Lightship Ambrose

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The Lightship Ambrose (LV87) is open to visitors at the South Street Seaport.

Lightship Ambrose was the name of the lightship serving as the sentinel beacon marking Ambrose Channel, the main shipping channel for New York Harbor. Originally stationed south of the channel off of Sandy Hook, NJ in 1823, it was relocated closer to the center of the Ambrose Channel in 1906, until the station was replaced by Ambrose Light, a Texas Tower, in 1967. Between 1823 and 1967, several ships were commissioned Lightship Ambrose and served at the station.

Sandy Hook (LV16)

A sail-schooner built of White oak 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.

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The Sandy Hook (LV 51) in the late 1890's

Two collisions were recorded during her time in service, the first in 1874 with the steamer Charleston, and the second in 1888 with the British bark Star of the East.

Sandy Hook (LV51)

Constructed in 1892 and powered by a steam engine, 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 barge on April 24, 1919 while relieving the Cornfield Point Lightship. As a result of this incident, Standard Oil would be forced to pay for the construction of LV111, which served as the Lightship Ambrose from 1932 to 1952.

Ambrose (LV 87)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
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Lightship Ambrose is located in New York City 7x7px
Location:	Manhattan, New York City, New York
Coordinates:	40°42′17.44″N 74°0′8.88″W
Built/Founded:	1907
Added to NRHP:	7 September 1984
Designated NHL:	11 April 1989
NRHP Reference#:	84002758

Lightship Ambrose (WLV 613)
Career (United States Coast Guard)
Name:	Lightship Ambrose (WLV 613)
Launched:	4 August 1952
Commissioned:	12 September 1952
Decommissioned:	20 December 1983
Fate:	Museum ship
General characteristics
Displacement:	130 tons
Length:	128 ft (39 m)
Beam:	30 ft (9.1 m)
Draft:	11 (3.3 m)
Propulsion:	Detroit - Quad, 550 Hp
Speed:	9 knots (17 km/h)

Ambrose (LV87)

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 Jersey. 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, 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.

Ambrose (LV111 / WAL 533)

The station was manned by LV111 from 1932 to 1952, a period of time encompassing all of World War II. 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 of 1935, she was rammed by the Grace Liner Santa Barbara, with both ships sustaining heavy damage. In January of 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.

Ambrose (WLV 613)

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 lightstation on 24 August 1967. She was reassigned as a relief ship on the Massachusetts coastline from 1967–75. And finally, after being renamed Nantucket II, she was reassigned to Nantucket Shoals, where she alternated with her sister ship, the Lightship Nantucket (WLV 612), relieving each other approximately every 21 days, until 1983. She is now privately owned, berthed on Main Street in Wareham, Massachusetts, closed to the public.

External links

• Media related to Lightship Ambrose at Wikimedia Commons
• 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

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