Special Edition July 2015

In this issue
National Lighthouse Day:
Nantucket/LV-112 celebration
National Lighthouse Day
USLM membership

 

 

 Donate 

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processed by PayPal

  

 

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Rowlett tried to maintain a list of lighthouses from his many friends and contacts, but it had grown too long (and too out of date) to display on the comprehensive site.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

   


 

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. 
 

 



To learn more about
lighthouse news, click on Lighthouse Digest


 
 
 
You are invited, August 7:
Relighting of Nantucket Lightship/LV-112's light beacon on National Lighthouse Day

 

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

 

Date and times: Friday, August 7, 3-9pm (rain or shine); 

LV-112's light beacon relighting: 8:15-8:30pm  

Where: Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina, 256 Marginal St., East Boston, directions. Parking: marina lot or along Marginal St. MBTA: take blue line to Maverick station, 15-minute walk to ship. Boston Water Taxi: stop #68, view map

Ticket prices: $10 or $50

$10: general admission, includes lightship tour. Food, drinks and LV-112 T-shirts may be purchased at event.

$50 "supporter" donation: includes admission, lightship tour, food, beverage and LV-112 T-shirt.  To reserve in advance ($10 or $50 level), click here  and go to "Donate" button. With your donation, you will be automatically added to the attendee list. Or send a check payable to USLM Nantucket/LV-112, PO Box 454, Amesbury, MA 01913. 

Contact: For more information, email or call 617.797.0135.
 

 
On Friday, August 7, 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, 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 (read July 6 story in Boston Globe).

 

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. 

 

Activities: 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. Food will be provided by KOA Pies and   East Boston Oysters. Music will be provided by the Zumix Jazz Allstars. This will be a day for everyone to have fun learning about an important segment of our nation's maritime heritage. Two vessels will be available for tours: Nantucket/LV-112 and CG36500, the actual USCG rescue boat 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 ( movie trailer) " The Finest Hours" (based on the book), scheduled for release in January 2016 (see poster below).

The August 7 celebration also will serve as a fundraiser to support the ongoing restoration of LV-112.

CG36500 rescue boat underway, after restoration
National Lighthouse Day

 

Boston Light (foreground) and Graves light. Photo: Carl Spence

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.

 

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. T hese essential navigational aids on LV-112 are being restored back to their original and historically accurate configuration, as when LV-112was a commissioned USCG lightship prior to 1975. Upon completion, the light beacons and fog horn will be operational.
 
Disney's The Finest Hours is in theaters January 29!

A heroic action-thriller, "The Finest Hours" is the remarkable true story of the greatest small-boat rescue in Coast Guard history. The hero in the story is Bernie Webber, who later served on Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 (1958-60).

 
Click on poster to view movie trailer.
 
Bernie Webber (center) is shown on the stern of Nantucket Lightship/LV-112 (1958-60). Webber previously served as the coxswain of motor lifeboat CG36500, from Station Chatham, MA, who with his crew of three, rescued the crew of the stricken tanker Pendleton, which had broken in half during a horrific winter storm on Feb. 18, 1952, off the coast of Massachusetts. 

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