August 19, 2024 • 47 mins
Also known as lightvessels, lightships are lighthouse's little brothers, guarding areas where lighthouses are not easily built. While there are only around 15 lightships remaining in the US today, the history of these ships stretch back hundreds of years!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Ready ready
(00:02):
Hi everybody. I'm Emily and I'm Vince and this is the lighthouse lowdown
Heard it in a while. Yeah, happy Friday night. We're yeah, we're cutting this very close without recording
I've got a lot of stuff going on Vince traveling for work and being lazy in general laziness
(00:29):
We're all here
Vincent I have a
the shipwreck
pirate
Cocktail experience coming up after this. That's right. That's coming up next for us. I'll tell you I read some stuff online. Oh, no
These are in different locations. So maybe it's different per location, but that it was very poor
What do you mean?
(00:51):
People like either say that they liked it and they came back or they'll say it's like an even split between people who say that and people who leave paragraphs that are like this was garbage
Don't waste your money. The stories aren't even scary and the rum is watered down
Okay
Well, I'm not really putting that much stock into it to be honest with you. We're just doing it to have fun
(01:12):
Yeah, and if it's really bad
I feel like we're the type of people that just can still enjoy it. Anyways, it's fine. It's a one-time thing
It's not like a you get to see people in costume dramatically telling stories
Yeah, so we're gonna go to it like a shipwreck saloon themed night for cocktails hour and a half
Stories and songs and such so yeah, it says interactive, but I hope nobody tries to talk to me the whole lowdown clan will be there with us
(01:37):
We can't yeah, we can't say clan. We need a different lowdown listeners. Yeah in spirit
They'll be there crew the crew. Yeah
speaking of ships
Today's episode is
about light ships and
It was going to be the history buoy
And then I started researching and I was like this deserves a full episode and we've talked about it a couple times that we're gonna like
(02:03):
Do episodes that are not?
About lighthouses directly yeah light ships. That's what this is. We're doing light ships. Very good
They're also called light vessels, which you'll see LV as their
designation
Prefix or whatever in their numbering so I'm gonna call them light ships because light vessels is not
(02:24):
It's not what I say doesn't go as good
So light vessels slash light ships are lighthouses little partners and
They kind of originated in the 19th century
For places that it was not where they really needed a lighthouse, but they didn't I got the time in the mid 1800s
They didn't have the ability to build lighthouses anywhere
(02:48):
So the idea came up to have a ship that would have
A lighthouse beacon on it and so then you could park your light ship somewhere
Drop anchor and man it and then you wouldn't have to go through the trouble building a lighthouse cool
but in the end, I think the
Cost of keeping up a light ship was actually more than lighthouses and more than building lighthouses
(03:12):
Because eventually they got phased out and like anywhere. There was a light ship there ended up being a lighthouse later
Well, not anywhere, but you know, it was a pretty common interesting light ships were parked where you would have like a reef or shoal or like a narrow
Harbor where they couldn't build a lighthouse at the time
And like, you know, if you think about trying to build a lighthouse on sand, it's just they've tried. Yeah. Yeah, I
(03:37):
Went okay, so I went to um, you know this but our listeners don't I went to
Delaware recently
Saw a couple of lighthouses saw a light ship saw some lighthouse
life-saving stations
I can't there was one and I can't which one it was I think the precursor so Cape Henlopen
I think is the name of the lighthouse. They built it just on a sandy beach
(04:00):
So, you know how that went it drifted away. Yeah, I just remember them time cracker. What?
Okay
Okay, so usually light ships were painted a bright color and this was almost always red
I saw one other instance where it wasn't red
It was like, um light yellow or something because the waters were really bluish green
(04:22):
And so they picked something that would stand out against that nice
Which I think red would have also worked but and then they would also have block white letters on the side that say the name of the station
And at first ships were named after its station. That was like the name of the ship was like Chesapeake for Chesapeake Bay
and later they changed that to a numbering or
No, a lettering system and then a numbering system ships were named after a station
(04:47):
Yeah, so like if they park it in Chesapeake, they paint Chesapeake on the side. Is there a station Chesapeake station?
Yeah light station, which is where the boat the light ship launches from
No, the it's where it's stationed is the light station. Okay
It's just the name like it's a shortened version of the name Chesapeake Bay
So then the station they just call it Chesapeake Chessie. Okay. Okay
(05:11):
Whatever you want all the way up in like Roman times and that was like from like 80
BC to like 580 there was some evidence of ships having bonfires on them
So they kind of had the concept going risky the first modern light ship
Oh my gosh, I feel like this whole time light house
I'm gonna say lighthouse when I mean light ship. So if I ever have a slip of the tongue, just let it go
(05:39):
But the first modern example was in 1734 when inventor Robert Hamlin and
David Avery placed a fishing sloop on a sandbank at the mouth of the river. Oh, no river
Thames
Yeah, okay. I was like themes
England, right? Yes. Yeah
The Thames in London is it Thames? I remember it being I think it's that I think that's what it is because I remember
(06:04):
I covered the episode with
Dang it England that one the one. Oh
What is it? No, I saw a tick tock of a guy who was like talking to a girl. He's saying your eyes are
Beautiful just like the Thames and they're brown. Yeah
That's not a good thing
Nobody really associates that river was that's good. That's how he said it. So
(06:30):
Anyway, this first light ship in the UK had two oil lanterns hung 12 feet apart high above the deck
immediately Trinity House sued
What Trinity House was the one wasn't charged? Yeah and
Won the lawsuit and so then Hamlin and Avery could run the light ship for pay on behalf of the organization
(06:51):
So they were basically like you can't I think the main problem was that they wanted to charge
For ships that go by oh, yeah
It's like a lot. Yeah like a lighthouse. So they were like no, but we'll pay you to man like I
Think yeah, and they they were trying to patent it too
So I don't really know what happened with the patent if they officially I mean, I'm reading it right now
(07:13):
So maybe they did because they're officially the ones who it doesn't just say like Trinity House
Yeah, but the light ship was so successful in reducing wrecks that by 1834
Almost 25% of Trinity House's beacons were light ships. Wow. Yeah, so it's a big chunk big percentage
Especially like in the early 1800s
The US didn't get light ships until 1820. We chart. We start out in Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Chessie
(07:40):
So originally light ships were named like I said after where they're placed and this would mean over time that multiple ships would have the same name
Like any to any ship stationed on Chesapeake would be called a Chesapeake. So it became Jenny one Jenny
Yeah, but not even just just speak Chesapeake Chesapeake
And so then of course, there was no way to mark your ships that way
(08:03):
So like it only took about a year to get it to work
Of course, there was no way to mark your ships that way. So like it only took a few years, but they switched to a
Lettering system. So light chip a light should be
That is a cool photo. This is a painting of cool painting
A painting of a more modern light more modern Chesapeake. Okay, so this isn't like the first one or anything. This was painted in 1979
(08:28):
so but yeah, that's kind of I'll go on to describe more about the construction and like
Characteristics of a light shift like a day mark, but for a ship the day mark is the red and the white letters. Okay?
Okay, for example
The Chesapeake light ship you can tour in Baltimore right now because there's only like 15 left that you can actually see in the United States
(08:50):
Hmm, but the one that you can tour right now is actually light ship
116 which was built 110 years after the first light ship in the US which was also Chesapeake. Okay
So it just kind of became convoluted. So they gave it a new system. Oh fun fact
This light ship that you can go see in Baltimore is was first stationed at Fenwick Shoal and that's the lighthouse that I saw last weekend
(09:13):
Fenwick lighthouse, Fenwick Island. Did they mention it at the lighthouse? They mentioned I just noticed it
Research that's the most fun Fenwick Shoal be advised
But then if you think about it, it used to have to name Fenwick and now it's the Chesapeake light ship
That's like that's forever since it's decommissioned
(09:34):
It's forever gonna be known as the Chesapeake light ship, even though it started out at Fenwick. It's interesting
It is it's crazy how I can just switch up like that and they just repaint the sign and it has a new identity
That doesn't happen very often with lighthouses. Oh, it's hard to well, I mean it's been done
Yeah, especially with beacons. We've seen beacons move all over the place. Oh, yeah for sure
(09:56):
If you think about Nosset light, it was Chatham's twin tower and they just took it over. Yeah
Moved it right on over. Well, Triangle Island is not even I mean, it's just displayed how it's not an active light
But the lantern room is in Sook like it's not
It's not even close to where Triangle Island is. So yeah anyways, oh how the turntables
(10:21):
Michael Scott
In 1838 they gave lightships letters to differentiate them besides their station name such as lightship A
But I'm not sure what the naming convention was because the first lightship was lightship C
Like the first one that was built the first Chesapeake they named it lightship C
So it can't have been number of years in service, but maybe it's like C Chesapeake
(10:47):
No, because they did like ABCDEFD. It just went on. No idea
They just they had like one of those C's laying around. Yeah, they're just like just randomly assigned like it doesn't matter
Just I mean, maybe that was the case. They're like just randomly assigned 100 years from now. There's gonna be a podcast on this
Yeah, they're not they're not gonna know. At the time they're like, whatever. It doesn't matter
(11:08):
Just give them something to differentiate them. Nice. Once they reach lightship ZZ
They switched to assigning numbers in 1867 and that's what started with LV 1 LV dash 1 and that's the naming
You convention you see a lot like today if you were to go see light vessel. Yeah, if you go to see Chesapeake
It'll be Chesapeake slash LV 116. Oh, so cool. It's pretty clear now
(11:33):
In 1947 the Coast Guard gave new numbers to the existing light ship station starting with wall. Um, I could not find
What wall was like a WAL dash like Chesapeake come back to Chesapeake as an example
It's WAL dash 538
(11:54):
That's no, is he said the Navy did that a Coast Guard Coast Guard it's probably a military
Thing I have no idea like like why is the plane called the C 130? Yeah, no idea cargo
Care and carry I have no idea someone actually probably a lot of people know but I do not know
(12:15):
Yeah, why is it the f16? Well, and then 20 years later less than 20 years later. They switched the prefix to say
WLV which makes more sense the LV is light vessel, but then the W it says W
Marks it as a Coast Guard vessel. Mm-hmm. So I'm like, what but what is the W? What is it?
