On the Move

This summer will mark the tenth anniversary of the historic relocation of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. On June 17, 1999, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse began the long 2,900 foot journey to its new home. Three weeks later on July 9, the lighthouse came to its final resting place. What was remarkable about this feat was that Cape Hatteras weighed 4,800 TONS and stood 208 feet tall.

While many people will undoubtedly remember Cape Hatteras moving 1/2 mile along the coast of the Outer Banks, few realize that Cape Hatteras was not the first lighthouse to be moved, nor will it be the last. Like Cape Hatteras, many lighthouses have been threatened by erosion. In places like Montauk Point, building a rock wall has saved the lighthouse, but in other places like Cape Hatteras, moving the lighthouse is the only option.

Other lighthouses that have been moved:

1993 - Block Island Southeast Light, Rhode Island - 245 feet
1996 - Cape Cod Lighthouse, Massachusetts - 420 feet
1996 - Nauset Light, Massachusetts - 336 feet
2007 - Sankaty Lighthouse, Massachusetts - 405 feet

While it would seem that Cape Hatteras would be the most difficult to move because of its height, weight, and the distance moved, ironically it was the move at Block Island of a mere 245 feet that was the most difficult.This is because the move included two turns, whereas all of the other moves were in a generally straight line. The Block Island Lighhtouse weighed in at 2,000 tons.

The International Chimney Company of Buffalo, NY and Expert House Movers were responsible for moving each of these lighthouses.

Lighthouse Trivia III

Well, they keep getting harder, but if you follow this blog regularly, you should know some of the answers. Study up.

1. Which lighthouse can be seen in the 2007 movie Dan in Real Life starring Steve Carroll?

2. Which U.S. lighthouse was the first to be built of iron?

3. Which lighthouse originally sat on a shoal at the mouth of the Patapsco River? (Hint: Answer is in a February posting on this blog.)

4. What was the original name of the Ida Lewis Light?

5. Who was the first female lighthouse keeper in the United States? (Hint: Answer is in a February posting on this blog.)

6. What is the reason behind the design and construction of a skeleton tower lighthouse?

7. Which lightship was the largest lightship ever to be built in the United States? (Hint: Answer is in a March posting on this blog.)

8. Which U.S. Lighthouse is the only one to sit in the middle of a four lane highway?

9. Which lighthouse is used as Castle Rock Entertainment's trademark?

10. What is the namesake of the Wolf Trap Lighthouse in Virginia?



Answers
1. Point Judith Light, Rhode Island
2. Minot's Ledge, Massachusetts
3. Seven Foot Knoll, Maryland
4. Lime Rock Light,
5. Hannah Thomas served as the first female lighthouse keeper from 1776 to 1786 replacing her husband who was away serving in the Revolutionary War. Hannah kept the light at Gurnet Point, Massachusetts.
6. The skeleton tower was designed to withstand severe hurricanes by providing the least amount of obstruction and resistence to the hurricane force winds and rains.
7. The Nantucket. It weighed 1,50 tons and had a length of almost 150 ft.
8. Biloxi Lighthouse, Mississippi
9. Point Arena Light, California
10. Wolf Trap Shoals took their name from the the wreck of the Wolfe a 350-ton British Royal Navy ship that patroled the Chesapeake for pirates and smugglers. The ship ran aground on the shoals in 1691. A lighthouse was built in 1819 to mark the shoals and subsequently took its name from them.

Spotlight on: Lightships

Far out into the deep blue sea, there once sat floating beacons guiding ships and ocean vessels safely to their destinations. These beacons were quite unlike their land-based brothers and sisters, yet they provided the same safety and guidance required to survive the hidden dangers of the sea. But like their land-based counterparts, they became obselete. I am of course talking about the historic lightships that lined America's coastal waters where no lighthouse could be built.

Lightships were very different from land-based lighthouses. First, they did not have a single keeper, but rather an entire crew. This crew was responsible for not only keeping the lightship lit and sounding the fog horn, but also for the daily routines of keeping the ship afloat. Whereas lighthouse keepers faced danger only in lifesaving rescue missions, crews of the historic lightships faced the daily dangers of the sea. A violent storm could toss the fragile lightship about, challenging the skills and taking the lives of many experienced sailors. Seasickness was common even among those who knew how "ride the waves". Lighthouses had the coast to protect them from passing ships, but lightships were left unportected, susceptable to ramming by oceanliners traveling the busiest and most treacherous shipping lanes. In 1936, fog prevent the lightship Nantucket from being seen and the RMS Olympic (sister ship to the RMS Titanic) rammed her, sinking the ship immediately with a total loss of the lightship's crew.

In addition to the dangers of lightship service, crews had to endure conditions unheard of in the lighthouse service. Many lighthouse keepers lived a solitary life, but they still had interaction with the local community. Even when the lighthouse was located offshore, keepers were able to go into town for supplies. On a ligthship, the only interaction was among the crew itself. Much like navy tours of duty, crews were stationed on the lightships for months at a time with no means for going ashore. Additionally, the lightship's fog horns were so loud and constant that the crew had to wear ear protection or run the risk of going deaf.

Throughout the history of the United States Lighthouse Service and United States Coast Guard, more than 175 lightships were built. At any one time, 56 were stationed along the coasts and in the busiest shipping lanes where it was too deep or too dangerous to build a lighthouse. The Nantucket was the largest of these lightships at 1,050 tons almost 150 feet in length. During World War II, the Nantucket was removed from service as a lightship and pressed into military service as an examination vessel with a single three inch gun. Today, the Nantucket sits in Oyster Bay, New York, but it has been given an eviction notice from the city and faces the real possibility of being scrapped. Most lightships were scrapped when they were decommissioned. In the 1970s, lightships became obselete with the invention of the Texas Tower lighthouse station. Only a handful of lightships survive today, which serve a museums. The surviving lightships include:

• Ambrose - New York, New York


• Chesapeake - Baltimore, Maryland


• Columbia - Astoria, Oregon


• Huron - Port Huron, Michigan


• Nantucket - Osyter Bay, New York


• Overfalls - Lewes, Delaware


• Portsmouth - Portsmouth, Virginia


• Relief - Oakland, California


• Swiftsure - Seattle, Washington

Information for this article was taken from Mannino, Robert Jr. and Donald Whitehead. "S.O.S. for the Nantucket Lightship", Sea History no. 126, Spring 2009 ppg 12-15.