Lightships: Floating Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic

by Wayne Kirklin

Overview

Light boats, light vessels, lightships�before radar, depth-finders and satellite-guided navigation, mariners relied on floating lighthouses that lingered offshore as warning beacons in perilous waters.

Moored near shifting shoals and treacherous reefs, lightships remained on station during all weather conditions and played a vital role in keeping America�s waterways safe for navigation. From 1820 to 1985, light vessels warned of treacherous seas and pointed the way to safe harbors. In Lightships, author Wayne Kirklin chronicles the eighty-five ships that protected the mid-Atlantic coast and the heyday of these special craft. From New York Harbor to the southernmost edge of North Carolina�s notorious Cape Fear, Kirklin details the unsung role this fleet played in keeping America�s merchant marines safe. Read Lightships to discover a forgotten but vital element of American maritime history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781625844293
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	09/30/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

A well-known resident around Lewes, Delaware, Wayne Kirklin has spent the last fifty years writing for magazines and newspapers and has spent the last thirty years offering presentations on a wide selection of topics, particularly on his passion for the history of boating and lightships. Spending more than twenty years working and teaching in both New England and Ohio, Kirklin returned to Delaware in 2001 to serve as Associate Historian for the Overfalls Maritime Museum Foundation in Lewes.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements     9
Introduction     11
Inside Lightships-Delaware River     21
Inside Lightships-Chesapeake Bay     30
Inside Lightships-North Carolina Sounds     40
The Ships     45
Outside Lightships-New York Harbor     59
Outside Lightships-Mid-Atlantic     72
Crew Lite     87
Outside Lightships-Going South     98
The End of an Era     109
Lightship Stations and the Ships That Served Them     117
Bibliography     123
About the Author     127