There has to be some reason they pick a W don't know
(12:37):
Yes, maybe we'll never know don't know but if you do know send us an email, please do our friends out there
So even though there are only 15 light ships still surviving in America that you can go see or some of them are private
Or they're like turn into a restaurant or something. Oh, yeah, they're kind of all over the place
Their names are still confusing. For example, the overfalls light ship, which I saw with my sister Carly last weekend
(13:01):
Never served at the overfalls station not once but it's there now
But now it's parked and says overfalls and it's called the overfalls light ship, but it never served there
So did they know
Excellent timing and when was the last time we touched that button? I know I know so
(13:23):
Did they say anything about that there overfalls? No, I just had to find that through research
Like it was just like did they point out it and they're like, yep. There's our light vessel and you're like
You're wrong sitting on a throne of lies
Smell like meat and cheese
So the ship
So the ship
(13:47):
Did you imagine if you said that to them?
I'm desperately trying to move on for that
Excuse me
The ship that served at overfalls is painted Portsmouth, which was never a station to begin with
So the overfalls light ship is surviving called Portsmouth, but wasn't there was never a station that was Portsmouth
(14:09):
So it's just a little convoluted and we do our best with numbers now
But it kind of it still is a little a little messed up
So the ownership of light ships moved with lighthouses to the Coast Guard in 1939 and the last light ship to be discontinued was Nantucket 1
There was the only instance that I've seen that there's a station one and two. Okay Nantucket one was on March 29th
(14:34):
1985 and they would like switch off for each other. I believe one and two like in the same day
they would switch off so I'm not really sure if it was like a
Station where they got beat up a lot at and they needed I don't know
I didn't look too deep into it because it's more of a general but I am thinking in the future
Maybe I could do an episode that's over one light ship because there's so much fun history
(14:56):
So many crazy stories and I'll cover one of them today. Nice. Okay
The remaining light ships are often museums that are in the US such as over Falls
You can go inside check it out Carly and I didn't have time. It was a shame
The Chesapeake here on and you and I will be seeing I think Nantucket going in Boston. Yes
I think station near Boston not Nantucket one or two. It's just Nantucket many
(15:20):
One and two are doing their own thing and Nantucket solid is the one that we're gonna see Nantucket distinguished
And I saw that they're doing an event where they're shooting off fireworks Boston's like doing a fireworks show on Labor Day or
the Saturday before Labor Day
Okay, and if you pay for a $30 ticket you can set up camp on the deck of the light ship and watch it from there
(15:42):
Nice, you can bring drinks and food and they have like live music or something. So that's cool. Very cool
They said they specified it will be parked the whole time, but
That's just the life that yeah, we could sit on that
The crew lived so it's right on the water's edge. So it's probably a good view. Yes view cool between 1820 and 1983
179 light ships were built for the US for 116 different light stations
(16:07):
Okay, so a couple duplicates in there quite a few but there are there were there weren't as many
like
Light ship destructions as you would think there would be you know, like with a light ship just ship me
Yeah, just being on the water you think that they would lose a lot of ships
But I think they only lost like ten over the course of history. So they would they stay out in rough weather
(16:29):
I mean, I said you have to yeah being one of their main purposes
So I'll talk about their structure and how that okay came to me. So cool
Originally light ships had small masts and basic sails because they weren't supposed to sail anywhere
They were just it was more like as I get to where they're going. Yeah
It's like they would be towed places and then they'd have tiny masts
for like changing or
(16:50):
You know redirecting themselves keeping themselves on on in a certain spot because I'll talk about it later
Their chain is a lot longer than how deep the water is and so if you're not staying on course
Which was a common problem, then they there was this huge radius in which they could be around a dangerous area instead of
Right on top of it, which is would be a problem for people trying to navigate using the light ships
(17:14):
Yeah, they had an oil-burning beacon that would run up the mast and be lowered for service
So it wasn't like a stationary thing now. They're stationary
Workers would need to climb once they became stationary workers would have to climb rope ladders to the top to service it and now it's like
Metal ladders and they even have like miniature. This is more common in the UK, but like miniature
Skeleton lighthouses in the middle of a light ship. That's cool
(17:37):
So like Ted here in the US you see like the picture that I have up here two masts that are pretty skinny and each
One would usually have a beacon on it. There's one that's always lit and one that's a backup. Mmm
Smart I got a picture of one of those skeleton
Light ships. This is the helwick
This one's in I think it's now it's parked
(17:59):
What's Welsh? Wales? Wales. Okay
That is a big
Lantern room for that ship. I know you would think it would be really top-heavy like it would just tip it right over
Whole no, you know what I mean?
Oh
No
So that's an example the US didn't have a lot of them, but that's kind of like how it progressed over time
(18:23):
So there's space in the light ship for between four to twelve men
Who manned the light ship and cycled in and out every few weeks to every few months
So I think over time the big crew. Yeah, and some like these ships are a lot bigger than you think they are
There's some of course that are really small
But especially as time went on the ships would get bigger because you have better technology and better construction
(18:45):
But much of the space on the early boats were reserved for oil storage at this time
Obviously, we didn't have electricity all the fuel they'd usually have around 900 gallons of oil on board
So it just kind of was crazy. Okay. Yeah
And they'd also have of course spare parts lifeboats small kitchens like sleeping areas a lot like you see
For Coast Guard stuff now if you looked up like how they sleep and it always goes viral online showing
(19:09):
The tiny little spaces they have to squeeze into like the Navy and stuff to sleep
It's like bunks little bunks. Yes, and you have like a foot of space and you're like slide in
You have a tiny curtain that you pull over. Yeah, you seen those
Yeah, I don't think I was built for that. You are definitely not personally
I'd be like we need an extra long and it's like built for a six foot person
(19:32):
Yeah, those those of you that don't know me. I was not built for that
Yeah, you're above average in size
So often like I mentioned light chips had two masks one fitted with an identical backup beacon as well as a spare anchor in case
The main one broke free during like a storm or something which was actually a little bit of a problem
I mean one broke free during like a storm or something, which was actually a pretty common occurrence
(19:54):
There was like hundreds of instances where the chain broke during a storm and they would just like float off
Like in the storm just have to come back. Yeah, because they weren't made for sailing, you know, they weren't made for moving
they were made for staying put so
So like in one instance, it was like a couple weeks went by and it just like limped back over. Oh man
(20:16):
It's just so crazy
So one of the most important parts regardless of the chain breaking is the anchor because we want to stay in one spot and
It would anchor the ship to the seabed of wherever it's stationed
Originally they had fluke anchors, which are like the classic ones you think of when you think of an anchor big curvy ones
(20:37):
Yeah with the pointy ends. Yeah, those pointy ends are called flukes
and so there's several different types of fluke anchors like today they're like I
Don't have a picture, but it's just like two flat triangles and they would like scrape
I feel like I've seen them. I don't know where I've seen them. They're more compact. Yes. Yes
(20:59):
That that's the advantage is that they can be flattened into I hit my
microphone flattened so that they're easy stored and not taking up a bunch of space
But often these drag along the ground instead of really securing a ship down so they switched eventually to mushroom style anchors
Yep, I have a picture of one of those I've seen those but it's bowl shaped and this end would fill with sand and mud when I hit
(21:22):
the ground and form like a vacuum or a suction effect and
So this kept the boat from moving around and these anchors are up to four tons in weight
It's actually not as heavy as I thought four tons 8000 pounds. So there's an example
It's a big anchor. I mean, I don't really have a scale but so I had a picture that I didn't include that
(21:43):
Showed two men just like standing on it. Just chilling. So that's kind of it's a big big piece of metal
Yeah, how does it get there? How does it get there? They hang it
They hang it on the side of the hole. Yeah, how do they oh
Must be a they must have a crane
This is either the spare or this is because it's not going to be used anymore
(22:08):
They use this as a way to show what it looks like because I think in the past they would pull the
The long part of the mushroom anchor they would pull that all the way into the ship
So the only thing on the outside would be this the bowl. Yeah, the head of the mushroom the stem is pulled in the stem
I really think that's what it so you think it goes into that that hole there with a chain is okay
(22:31):
So it would be you know, like more aerodynamic and wouldn't take as much damage by being out and exposed
That's pretty wild. That's a big piece of metal. Yeah, so their spare was usually on the starboard bow and
The one that they would actually use would be like on the front of the ship
Also attached to this was that chain I was talking about rule of thumb was six feet six to eight feet of chain for each foot of water
(22:54):
And they used cast iron like first and foremost why?
