterline area of the endangered lightship. This portion of the survey was required to check for weak, vulnerable and risky sections of shell plating that could pose a potential seawater-leakage problem during a tow. During the ship's tow to Boston in May 2010, which took a day and a half, LV-112 encountered some rough and anxiety-producing seas, but the tow went well. 

Proudly flying her signal flags, Nantucket/LV-112 is berthed at the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina on the East Boston waterfront, 2023.

A considerable portion of the remainder of LV-112's restoration involves cleaning, prepping and applying protective coatings to the bilge areas of the auxiliary and main engine rooms (aft section of main engine shown above), also to the emptied water and fuel tanks as well as the trim tanks in the stern. We also need to restore and replace floor tile coverings. All restoration work is performed in accordance to protecting the historic integrity of the lightship, which represents the 1936-75 time frame as a commissioned U.S. Coast Guard light vessel.

A crew of volunteers and former Nantucket/LV-112 crew members pose for a photo on the foredeck of LV-112, January 10, 2010, at Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY. It was a bitterly cold weekend (10 degrees F.). A committed group of retired lightship sailors from the USCG Lightship Sailors Association traveled from all over the United States to help prepare LV-112 for its journey back to its original homeport of Boston. In addition, local Oyster Bay residents also volunteered their time in this challenging effort.

The U.S. Lightship Museum’s (USLM) mission is two-fold: (1) to restore and preserve Nantucket/LV-112, a National Historic Landmark and floating learning center, and (2) to provide educational programs to the general public, especially inspiring grade-school students in the areas of oceanography, the nautical, marine environment and climate/weather sciences, maritime crafts, history and historic preservation. The USLM’s goal is to make learning fun and rewarding. A significant portion of the USLM’s education initiative is outreach to schools, local and national maritime organizations, and public institutions.

As a hands-on living museum, Nantucket/LV-112 has the ability to take visitors through time, showcasing an important chapter in our nation's history. By learning from present-day stewards, today's youth become motivated about historic preservation and prepared to fill their shoes in the future.

A visiting student talks on LV-112's restored sound-powered telephone in the pilot house to his classmates on another phone in the officers' quarters in the stern section of the ship.

The U.S. Lightship Museum’s Candlepower educational program offers and introduces students and youth groups to diverse interactive learning opportunities that include, cause and effect problem solving, team-building, civic participation, the importance of history, historic preservation and other important topics such as the environment, our climate, weather, oceanographic and nautical sciences, culture, arts/crafts and much more. The Candlepower program begins in the classroom and segues to a field trip to Nantucket Lightship. One of the USLM’s goals is to inspire and motivate young people to become interested in the value and importance of historic preservation, so us older folks who are administering our cherished historic sites, can pass along the mantle to the younger generation and carry on to help save our historic treasures.  

Before visiting the lightship, students receive a classroom lesson in navigation, oceanography, world geography, history, weather and transatlantic commerce focused around Nantucket Lightship.

The photos above represent the wide range of visitors who annually come to tour Nantucket/LV-112. In photo at bottom left, a lightship volunteer helps students collect plankton with a tow net to view under a microscope on board LV-112. While in service as a commissioned USCG lightship on Nantucket Shoals Lightship Station, LV-112 was also an oceanographic research and reporting station working in conjunction with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In addition, the ship served as a weather reporting station for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Capt. Robertson P. Dinsmore Fund

Donahue, Tucker &

Ciandella, PLLC 

East Boston Foundation

Eastern Bank Charitable

Foundation

Eastern Salt Co.

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

Marine Systems Corp.

Massachusetts Historical Commission

McAllister Towing &

Transportation Co.

Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)

Melvin's Welding

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 

U.S. Lighthouse Society

West Marine   

Westerbeke Company

Verizon Foundation

Zuni Maritime Foundation

USS Zuni / USCG Tamaroa  

Individual Donors

USLM Members