United States lightship Nantucket (LV-112)

Lightship Nantucket (LV-112)
The ship docked in Boston Harbor in 2011.
History
United States
Operator:
Builder: Pusey and Jones
Cost: $300,956
Launched: 1936
In service: 1936
Out of service: 1983
Honors and
awards:		 Declared National Historic Landmark in 1989
Status: Museum ship
General characteristics
Type: Lightvessel
Displacement: 1050 tonnes
Length: 148 ft 10 in (45.36 m)
Beam: 32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft: 16 ft 3 in (4.95 m)
Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Armament: 1 3-inch (76 mm) gun (1942–1945)
Lightship No. 112, Nantucket
Map showing the location of LV-112 in Massachusetts
Location East Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°21′40″N 71°02′07″W / 42.36111°N 71.03528°W / 42.36111; -71.03528Coordinates: 42°21′40″N 71°02′07″W / 42.36111°N 71.03528°W / 42.36111; -71.03528
Built 1936[1]
Architect Pusey and Jones
NRHP Reference # 89002464[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP 20 December 1989
Designated NHL 20 December 1989[3]

United States lightship Nantucket (LV-112), also known as Lightship No. 112, Nantucket, is a National Historic Landmark lightship that served at the Lightship Nantucket position. She was the last serving lightship and at time of its application as a landmark, one of only two capable of moving under their own power.[1] She served as the lightship for such notable vessels as SS United States, RMS Queen Mary, and SS Normandie.[4]

History

Her $300,000 cost, greater than that of any predecessor, was paid for by the White Star Line in compensation for the collision and sinking of United States lightship LV-117 at the Lightship Nantucket position by RMS Olympic, a sister ship to RMS Titanic.[1] Seven of the eleven crew aboard the lightship were killed. LV-112, the permanent replacement, was built to be indestructible, and outlasted all others, serving until 1983.[1]

She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989. At that time, the ship was located at the Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute Pier in South Portland, Maine, but touring along the New England Coast.[5] An organization was seeking a permanent home for her in Portland, Maine.[1]

She later was planned to be located permanently in Staten Island, New York, but sojourned for several years at Oyster Bay, New York. Some controversy has arisen over damage to wharves and unsightliness at Oyster Bay; other locals have wanted her retained there.[6][7][8]

She was purchased in October 2009 by the United States Lightship Museum (USLM) under the leadership of Robert Mannino, Jr. for $1 and arrived under tow in Boston Harbor on 11 May 2010.[9] She will be restored in two phases over the next several years, a job that will cost $1 million.[10] She is currently undergoing renovations as a floating museum, but is open to the public at Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina at 256 Marginal Street in East Boston, Massachusetts.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Delgado, James P. (30 June 1989). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination / Lightship No. 112, "Nantucket"" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
    "Accompanying photos, exterior and interior, from 1989 and c.1930" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
  2. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. ↑ "Lightship NO. 112 (Nantucket)". National Historic Landmarks Program. National Park Service. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  4. ↑ "Nantucket Lightship/LV-112". United States Lightship Museum, Inc. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  5. ↑ "Maine - Cumberland County". nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com. Retrieved 2013-03-20.
  6. ↑ Karppi, Dagmar Fors (10 March 2006). "Lightship Nantucket Told to Leave". Oyster Bay Enterprise-Pilot. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
  7. ↑ Burghardt, Linda F. (4 June 2006). "Long Island/Oyster Bay; Mutiny in the Harbor: One Ship Too Many". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ "Supervisor may want to keep lightship afloat". New York Newsday. 10 January 2007.
  9. ↑ Schworm, Peter (12 May 2010). "Oldest US lightship comes home to Boston". The Boston Globe. Boston. pp. B1, B6.
  10. ↑ Lupkin, Sydney (22 August 2010). "Historic Nantucket Lightship beams". The Boston Globe. Boston. p. B5.(subscription required)

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