Waves during storms get really big. Oh, you've got to have enough slack that you won't just like oh no
Destroy your ship in big waves
You need to be anchored below the crest of the wave or you'd be lifting your anchor off of the ground just rip it out
Probably it's like they were trying to pull something super buoyant underneath. Oh, that's scary. Yeah, I have not thought about that
(23:20):
I'm sure someone figured that out the hard way. Oh, yeah long ago
All right, I'm gonna go into materials because there's a lot of growth materials of construction
Exactly first light ships were wooden of course
Which was the preferred material in the US for almost a hundred years as they worked out like the kinks of mmm like
iron and steel work over the pond they figured it out a lot faster than us and it was kind of there's a lot of like
(23:46):
Like history that's trying to weave around the truth of what really holds us back from like the Fresnel lenses and
Stolen from France having the metal stuff. It's because of costs and the fact that it was
It was just one guy. I won't go I won't go into it, but okay
Costs drive a lot of history. Yeah, you guys should read about it
(24:09):
I have a the link stuff
I have in my show notes. It's pretty interesting early ships were often repurposed merchant ships
For example, the ship used to build standard rock lighthouse was converted to light ship number eight
I thought that was kind of cool. So wait the other way around light ship number eight was converted to
No, that was used like is like a barge
(24:31):
Yeah, like a lighthouse tender center rock on Lake Superior that built
Yeah, standard rock was converted to lighthouse light ship. I did it light ship
It sounded like I was trying to curse I did it was converted to light ship number eight. So I thought it was kind of interesting
Merchant ships are meant to be moving obviously so
(24:54):
Sitting still these boats would rock horribly. They're like shaped like a barrel
They're meant to be moving forward
In like a streamlined fashion so for there to just be sitting there then it was just like really awful for all of the crew
They talked about even people who had been on the water for 19 years were like seasick by
Not good. So around the 1850s they
(25:16):
Brought out bilge keels. I think that's how you pronounce it
Bilge keels, which were developed to reduce the rocking they're like fins. I have a picture. I
Have a picture. Don't worry
It's this one right here. It's up to the top. Yeah, okay little angled fins coming out the bottom
So obviously we just keep it from rocking side to side or at least help it a little bit and these
(25:39):
Full keels or fin keels or you see those a lot for cruise ships. Yes, they're so big that
There can't be any rocking because if there is the momentum would just continue like it wouldn't just be like oh rock rock
It would just be like full
Sideways, it would just be like
Rock rock. It would just be like full sideways motion. Wow
(26:00):
Anyway, so the first iron hole light ship was used in 1847 for Merrill's Shell Bank in Louisiana
But wood was still preferred because of the fact that it was low cost and the lighthouse lighthouse board argued that it was
Had better resistance to effects from shock loading which you probably know about but for our listeners
Yeah, it's like like we were talking about if something yanked on the chain
(26:25):
This is just an example something all of a sudden a very high increase in pressure
They thought that wood would be able to
Like handle not breaking better than metal which nowadays that's not true
Nowadays, it's not true. Yeah because of alloying
And different forging techniques like iron at that time for is treated or they really learned how to do it
(26:48):
Well the example I've said too many times now on the podcast is the Titanic
There's a it's a case study for material science in metalworking and it was built in
Northern Ireland in Belfast. So they were they were they've been known for making ships for a long time
Yeah, but even them working with iron at that scale had a had a large failure in a ductal to brittle transition temperature
(27:14):
So the metal on the Titanic because of its temperature sheared it ripped like paper
Rather than slowly deforming upon force denting
Yeah, so so toughness and strength are two different things and wood ships in many ways were tougher than metal ships of that era
Even the Vikings built their ships. Obviously, they didn't have metal working to the same degree but
(27:37):
Long their little shields on the side. Mm-hmm. Well the boat long boats that they had that they made were purposefully floppy
So the long boat could be it was a small long boat that could go on
River entrances but also open ocean and one of the strengths of the long boat was that it was actually if we flexible on large waves
(27:59):
Rather than cracking it would be designed to be loose and flexible. So it's more durable that way
And that was a long time ago. Yeah crazy long before this cool cool cool cool
So in 1851 Congress did an extensive survey and found just about everything about their light ships to be insufficient
And fun fact this report I can't remember if you talked about it in your episode
(28:22):
But this report is what formed the lighthouse board as a separate group from the Treasury
They did this whole survey and found that the light ships were just like really
Found wanting. Yeah, it was just they found out that there was really no management
There was crew members that had no qualifications at all and they wouldn't even show up and there'd be like unmanned stations for a long time
Yeah, nobody would say anything about it. So it was just kind of like wow, we really need structure. Yes
(28:48):
That's how that happened militarized. Yeah
So at that time they ordered the ships to be modeled after British ships because they had kept it up a little bit
English Navy is a little good history
Yeah, which were iron and had Argon lamps and reflectors like most lighthouses of the time. Okay
They standardized light ships in general so that everything would be streamlined
So ships became flat bottomed with a rounded bow
(29:11):
They had bilge keels and decks that would allow water to roll off instead of like holding the deck like holding water
Yep, which you'd think they would have done a little earlier, but I guess
Yeah, I never thought about that. I seen that on ships
Yeah, where the water just like goes between them holes or like slits or something. Yeah, and they also had double mass
So this became like the the go-to structure for US light ships
(29:36):
The lamps were updated though. We kept the wood for a few decades longer
I just don't think we picked up on the metal holes yet. This image is from 1994
Which is just very slightly older than I am a British British, too
Right. Yep
So they dabbled in different hole types before while they were still like wall wood was the main one
(30:01):
They had like copper plating copper rivets and double holes like light vessel 16
Which was in service for 80 years. So it definitely worked
It had two wooden holes that were filled in between with salt to reduce decay and to like harden the wood
Huh? Yeah, it was like very interesting and this was like not an uncommon thing
(30:23):
It was just the one instance that I that's crazy about
So the first modern steel hold light ship was built in 1882
So it wasn't it wasn't this huge amount of time, but it took a it took a while for steel to be
The kind that we always use
1902 was the last time that wood was used as the main construction material
(30:44):
That makes sense. Yeah, the first modern steel hold one was light vessel 44
All following ships after this 1902 was steel. Yeah
First light ships with steam propulsion. We talked about in our last episode white shul
they were built in 1891 and
(31:07):
I was wondering why did they have street steam propulsion if they were steam propulsion?
Steam propulsion if they were still towed out to their station and I looked it up
So I did my research and it was because the ice moved in so fast that while they were towed out there to conserve fuel
And everything they needed to be able to flee in a moment's notice that like the ice was coming in and it was like starting
(31:31):
To harden because they couldn't survive out there with ice hitting the hole for the entire season. So they'd always leave before winter
Huh, that's why they had that's why they had that they can get out of there
And there's a lot riding on that steam
steam boiler
And they had steam
Decades before this like steam powered things, but it was only for foghorns and steam whistles not like engine
(31:57):
Yeah, in the same year this 1891 a journalist visited Nantucket one
and took it one
so there's so many there's so many existing Nantuckets that I
Get confused but one of the Nantucket ships and wrote a lot about the beacons
So I'll read kind of some of the stuff that he mentioned
Okay
(32:17):
So he mentioned the beacons were octagonal in copper frames and they're about five feet wide and nearly five feet tall
It was like four feet nine inches or something like that
The mast was the center with the lamp circling it with all the reflectors facing outward reflectors
You didn't laugh
It is like so many times where I laughed to myself in the audio and I'm like editing it and I'm like, oh my god
(32:44):
Because you smile at me, but you don't laugh the people can't hear that
Oh my gosh, I'm laughing to myself. It's here by yourself
Okay, sorry, I'm like all over the place I'm excited for our event
So I'm kind of just to service these beacons
They it would be lowered into the top of the tiny house that was built around the mast. So this
(33:06):
big hulking thing around the mast would be lowered into a tiny house like the top of it opens and
They would service it in there like oil and you know little shed
Yeah, and then the beacons were lifted no higher than 25 feet up the mast as
The one ton beacons would make the ship too top-heavy and it would tip over
Huh? I know it's like what?
(33:27):
One ton what ton of glass and copper that's insane
Yeah, only well we talked about like large
Fresnel lenses or I don't think I've ever heard of one being a ton, but I
Remember they're heavy. Yeah that that's true. It glass
Fresnel lenses are a different thing where I would expect those to be
(33:49):
Thousands and thousands of pounds, but we're talking just like lamps and reflectors. Oh, I suppose
I don't know everything out. There's got to be tough
He also reported on the desperate boredom that the crew felt
With little to do besides care for the light which only took I mean with the whole crew
It only took a couple of hours to like care for this beacon and then past that they would just like cook and
(34:13):
Didn't really have much else to do see shanties
sing songs
But they didn't even have like books and things
On the light ship that came later. He said they made him scouse which
He said was a quote wonderful commingling of salt beef
potatoes and onions
(34:34):
Okay, he said the food was like shockingly delicious on the light ship
I'm like maybe that's because that's all they have to do. They're just spending all day cooking
Yeah, they're like we culinary chefs by the time we get out of here
So crews began taking up baths
So crews began taking up basket weaving and I'm pretty sure it was Nan Tuckett that started this what?
