Lightship Ambrose
Encyclopedia
Lightvessel
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction...
that served as the sentinel beacon marking Ambrose Channel
Ambrose Channel
Ambrose Channel is the main shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The channel is considered to be part of Lower New York Bay and is located several miles off the coasts of Sandy Hook in New Jersey and Breezy Point, Queens in New York...
which is the main shipping channel for New York Harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
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The first lightstation was established south of the Ambrose Channel off of Sandy Hook, NJ in 1823. From 1823 through 1967 several ships served the Ambrose Channel station and were referred to as Lightship Ambrose due to the stations name being painted on the side of the ship. The lighship serving this station was relocated closer to the center of the Ambrose Channel
Ambrose Channel
Ambrose Channel is the main shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The channel is considered to be part of Lower New York Bay and is located several miles off the coasts of Sandy Hook in New Jersey and Breezy Point, Queens in New York...
in 1906. On 24 August 1967 the Ambrose station lightship was replaced by a Texas Tower
Texas Tower (lighthouse)
A Texas Tower lighthouse is a structure, similar to an off-shore oil platform, used as a platform for a lighthouse.-Examples:The first example in the United States was the Buzzards Bay Light, located in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, and commissioned on November 1, 1961...
, the Ambrose Light
Ambrose Light
Ambrose Light, often called Ambrose Tower, was a light station at the convergence of several major shipping lanes in Lower New York Bay, including Ambrose Channel, the primary passage for ships entering and departing the Port of New York and New Jersey....
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Sandy Hook (LV16)
A sail-schoonerSchooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
built of White oak
White oak
Quercus alba, the white oak, is one of the pre-eminent hardwoods of eastern North America. It is a long-lived oak of the Fagaceae family, native to eastern North America and found from southern Quebec west to eastern Minnesota and south to northern Florida and eastern Texas. Specimens have been...
with copper and brass fastenings, the Sandy Hook marked the south edge of the Ambrose Channel for 37 years, from 1854 to 1891. Equipped with 2 lanterns, each with 8 oil lamps and reflectors, she was also equipped with a hand rung bell for a fog warning. A Thiers automatic bilge pump, ventilator, and fog signal were installed in 1872, however the fog signal was found to be "unsatisfactory" and was removed. She was assigned the number 16 in 1862, prior to which she was known simply as the Sandy Hook.
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
Charleston, and the second in 1888 with the British bark
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
Star of the East.
Sandy Hook (LV51)
Constructed in 1892 and powered by a steam engineSteam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
, she would serve post from 1894 to 1908. This would be the first US lightvessel to have an all-steel hull and fastenings, as well as the first to use electric lights. This would be the last ship to hold the southerly post on the southern side of the channel, near Sandy Hook. After 1908 she was reassigned to relief duty, and would be rammed and sunk by a Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
barge on April 24, 1919 while relieving the Cornfield Point Lightship. As a result of this incident, Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
would be forced to pay for the construction of LV111, which served as the Lightship Ambrose from 1932 to 1952.
United States Lightship LV-87 (Ambrose)
The Lightship Ambrose (LV87), built 1908, served her station until 1932 when she was reassigned to serve as the Lightship Scotland, a station much closer to Sandy Hook, New JerseySandy Hook, New Jersey
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit, approximately 6.0 miles in length and varying between 0.10 and 1 miles wide in Middletown Township in Monmouth County, along the Atlantic Ocean coast of eastern New Jersey in the United States. The barrier spit encloses the southern entrance of Lower New York Bay...
. She would be the first lightship to serve in the relocated position nearer the center of the channel, and in 1921 would receive the first radio beacon in either the channel or the US, greatly assisting navigation of the congested channel in dense fog. She would also be the last steam-powered vessel to hold this post. She moved around to various stations, but has kept the name of her most famous station, Ambrose.
In 1964, she was retired from the Coast Guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
, and in 1968, she was given to the South Street Seaport Museum in Lower Manhattan, and moored at Pier 16 on the East River. In 1989, the lightship was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
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United States Lightship LV111 / WAL 533 (Ambrose)
The station was manned by LV111 from 1932 to 1952, a period of time encompassing all of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. This would be the first diesel powered ship to mark the Ambrose Channel. Although the station was active throughout World War II, the Ambrose was never armed , but did gain a radar in 1945.
The Ambrose was involved in a number of collisions during this time. In September 1935, she was rammed by the Grace Liner Santa Barbara, with both ships sustaining heavy damage. In January 1950, it was "brushed" in heavy fog by an unidentified vessel, suffering damage to the radio antenna and losing her spare anchor. Eleven weeks later in March the Santa Monica, another Grace Line vessel, rammed the Ambrose in a dense fog, rupturing her hull. She was later repaired, and redeployed to Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
. Retired from lightship duty in 1969, she passed through several owners before being sold for scrap in 1984.
United States Lightship WLV 613 (Ambrose)
In 1952, the Lightship Ambrose (WLV 613) was commissioned and became the last lightship to mark the Ambrose Channel when she was replaced by a Texas Tower lightstationTexas Tower (lighthouse)
A Texas Tower lighthouse is a structure, similar to an off-shore oil platform, used as a platform for a lighthouse.-Examples:The first example in the United States was the Buzzards Bay Light, located in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, and commissioned on November 1, 1961...
on 24 August 1967. She was reassigned as a relief ship on the Massachusetts coastline from 1967–75. After being renamed Nantucket II she was reassigned to Nantucket Shoals. She alternated with her sister ship, the Lightship Nantucket
Lightship Nantucket
The Lightship Nantucket station was the name given to the lightvessel which marked the hazardous Nantucket Shoals in Massachusetts. Several ships have been commissioned and served at the Nantucket Shoals lightship station and have been called Nantucket...
(WLV 612), on station relieving each other approximately every 21 days and was retired in 1983 after 31 years of service. WLV 613 had various assignments following her retirement including being used for public relation events and law enforcement missions. She was sold to New England Historic Seaport on 7 July 1984 and was present for the rededication ceremony for the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
in 1986. By 2006 she was sold to the Wareham Steamship Corporation and was berthed on Main Street in Wareham, Massachusetts
Wareham, Massachusetts
Wareham is a town located in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 20,335, with an estimated 2008 population of 21,221....
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External links
- South Street Seaport Museum - Current location of the Lightship Ambrose (LV87)
- South Street Seaport Interactive Map
- Ambrose Lightship at Nightbeacon.com
- U.S. Coast Guard - Information on lightships
- Last of the Lightships: Ambrose
- Info and reviews of book "Lightship" featuring AMBROSE