(34:55):
It's tradition literally a term used for frivolous activities. Really basket weaving. Yeah, I didn't even know that like oh
I took a class in underwater basket weaving like it's like a joke
Oh, you did something that must be where this came from or something
Maybe but they would sell them on shore for extra cash and you'll see a lot of these woven baskets in lightship museums
Because it was like this huge thing
(35:17):
That they all took up and then I read in the overfalls light ship museum that the lighthouse board made them stop
Because they're selling it on shore. I'm like, oh my god
No, they're like you can't be making money guys. No, you can't you're on company time. You can't like
Well, it's either that or getting into smuggling
Yeah, you want me to be a bootlegger? Yeah, that's what it is, right rum runner
(35:42):
Running champagne in the Bahamas. Yeah, so these
Conditions made it really hard to be one of these crew members just like being so bored and then also that
The ships were really hard to stomach basically. Oh, yes rocking every day's
So eventually the addition of bilge keels to all of the ships engines that allowed them to face into the wind instead of just at the mercy
(36:03):
Of it
Televisions radios and like things like books all assisted in a better life on the ship soon as I got that they stopped using them some
Yeah, right light ship number 51 got electric incandescent lanterns in the 1910s
Along with fourth order for no lenses. So that's when for no one just started to pop up in like the early 1900s
(36:26):
So obviously a lot harder than lighthouses got them
But I'm sure they were reluctant to get for no lenses for all the light ships too because there would need to be two one for the backup
And one for the regular and their expenses
Yeah, you know radio beacons were also added at this time
And it would run at the same time as foghorns and shipping boats would hone in on this beacon and then follow it until someone spotted the light ship or like
(36:51):
Directed from the sound of their foghorn and then moved to
Miss the light ship, which is crazy. They would aim for it and then
So obviously things went wrong at least once timing. Yes, where you know
Yes, where if it's really thick fog or it's storming or something. Can you really trust your ears of?
(37:15):
Where the location of the light ship is based on sound like no probably not this
Difficulty culminated in the sinking of light vessel 117. This was the Nantucket station with lots of Nantucket
I'm a big fan. I think it's because we're gonna go see it that I'm like
I'm all interested. This was the light ship from 1931 until the crash in 1934
(37:42):
So in January the light ship was glanced by the SS Washington causing minor damage to the whole but it really shook up the crew
Yeah, they realized like how serious that could have been
And so one of them said quote someday we are just going to get it head-on and that will be the finish
One of those big liners will just ride right through us
So four months later the Olympic sister ship to that site. Yeah
(38:05):
Yeah, was in dense fog and followed Nantucket's radio beacon the fog warped obviously the sound like
No way, it just sounds like they were like we heard the foghorn and it sounded like we were missing her by like a mile
So we were like, oh, we're all good and they hit her head on like straight down the middle
For reference the Nantucket light ship was 630 tons. So that's like it's a big ship. It's sturdy
(38:30):
Yeah, the Olympic was 52,000 tons. Yeah took a millions of pounds
I think it was the world's largest ship at the time. I think so too
So she managed to slow down whenever they spotted. Oh good headed
Straight towards Nantucket. They slowed down to 3.5 miles per hour, but obviously it doesn't matter
It's a big ship. Yeah, the the momentum alone like all this kinetic energy just absolute decimated
(38:56):
So she destroyed it the passengers on board that the Olympic didn't even notice
They hit anything is really sad because I think it was nighttime
So it's like it's like the Titanic movie, you know where it's like dark and there's debris and people are screaming and stuff
they're like all looking over the side of the ship because
the ship starts to like power
(39:18):
Backwards to stop. So obviously they feel that more than crushing a tiny ship is ran over it. Yeah
And so they're all looking out for sign of the life but out of the 11 crew members only four survived
Oh my gosh, and they saw her coming so they all put on their life preservers and they're like
They have the lifeboat ready, but they just didn't get off. I just got thrown around. Yeah
(39:41):
I wonder if they didn't get off because they thought maybe it's gonna miss them or just
What if I'm in a little tiny boat versus yeah this boat true is this boat better than being in a tiny lifeboat?
I don't know. I don't know and also
Seeing it from a while out could have been a couple minutes. Like there's I didn't know the Olympic ever gotten an accident
Yeah, I don't know what that's called
(40:03):
No damage
Yeah, oops fly on the window
We hit a speed bump. That's sad. So they rescued the four at least
Yeah, so the four that survived there was two that or three that were severely injured and died later in the hospital
three of the four three no no three
No three additional there's seven that survived the initial crash three died later
(40:26):
It's really awful rumors floating around to the lightship was cut clean in half by the crash, but you can dive and see
The the shipwreck on the ocean floor
I think it's outside Nantucket Island, which we're cool. We're not gonna be able to go see it's right next to Martha's Vineyard
But the dive site is especially dangerous because of the unpredictable currents, which is why the lightship was there in the first place
(40:49):
So, I don't know how to pronounce this the Cunard white star line
Cunard I think white star line is who build the Titanic and the Olympic but then they merged with this other big
Shipping line. Yeah, that was so they formed a thing but
They paid for the building of light vessel 112, which is the ship that we're gonna go check out as a replacement for light vessel
(41:12):
117 which is the one that was hit they built that
modeled like a battleship and
It's armored and the largest light ship that was ever built. So like sorry we killed some people
Okay, we're gonna be cool. We gave you a battleship. They're like
Your ship was wimpy. Yeah, we didn't even see what that was
So awful so they gave him a pretty sweet ship. Yeah, really nice and
(41:35):
I'm really excited. We get to go check it out private tour, baby. What is that the one?
Where's that? All right outside of Boston Airport. Oh, that's that's the one. Okay
It's battleship style. Yes battleship esque
I wish I had gone inside overfall so I could know I could like spot the differences
I guess I'll just I was gonna say I'll have to go back but
I don't know if I ever will never know what it would bring me back to the coast of Delaware
(42:00):
Probably lighthouses
I just like light ships light vessels
So this one that was destroyed was the first class of light ships built with diesel engines kind of interesting
Which were added to almost all steam-powered light ships between 1926 and 1938 and 1939 is when the Coast Guard took over
Everything and after they did that after they were taken over they gradually this is when they stopped
(42:23):
They started taking like ships out of service and the Coast Guard only built six vessels
After they took over all welded holes instead of instead of riveting built with the best technology to date
So they're pretty fancy. I want to say Nantucket wanted to were built around this time
This is a well team of the Nantucket getting hit by the Olympic
(42:46):
We can't even fit the Olympic in the painting. I know they're like, let's just put it all in the background
Yeah, that explains look at the boats going flying. Yeah
There is no way to oh
That's sad. Yeah
So anyway as I was saying Nantucket one and two and these were built around the same time
These are WLV 612 and 613. They were the last boats in service, which were taken out in 1983
(43:11):
Like I mentioned earlier after removal light ships were replaced with large
Large light ship red large navigational buoys buoys and it's an actual name LNB
Large navigational boot. Okay, and these are the last boats in service
And it's an actual name LNB large navigational boot. Okay, and these were developed just for the removal of light ships and
(43:37):
You if people that live on coastlines probably recognize. Oh, yes
Big flat circle with a light on top. I think I've shown that before I vaguely feel like when we talked about buoys
Maybe you mentioned it. It might have been that I mean, I maybe that's a standard design, but it might have been that exact
I remember you pulling this up. Very cool. Yeah, so they developed it just for that and since they're unmanned and they have a beacon
(44:01):
That's visible up to 10 miles and a foghorn for three miles. Obviously, it's way more cost-effective than
Manning and up keeping a light ship. It's still stuck to hit that thing. Yeah
Well, the point is to not hit it. It's red. It makes noise. It's noisy. It makes lights
I'm sure it's been done. We got to wrap it up so we can get to our shipwreck cocktails
(44:25):
Oh, that's right in the end
I read that only five light ships in the US were actually lost due to storms
Even though I said there was like hundreds of instances where chains broke and they just went flying out into a storm
And then ended up surviving and they would like fix her up and maybe put her in a new station or keep her at the same station
But usually they survived only five of them and then five more were lost due to crashes
(44:52):
That's where I left off my nose. Yeah, that's crazy
I'm like, wow, I think in the end that's I could have put a way different end on there
But anyway, Vince you and I are gonna be seeing Nantucket in
On Wednesday. Yeah, so in only a few days
So maybe we'll have some cool maybe I'll get enough information to just do an episode
(45:15):
Like a specific light ship, maybe I'm sure we'll cover our trip as well. Yeah, that's true
You see lots of lighthouses. It's finally here. You remember we talked about this in February
Haha
Yeah, the whole lighthouse lowdown crew not clan is gonna be there with us in spirit
Yeah, and we'll keep you guys updated with pictures and videos we're gonna be participating in the US LHS dance
(45:41):
Competition my booty. I've started I've started our our little
Our little video with the places that I saw in Delaware
So I'm kicking off the video with some grew elbows from despicable me
I got some of that a little bit of dancing on East End. I think water
Our followers are gonna really enjoy that. I don't know if I want to put it out there, but I suppose we're gonna have to be on the internet
(46:07):
Maybe we'll win and then everyone will see it at the virtual
Bonanza the US LHS is hosting
Check out check out their website for the link because I have registered and I will be there so cool
Sounds good
Yeah, so that's light chips. I feel like I could have done more but is a pretty
(46:32):
Pretty broad coverage of them and now you know how they work. There's always more to say always. Yeah
We'll get deeper into it some other time. So
Everyone make sure to check out our website the lighthouse lowdown.com where you can listen to our episodes
Find links for other places to listen to our episodes and you can also check out our YouTube videos on the same website
And check out our Instagram at the lighthouse lowdown
(46:57):
Where we post pictures from each of our episodes and little brief things and we love to hear from people
so leave us a review on our website as well and
We love that here and we'll catch you next time on the lighthouse
Lowdown
On the lighthouse lowdown the dance the coral reef
Ready ready
(00:02):
Hi everybody. I'm Emily and I'm Vince and this is the lighthouse lowdown
Heard it in a while. Yeah, happy Friday night. We're yeah, we're cutting this very close without recording
I've got a lot of stuff going on Vince traveling for work and being lazy in general laziness
(00:29):
We're all here
Vincent I have a
the shipwreck
pirate
Cocktail experience coming up after this. That's right. That's coming up next for us. I'll tell you I read some stuff online. Oh, no
These are in different locations. So maybe it's different per location, but that it was very poor
What do you mean?
(00:51):
People like either say that they liked it and they came back or they'll say it's like an even split between people who say that and people who leave paragraphs that are like this was garbage
Don't waste your money. The stories aren't even scary and the rum is watered down
Okay
Well, I'm not really putting that much stock into it to be honest with you. We're just doing it to have fun
(01:12):
Yeah, and if it's really bad
I feel like we're the type of people that just can still enjoy it. Anyways, it's fine. It's a one-time thing
It's not like a you get to see people in costume dramatically telling stories
Yeah, so we're gonna go to it like a shipwreck saloon themed night for cocktails hour and a half
Stories and songs and such so yeah, it says interactive, but I hope nobody tries to talk to me the whole lowdown clan will be there with us
(01:37):
We can't yeah, we can't say clan. We need a different lowdown listeners. Yeah in spirit
They'll be there crew the crew. Yeah
speaking of ships
Today's episode is
about light ships and
It was going to be the history buoy
And then I started researching and I was like this deserves a full episode and we've talked about it a couple times that we're gonna like
(02:03):
Do episodes that are not?
About lighthouses directly yeah light ships. That's what this is. We're doing light ships. Very good
They're also called light vessels, which you'll see LV as their
designation
Prefix or whatever in their numbering so I'm gonna call them light ships because light vessels is not
(02:24):
It's not what I say doesn't go as good
So light vessels slash light ships are lighthouses little partners and
They kind of originated in the 19th century
For places that it was not where they really needed a lighthouse, but they didn't I got the time in the mid 1800s
They didn't have the ability to build lighthouses anywhere
(02:48):
So the idea came up to have a ship that would have
A lighthouse beacon on it and so then you could park your light ship somewhere
Drop anchor and man it and then you wouldn't have to go through the trouble building a lighthouse cool
but in the end, I think the
Cost of keeping up a light ship was actually more than lighthouses and more than building lighthouses
(03:12):
Because eventually they got phased out and like anywhere. There was a light ship there ended up being a lighthouse later
Well, not anywhere, but you know, it was a pretty common interesting light ships were parked where you would have like a reef or shoal or like a narrow
Harbor where they couldn't build a lighthouse at the time
And like, you know, if you think about trying to build a lighthouse on sand, it's just they've tried. Yeah. Yeah, I
(03:37):
Went okay, so I went to um, you know this but our listeners don't I went to
Delaware recently
Saw a couple of lighthouses saw a light ship saw some lighthouse
life-saving stations
I can't there was one and I can't which one it was I think the precursor so Cape Henlopen
I think is the name of the lighthouse. They built it just on a sandy beach
(04:00):
So, you know how that went it drifted away. Yeah, I just remember them time cracker. What?
Okay
Okay, so usually light ships were painted a bright color and this was almost always red
I saw one other instance where it wasn't red
It was like, um light yellow or something because the waters were really bluish green
(04:22):
And so they picked something that would stand out against that nice
Which I think red would have also worked but and then they would also have block white letters on the side that say the name of the station
And at first ships were named after its station. That was like the name of the ship was like Chesapeake for Chesapeake Bay
and later they changed that to a numbering or
No, a lettering system and then a numbering system ships were named after a station
(04:47):
Yeah, so like if they park it in Chesapeake, they paint Chesapeake on the side. Is there a station Chesapeake station?
Yeah light station, which is where the boat the light ship launches from
No, the it's where it's stationed is the light station. Okay
It's just the name like it's a shortened version of the name Chesapeake Bay
So then the station they just call it Chesapeake Chessie. Okay. Okay
(05:11):
Whatever you want all the way up in like Roman times and that was like from like 80
BC to like 580 there was some evidence of ships having bonfires on them
So they kind of had the concept going risky the first modern light ship
Oh my gosh, I feel like this whole time light house
I'm gonna say lighthouse when I mean light ship. So if I ever have a slip of the tongue, just let it go
(05:39):
But the first modern example was in 1734 when inventor Robert Hamlin and
David Avery placed a fishing sloop on a sandbank at the mouth of the river. Oh, no river
Thames
Yeah, okay. I was like themes
England, right? Yes. Yeah
The Thames in London is it Thames? I remember it being I think it's that I think that's what it is because I remember
(06:04):
I covered the episode with
Dang it England that one the one. Oh
What is it? No, I saw a tick tock of a guy who was like talking to a girl. He's saying your eyes are
Beautiful just like the Thames and they're brown. Yeah
That's not a good thing
Nobody really associates that river was that's good. That's how he said it. So
(06:30):
Anyway, this first light ship in the UK had two oil lanterns hung 12 feet apart high above the deck
immediately Trinity House sued
What Trinity House was the one wasn't charged? Yeah and
Won the lawsuit and so then Hamlin and Avery could run the light ship for pay on behalf of the organization
(06:51):
So they were basically like you can't I think the main problem was that they wanted to charge
For ships that go by oh, yeah
It's like a lot. Yeah like a lighthouse. So they were like no, but we'll pay you to man like I
Think yeah, and they they were trying to patent it too
So I don't really know what happened with the patent if they officially I mean, I'm reading it right now
(07:13):
So maybe they did because they're officially the ones who it doesn't just say like Trinity House
Yeah, but the light ship was so successful in reducing wrecks that by 1834
Almost 25% of Trinity House's beacons were light ships. Wow. Yeah, so it's a big chunk big percentage
Especially like in the early 1800s
The US didn't get light ships until 1820. We chart. We start out in Chesapeake Bay Chesapeake Chessie
(07:40):
So originally light ships were named like I said after where they're placed and this would mean over time that multiple ships would have the same name
Like any to any ship stationed on Chesapeake would be called a Chesapeake. So it became Jenny one Jenny
Yeah, but not even just just speak Chesapeake Chesapeake
And so then of course, there was no way to mark your ships that way
(08:03):
So like it only took about a year to get it to work
Of course, there was no way to mark your ships that way. So like it only took a few years, but they switched to a
Lettering system. So light chip a light should be
That is a cool photo. This is a painting of cool painting
A painting of a more modern light more modern Chesapeake. Okay, so this isn't like the first one or anything. This was painted in 1979
(08:28):
so but yeah, that's kind of I'll go on to describe more about the construction and like
Characteristics of a light shift like a day mark, but for a ship the day mark is the red and the white letters. Okay?
Okay, for example
The Chesapeake light ship you can tour in Baltimore right now because there's only like 15 left that you can actually see in the United States
(08:50):
Hmm, but the one that you can tour right now is actually light ship
116 which was built 110 years after the first light ship in the US which was also Chesapeake. Okay
So it just kind of became convoluted. So they gave it a new system. Oh fun fact
This light ship that you can go see in Baltimore is was first stationed at Fenwick Shoal and that's the lighthouse that I saw last weekend
(09:13):
Fenwick lighthouse, Fenwick Island. Did they mention it at the lighthouse? They mentioned I just noticed it
Research that's the most fun Fenwick Shoal be advised
But then if you think about it, it used to have to name Fenwick and now it's the Chesapeake light ship
That's like that's forever since it's decommissioned
(09:34):
It's forever gonna be known as the Chesapeake light ship, even though it started out at Fenwick. It's interesting
It is it's crazy how I can just switch up like that and they just repaint the sign and it has a new identity
That doesn't happen very often with lighthouses. Oh, it's hard to well, I mean it's been done
Yeah, especially with beacons. We've seen beacons move all over the place. Oh, yeah for sure
(09:56):
If you think about Nosset light, it was Chatham's twin tower and they just took it over. Yeah
Moved it right on over. Well, Triangle Island is not even I mean, it's just displayed how it's not an active light
But the lantern room is in Sook like it's not
It's not even close to where Triangle Island is. So yeah anyways, oh how the turntables
(10:21):
Michael Scott
In 1838 they gave lightships letters to differentiate them besides their station name such as lightship A
But I'm not sure what the naming convention was because the first lightship was lightship C
Like the first one that was built the first Chesapeake they named it lightship C
So it can't have been number of years in service, but maybe it's like C Chesapeake
(10:47):
No, because they did like ABCDEFD. It just went on. No idea
They just they had like one of those C's laying around. Yeah, they're just like just randomly assigned like it doesn't matter
Just I mean, maybe that was the case. They're like just randomly assigned 100 years from now. There's gonna be a podcast on this
Yeah, they're not they're not gonna know. At the time they're like, whatever. It doesn't matter
(11:08):
Just give them something to differentiate them. Nice. Once they reach lightship ZZ
They switched to assigning numbers in 1867 and that's what started with LV 1 LV dash 1 and that's the naming
You convention you see a lot like today if you were to go see light vessel. Yeah, if you go to see Chesapeake
It'll be Chesapeake slash LV 116. Oh, so cool. It's pretty clear now
(11:33):
In 1947 the Coast Guard gave new numbers to the existing light ship station starting with wall. Um, I could not find
What wall was like a WAL dash like Chesapeake come back to Chesapeake as an example
It's WAL dash 538
(11:54):
That's no, is he said the Navy did that a Coast Guard Coast Guard it's probably a military
Thing I have no idea like like why is the plane called the C 130? Yeah, no idea cargo
Care and carry I have no idea someone actually probably a lot of people know but I do not know
(12:15):
Yeah, why is it the f16? Well, and then 20 years later less than 20 years later. They switched the prefix to say
WLV which makes more sense the LV is light vessel, but then the W it says W
Marks it as a Coast Guard vessel. Mm-hmm. So I'm like, what but what is the W? What is it?
There has to be some reason they pick a W don't know
(12:37):
Yes, maybe we'll never know don't know but if you do know send us an email, please do our friends out there
So even though there are only 15 light ships still surviving in America that you can go see or some of them are private
Or they're like turn into a restaurant or something. Oh, yeah, they're kind of all over the place
Their names are still confusing. For example, the overfalls light ship, which I saw with my sister Carly last weekend
(13:01):
Never served at the overfalls station not once but it's there now
But now it's parked and says overfalls and it's called the overfalls light ship, but it never served there
So did they know
Excellent timing and when was the last time we touched that button? I know I know so
(13:23):
Did they say anything about that there overfalls? No, I just had to find that through research
Like it was just like did they point out it and they're like, yep. There's our light vessel and you're like
You're wrong sitting on a throne of lies
Smell like meat and cheese
So the ship
So the ship
(13:47):
Did you imagine if you said that to them?
I'm desperately trying to move on for that
Excuse me
The ship that served at overfalls is painted Portsmouth, which was never a station to begin with
So the overfalls light ship is surviving called Portsmouth, but wasn't there was never a station that was Portsmouth
(14:09):
So it's just a little convoluted and we do our best with numbers now
But it kind of it still is a little a little messed up
So the ownership of light ships moved with lighthouses to the Coast Guard in 1939 and the last light ship to be discontinued was Nantucket 1
There was the only instance that I've seen that there's a station one and two. Okay Nantucket one was on March 29th
(14:34):
1985 and they would like switch off for each other. I believe one and two like in the same day
they would switch off so I'm not really sure if it was like a
Station where they got beat up a lot at and they needed I don't know
I didn't look too deep into it because it's more of a general but I am thinking in the future
Maybe I could do an episode that's over one light ship because there's so much fun history
(14:56):
So many crazy stories and I'll cover one of them today. Nice. Okay
The remaining light ships are often museums that are in the US such as over Falls
You can go inside check it out Carly and I didn't have time. It was a shame
The Chesapeake here on and you and I will be seeing I think Nantucket going in Boston. Yes
I think station near Boston not Nantucket one or two. It's just Nantucket many
(15:20):
One and two are doing their own thing and Nantucket solid is the one that we're gonna see Nantucket distinguished
And I saw that they're doing an event where they're shooting off fireworks Boston's like doing a fireworks show on Labor Day or
the Saturday before Labor Day
Okay, and if you pay for a $30 ticket you can set up camp on the deck of the light ship and watch it from there
(15:42):
Nice, you can bring drinks and food and they have like live music or something. So that's cool. Very cool
They said they specified it will be parked the whole time, but
That's just the life that yeah, we could sit on that
The crew lived so it's right on the water's edge. So it's probably a good view. Yes view cool between 1820 and 1983
179 light ships were built for the US for 116 different light stations
(16:07):
Okay, so a couple duplicates in there quite a few but there are there were there weren't as many
like
Light ship destructions as you would think there would be you know, like with a light ship just ship me
Yeah, just being on the water you think that they would lose a lot of ships
But I think they only lost like ten over the course of history. So they would they stay out in rough weather
(16:29):
I mean, I said you have to yeah being one of their main purposes
So I'll talk about their structure and how that okay came to me. So cool
Originally light ships had small masts and basic sails because they weren't supposed to sail anywhere
They were just it was more like as I get to where they're going. Yeah
It's like they would be towed places and then they'd have tiny masts
for like changing or
(16:50):
You know redirecting themselves keeping themselves on on in a certain spot because I'll talk about it later
Their chain is a lot longer than how deep the water is and so if you're not staying on course
Which was a common problem, then they there was this huge radius in which they could be around a dangerous area instead of
Right on top of it, which is would be a problem for people trying to navigate using the light ships
(17:14):
Yeah, they had an oil-burning beacon that would run up the mast and be lowered for service
So it wasn't like a stationary thing now. They're stationary
Workers would need to climb once they became stationary workers would have to climb rope ladders to the top to service it and now it's like
Metal ladders and they even have like miniature. This is more common in the UK, but like miniature
Skeleton lighthouses in the middle of a light ship. That's cool
(17:37):
So like Ted here in the US you see like the picture that I have up here two masts that are pretty skinny and each
One would usually have a beacon on it. There's one that's always lit and one that's a backup. Mmm
Smart I got a picture of one of those skeleton
Light ships. This is the helwick
This one's in I think it's now it's parked
(17:59):
What's Welsh? Wales? Wales. Okay
That is a big
Lantern room for that ship. I know you would think it would be really top-heavy like it would just tip it right over
Whole no, you know what I mean?
Oh
No
So that's an example the US didn't have a lot of them, but that's kind of like how it progressed over time
(18:23):
So there's space in the light ship for between four to twelve men
Who manned the light ship and cycled in and out every few weeks to every few months
So I think over time the big crew. Yeah, and some like these ships are a lot bigger than you think they are
There's some of course that are really small
But especially as time went on the ships would get bigger because you have better technology and better construction
(18:45):
But much of the space on the early boats were reserved for oil storage at this time
Obviously, we didn't have electricity all the fuel they'd usually have around 900 gallons of oil on board
So it just kind of was crazy. Okay. Yeah
And they'd also have of course spare parts lifeboats small kitchens like sleeping areas a lot like you see
For Coast Guard stuff now if you looked up like how they sleep and it always goes viral online showing
(19:09):
The tiny little spaces they have to squeeze into like the Navy and stuff to sleep
It's like bunks little bunks. Yes, and you have like a foot of space and you're like slide in
You have a tiny curtain that you pull over. Yeah, you seen those
Yeah, I don't think I was built for that. You are definitely not personally
I'd be like we need an extra long and it's like built for a six foot person
(19:32):
Yeah, those those of you that don't know me. I was not built for that
Yeah, you're above average in size
So often like I mentioned light chips had two masks one fitted with an identical backup beacon as well as a spare anchor in case
The main one broke free during like a storm or something which was actually a little bit of a problem
I mean one broke free during like a storm or something, which was actually a pretty common occurrence
(19:54):
There was like hundreds of instances where the chain broke during a storm and they would just like float off
Like in the storm just have to come back. Yeah, because they weren't made for sailing, you know, they weren't made for moving
they were made for staying put so
So like in one instance, it was like a couple weeks went by and it just like limped back over. Oh man
(20:16):
It's just so crazy
So one of the most important parts regardless of the chain breaking is the anchor because we want to stay in one spot and
It would anchor the ship to the seabed of wherever it's stationed
Originally they had fluke anchors, which are like the classic ones you think of when you think of an anchor big curvy ones
(20:37):
Yeah with the pointy ends. Yeah, those pointy ends are called flukes
and so there's several different types of fluke anchors like today they're like I
Don't have a picture, but it's just like two flat triangles and they would like scrape
I feel like I've seen them. I don't know where I've seen them. They're more compact. Yes. Yes
(20:59):
That that's the advantage is that they can be flattened into I hit my
microphone flattened so that they're easy stored and not taking up a bunch of space
But often these drag along the ground instead of really securing a ship down so they switched eventually to mushroom style anchors
Yep, I have a picture of one of those I've seen those but it's bowl shaped and this end would fill with sand and mud when I hit
(21:22):
the ground and form like a vacuum or a suction effect and
So this kept the boat from moving around and these anchors are up to four tons in weight
It's actually not as heavy as I thought four tons 8000 pounds. So there's an example
It's a big anchor. I mean, I don't really have a scale but so I had a picture that I didn't include that
(21:43):
Showed two men just like standing on it. Just chilling. So that's kind of it's a big big piece of metal
Yeah, how does it get there? How does it get there? They hang it
They hang it on the side of the hole. Yeah, how do they oh
Must be a they must have a crane
This is either the spare or this is because it's not going to be used anymore
(22:08):
They use this as a way to show what it looks like because I think in the past they would pull the
The long part of the mushroom anchor they would pull that all the way into the ship
So the only thing on the outside would be this the bowl. Yeah, the head of the mushroom the stem is pulled in the stem
I really think that's what it so you think it goes into that that hole there with a chain is okay
(22:31):
So it would be you know, like more aerodynamic and wouldn't take as much damage by being out and exposed
That's pretty wild. That's a big piece of metal. Yeah, so their spare was usually on the starboard bow and
The one that they would actually use would be like on the front of the ship
Also attached to this was that chain I was talking about rule of thumb was six feet six to eight feet of chain for each foot of water
(22:54):
And they used cast iron like first and foremost why?
Waves during storms get really big. Oh, you've got to have enough slack that you won't just like oh no
Destroy your ship in big waves
You need to be anchored below the crest of the wave or you'd be lifting your anchor off of the ground just rip it out
Probably it's like they were trying to pull something super buoyant underneath. Oh, that's scary. Yeah, I have not thought about that
(23:20):
I'm sure someone figured that out the hard way. Oh, yeah long ago
All right, I'm gonna go into materials because there's a lot of growth materials of construction
Exactly first light ships were wooden of course
Which was the preferred material in the US for almost a hundred years as they worked out like the kinks of mmm like
iron and steel work over the pond they figured it out a lot faster than us and it was kind of there's a lot of like
(23:46):
Like history that's trying to weave around the truth of what really holds us back from like the Fresnel lenses and
Stolen from France having the metal stuff. It's because of costs and the fact that it was
It was just one guy. I won't go I won't go into it, but okay
Costs drive a lot of history. Yeah, you guys should read about it
(24:09):
I have a the link stuff
I have in my show notes. It's pretty interesting early ships were often repurposed merchant ships
For example, the ship used to build standard rock lighthouse was converted to light ship number eight
I thought that was kind of cool. So wait the other way around light ship number eight was converted to
No, that was used like is like a barge
(24:31):
Yeah, like a lighthouse tender center rock on Lake Superior that built
Yeah, standard rock was converted to lighthouse light ship. I did it light ship
It sounded like I was trying to curse I did it was converted to light ship number eight. So I thought it was kind of interesting
Merchant ships are meant to be moving obviously so
(24:54):
Sitting still these boats would rock horribly. They're like shaped like a barrel
They're meant to be moving forward
In like a streamlined fashion so for there to just be sitting there then it was just like really awful for all of the crew
They talked about even people who had been on the water for 19 years were like seasick by
Not good. So around the 1850s they
(25:16):
Brought out bilge keels. I think that's how you pronounce it
Bilge keels, which were developed to reduce the rocking they're like fins. I have a picture. I
Have a picture. Don't worry
It's this one right here. It's up to the top. Yeah, okay little angled fins coming out the bottom
So obviously we just keep it from rocking side to side or at least help it a little bit and these
(25:39):
Full keels or fin keels or you see those a lot for cruise ships. Yes, they're so big that
There can't be any rocking because if there is the momentum would just continue like it wouldn't just be like oh rock rock
It would just be like full
Sideways, it would just be like
Rock rock. It would just be like full sideways motion. Wow
(26:00):
Anyway, so the first iron hole light ship was used in 1847 for Merrill's Shell Bank in Louisiana
But wood was still preferred because of the fact that it was low cost and the lighthouse lighthouse board argued that it was
Had better resistance to effects from shock loading which you probably know about but for our listeners
Yeah, it's like like we were talking about if something yanked on the chain
(26:25):
This is just an example something all of a sudden a very high increase in pressure
They thought that wood would be able to
Like handle not breaking better than metal which nowadays that's not true
Nowadays, it's not true. Yeah because of alloying
And different forging techniques like iron at that time for is treated or they really learned how to do it
(26:48):
Well the example I've said too many times now on the podcast is the Titanic
There's a it's a case study for material science in metalworking and it was built in
Northern Ireland in Belfast. So they were they were they've been known for making ships for a long time
Yeah, but even them working with iron at that scale had a had a large failure in a ductal to brittle transition temperature
(27:14):
So the metal on the Titanic because of its temperature sheared it ripped like paper
Rather than slowly deforming upon force denting
Yeah, so so toughness and strength are two different things and wood ships in many ways were tougher than metal ships of that era
Even the Vikings built their ships. Obviously, they didn't have metal working to the same degree but
(27:37):
Long their little shields on the side. Mm-hmm. Well the boat long boats that they had that they made were purposefully floppy
So the long boat could be it was a small long boat that could go on
River entrances but also open ocean and one of the strengths of the long boat was that it was actually if we flexible on large waves
(27:59):
Rather than cracking it would be designed to be loose and flexible. So it's more durable that way
And that was a long time ago. Yeah crazy long before this cool cool cool cool
So in 1851 Congress did an extensive survey and found just about everything about their light ships to be insufficient
And fun fact this report I can't remember if you talked about it in your episode
(28:22):
But this report is what formed the lighthouse board as a separate group from the Treasury
They did this whole survey and found that the light ships were just like really
Found wanting. Yeah, it was just they found out that there was really no management
There was crew members that had no qualifications at all and they wouldn't even show up and there'd be like unmanned stations for a long time
Yeah, nobody would say anything about it. So it was just kind of like wow, we really need structure. Yes
(28:48):
That's how that happened militarized. Yeah
So at that time they ordered the ships to be modeled after British ships because they had kept it up a little bit
English Navy is a little good history
Yeah, which were iron and had Argon lamps and reflectors like most lighthouses of the time. Okay
They standardized light ships in general so that everything would be streamlined
So ships became flat bottomed with a rounded bow
(29:11):
They had bilge keels and decks that would allow water to roll off instead of like holding the deck like holding water
Yep, which you'd think they would have done a little earlier, but I guess
Yeah, I never thought about that. I seen that on ships
Yeah, where the water just like goes between them holes or like slits or something. Yeah, and they also had double mass
So this became like the the go-to structure for US light ships
(29:36):
The lamps were updated though. We kept the wood for a few decades longer
I just don't think we picked up on the metal holes yet. This image is from 1994
Which is just very slightly older than I am a British British, too
Right. Yep
So they dabbled in different hole types before while they were still like wall wood was the main one
(30:01):
They had like copper plating copper rivets and double holes like light vessel 16
Which was in service for 80 years. So it definitely worked
It had two wooden holes that were filled in between with salt to reduce decay and to like harden the wood
Huh? Yeah, it was like very interesting and this was like not an uncommon thing
(30:23):
It was just the one instance that I that's crazy about
So the first modern steel hold light ship was built in 1882
So it wasn't it wasn't this huge amount of time, but it took a it took a while for steel to be
The kind that we always use
1902 was the last time that wood was used as the main construction material
(30:44):
That makes sense. Yeah, the first modern steel hold one was light vessel 44
All following ships after this 1902 was steel. Yeah
First light ships with steam propulsion. We talked about in our last episode white shul
they were built in 1891 and
(31:07):
I was wondering why did they have street steam propulsion if they were steam propulsion?
Steam propulsion if they were still towed out to their station and I looked it up
So I did my research and it was because the ice moved in so fast that while they were towed out there to conserve fuel
And everything they needed to be able to flee in a moment's notice that like the ice was coming in and it was like starting
(31:31):
To harden because they couldn't survive out there with ice hitting the hole for the entire season. So they'd always leave before winter
Huh, that's why they had that's why they had that they can get out of there
And there's a lot riding on that steam
steam boiler
And they had steam
Decades before this like steam powered things, but it was only for foghorns and steam whistles not like engine
(31:57):
Yeah, in the same year this 1891 a journalist visited Nantucket one
and took it one
so there's so many there's so many existing Nantuckets that I
Get confused but one of the Nantucket ships and wrote a lot about the beacons
So I'll read kind of some of the stuff that he mentioned
Okay
(32:17):
So he mentioned the beacons were octagonal in copper frames and they're about five feet wide and nearly five feet tall
It was like four feet nine inches or something like that
The mast was the center with the lamp circling it with all the reflectors facing outward reflectors
You didn't laugh
It is like so many times where I laughed to myself in the audio and I'm like editing it and I'm like, oh my god
(32:44):
Because you smile at me, but you don't laugh the people can't hear that
Oh my gosh, I'm laughing to myself. It's here by yourself
Okay, sorry, I'm like all over the place I'm excited for our event
So I'm kind of just to service these beacons
They it would be lowered into the top of the tiny house that was built around the mast. So this
(33:06):
big hulking thing around the mast would be lowered into a tiny house like the top of it opens and
They would service it in there like oil and you know little shed
Yeah, and then the beacons were lifted no higher than 25 feet up the mast as
The one ton beacons would make the ship too top-heavy and it would tip over
Huh? I know it's like what?
(33:27):
One ton what ton of glass and copper that's insane
Yeah, only well we talked about like large
Fresnel lenses or I don't think I've ever heard of one being a ton, but I
Remember they're heavy. Yeah that that's true. It glass
Fresnel lenses are a different thing where I would expect those to be
(33:49):
Thousands and thousands of pounds, but we're talking just like lamps and reflectors. Oh, I suppose
I don't know everything out. There's got to be tough
He also reported on the desperate boredom that the crew felt
With little to do besides care for the light which only took I mean with the whole crew
It only took a couple of hours to like care for this beacon and then past that they would just like cook and
(34:13):
Didn't really have much else to do see shanties
sing songs
But they didn't even have like books and things
On the light ship that came later. He said they made him scouse which
He said was a quote wonderful commingling of salt beef
potatoes and onions
(34:34):
Okay, he said the food was like shockingly delicious on the light ship
I'm like maybe that's because that's all they have to do. They're just spending all day cooking
Yeah, they're like we culinary chefs by the time we get out of here
So crews began taking up baths
So crews began taking up basket weaving and I'm pretty sure it was Nan Tuckett that started this what?
(34:55):
It's tradition literally a term used for frivolous activities. Really basket weaving. Yeah, I didn't even know that like oh
I took a class in underwater basket weaving like it's like a joke
Oh, you did something that must be where this came from or something
Maybe but they would sell them on shore for extra cash and you'll see a lot of these woven baskets in lightship museums
Because it was like this huge thing
(35:17):
That they all took up and then I read in the overfalls light ship museum that the lighthouse board made them stop
Because they're selling it on shore. I'm like, oh my god
No, they're like you can't be making money guys. No, you can't you're on company time. You can't like
Well, it's either that or getting into smuggling
Yeah, you want me to be a bootlegger? Yeah, that's what it is, right rum runner
(35:42):
Running champagne in the Bahamas. Yeah, so these
Conditions made it really hard to be one of these crew members just like being so bored and then also that
The ships were really hard to stomach basically. Oh, yes rocking every day's
So eventually the addition of bilge keels to all of the ships engines that allowed them to face into the wind instead of just at the mercy
(36:03):
Of it
Televisions radios and like things like books all assisted in a better life on the ship soon as I got that they stopped using them some
Yeah, right light ship number 51 got electric incandescent lanterns in the 1910s
Along with fourth order for no lenses. So that's when for no one just started to pop up in like the early 1900s
(36:26):
So obviously a lot harder than lighthouses got them
But I'm sure they were reluctant to get for no lenses for all the light ships too because there would need to be two one for the backup
And one for the regular and their expenses
Yeah, you know radio beacons were also added at this time
And it would run at the same time as foghorns and shipping boats would hone in on this beacon and then follow it until someone spotted the light ship or like
(36:51):
Directed from the sound of their foghorn and then moved to
Miss the light ship, which is crazy. They would aim for it and then
So obviously things went wrong at least once timing. Yes, where you know
Yes, where if it's really thick fog or it's storming or something. Can you really trust your ears of?
(37:15):
Where the location of the light ship is based on sound like no probably not this
Difficulty culminated in the sinking of light vessel 117. This was the Nantucket station with lots of Nantucket
I'm a big fan. I think it's because we're gonna go see it that I'm like
I'm all interested. This was the light ship from 1931 until the crash in 1934
(37:42):
So in January the light ship was glanced by the SS Washington causing minor damage to the whole but it really shook up the crew
Yeah, they realized like how serious that could have been
And so one of them said quote someday we are just going to get it head-on and that will be the finish
One of those big liners will just ride right through us
So four months later the Olympic sister ship to that site. Yeah
(38:05):
Yeah, was in dense fog and followed Nantucket's radio beacon the fog warped obviously the sound like
No way, it just sounds like they were like we heard the foghorn and it sounded like we were missing her by like a mile
So we were like, oh, we're all good and they hit her head on like straight down the middle
For reference the Nantucket light ship was 630 tons. So that's like it's a big ship. It's sturdy
(38:30):
Yeah, the Olympic was 52,000 tons. Yeah took a millions of pounds
I think it was the world's largest ship at the time. I think so too
So she managed to slow down whenever they spotted. Oh good headed
Straight towards Nantucket. They slowed down to 3.5 miles per hour, but obviously it doesn't matter
It's a big ship. Yeah, the the momentum alone like all this kinetic energy just absolute decimated
(38:56):
So she destroyed it the passengers on board that the Olympic didn't even notice
They hit anything is really sad because I think it was nighttime
So it's like it's like the Titanic movie, you know where it's like dark and there's debris and people are screaming and stuff
they're like all looking over the side of the ship because
the ship starts to like power
(39:18):
Backwards to stop. So obviously they feel that more than crushing a tiny ship is ran over it. Yeah
And so they're all looking out for sign of the life but out of the 11 crew members only four survived
Oh my gosh, and they saw her coming so they all put on their life preservers and they're like
They have the lifeboat ready, but they just didn't get off. I just got thrown around. Yeah
(39:41):
I wonder if they didn't get off because they thought maybe it's gonna miss them or just
What if I'm in a little tiny boat versus yeah this boat true is this boat better than being in a tiny lifeboat?
I don't know. I don't know and also
Seeing it from a while out could have been a couple minutes. Like there's I didn't know the Olympic ever gotten an accident
Yeah, I don't know what that's called
(40:03):
No damage
Yeah, oops fly on the window
We hit a speed bump. That's sad. So they rescued the four at least
Yeah, so the four that survived there was two that or three that were severely injured and died later in the hospital
three of the four three no no three
No three additional there's seven that survived the initial crash three died later
(40:26):
It's really awful rumors floating around to the lightship was cut clean in half by the crash, but you can dive and see
The the shipwreck on the ocean floor
I think it's outside Nantucket Island, which we're cool. We're not gonna be able to go see it's right next to Martha's Vineyard
But the dive site is especially dangerous because of the unpredictable currents, which is why the lightship was there in the first place
(40:49):
So, I don't know how to pronounce this the Cunard white star line
Cunard I think white star line is who build the Titanic and the Olympic but then they merged with this other big
Shipping line. Yeah, that was so they formed a thing but
They paid for the building of light vessel 112, which is the ship that we're gonna go check out as a replacement for light vessel
(41:12):
117 which is the one that was hit they built that
modeled like a battleship and
It's armored and the largest light ship that was ever built. So like sorry we killed some people
Okay, we're gonna be cool. We gave you a battleship. They're like
Your ship was wimpy. Yeah, we didn't even see what that was
So awful so they gave him a pretty sweet ship. Yeah, really nice and
(41:35):
I'm really excited. We get to go check it out private tour, baby. What is that the one?
Where's that? All right outside of Boston Airport. Oh, that's that's the one. Okay
It's battleship style. Yes battleship esque
I wish I had gone inside overfall so I could know I could like spot the differences
I guess I'll just I was gonna say I'll have to go back but
I don't know if I ever will never know what it would bring me back to the coast of Delaware
(42:00):
Probably lighthouses
I just like light ships light vessels
So this one that was destroyed was the first class of light ships built with diesel engines kind of interesting
Which were added to almost all steam-powered light ships between 1926 and 1938 and 1939 is when the Coast Guard took over
Everything and after they did that after they were taken over they gradually this is when they stopped
(42:23):
They started taking like ships out of service and the Coast Guard only built six vessels
After they took over all welded holes instead of instead of riveting built with the best technology to date
So they're pretty fancy. I want to say Nantucket wanted to were built around this time
This is a well team of the Nantucket getting hit by the Olympic
(42:46):
We can't even fit the Olympic in the painting. I know they're like, let's just put it all in the background
Yeah, that explains look at the boats going flying. Yeah
There is no way to oh
That's sad. Yeah
So anyway as I was saying Nantucket one and two and these were built around the same time
These are WLV 612 and 613. They were the last boats in service, which were taken out in 1983
(43:11):
Like I mentioned earlier after removal light ships were replaced with large
Large light ship red large navigational buoys buoys and it's an actual name LNB
Large navigational boot. Okay, and these are the last boats in service
And it's an actual name LNB large navigational boot. Okay, and these were developed just for the removal of light ships and
(43:37):
You if people that live on coastlines probably recognize. Oh, yes
Big flat circle with a light on top. I think I've shown that before I vaguely feel like when we talked about buoys
Maybe you mentioned it. It might have been that I mean, I maybe that's a standard design, but it might have been that exact
I remember you pulling this up. Very cool. Yeah, so they developed it just for that and since they're unmanned and they have a beacon
(44:01):
That's visible up to 10 miles and a foghorn for three miles. Obviously, it's way more cost-effective than
Manning and up keeping a light ship. It's still stuck to hit that thing. Yeah
Well, the point is to not hit it. It's red. It makes noise. It's noisy. It makes lights
I'm sure it's been done. We got to wrap it up so we can get to our shipwreck cocktails
(44:25):
Oh, that's right in the end
I read that only five light ships in the US were actually lost due to storms
Even though I said there was like hundreds of instances where chains broke and they just went flying out into a storm
And then ended up surviving and they would like fix her up and maybe put her in a new station or keep her at the same station
But usually they survived only five of them and then five more were lost due to crashes
(44:52):
That's where I left off my nose. Yeah, that's crazy
I'm like, wow, I think in the end that's I could have put a way different end on there
But anyway, Vince you and I are gonna be seeing Nantucket in
On Wednesday. Yeah, so in only a few days
So maybe we'll have some cool maybe I'll get enough information to just do an episode
(45:15):
Like a specific light ship, maybe I'm sure we'll cover our trip as well. Yeah, that's true
You see lots of lighthouses. It's finally here. You remember we talked about this in February
Haha
Yeah, the whole lighthouse lowdown crew not clan is gonna be there with us in spirit
Yeah, and we'll keep you guys updated with pictures and videos we're gonna be participating in the US LHS dance
(45:41):
Competition my booty. I've started I've started our our little
Our little video with the places that I saw in Delaware
So I'm kicking off the video with some grew elbows from despicable me
I got some of that a little bit of dancing on East End. I think water
Our followers are gonna really enjoy that. I don't know if I want to put it out there, but I suppose we're gonna have to be on the internet
(46:07):
Maybe we'll win and then everyone will see it at the virtual
Bonanza the US LHS is hosting
Check out check out their website for the link because I have registered and I will be there so cool
Sounds good
Yeah, so that's light chips. I feel like I could have done more but is a pretty
(46:32):
Pretty broad coverage of them and now you know how they work. There's always more to say always. Yeah
We'll get deeper into it some other time. So
Everyone make sure to check out our website the lighthouse lowdown.com where you can listen to our episodes
Find links for other places to listen to our episodes and you can also check out our YouTube videos on the same website
And check out our Instagram at the lighthouse lowdown
(46:57):
Where we post pictures from each of our episodes and little brief things and we love to hear from people
so leave us a review on our website as well and
We love that here and we'll catch you next time on the lighthouse
Lowdown
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