| Lightship No. 114 | |
|---|---|
|
File:NewBedfordMA Lightship114.jpg Lightship 114 docked c. 1990 | |
| Career |  |
| Builder: | Albina Iron Works, Portland, Oregon |
| Completed: | 1930 |
| Out of service: | 1971 |
| Fate: | Scrapped May 2007 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 630 Tons |
| Length: | 133 ft 3 in (40.61 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m) |
| Installed power: | Diesel-electric 75 KW |
| Propulsion: |
350 hp (260 kW) electric motor 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) propeller |
| Speed: | 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) (avg) 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (max) |
Lightship No. 114 was a historic lightship at the State Pier in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Built in Portland, Oregon, she left Portland on 5 August 1930 for her first station at Fire Island, New York. She arrived on 20 September. Serving there until 1942, she was armed for war and placed into service as an examination vessel for the remainder of World War II. Her log reports how real the threat to shipping on the east coast was as the log mentions flares being spotted from a German U-boat.[Clarification needed]
Following the war, LV 114 was reassigned to Diamond Shoals off Cape Hatteras. She served there for two years before becoming a Relief lightship. For the next eleven years she served on relief duty until assigned to Pollock Rip[Clarification needed] station in 1958. When the Pollock Rip station was discontinued, LV 114 was moved north to Portland, Maine where she served for the final two years of her career. She was put out of service in 1971.
The Coast Guard originally planned to use LV 114 as a museum but those plans fell through. Instead, she was awarded to the city of New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1975. In 1976 the lightship received a cosmetic overhaul and played a starring role in the city's bicentennial celebrations. In 1990 LV 114 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, but little was done to preserve or promote her after the Bicentennial, and in 2006 she sank at her pier.
Shortly after her sinking, LV 114 was refloated and the city of New Bedford tried to auction the ship off. The starting bid was $25,000, but no one bid on the ship. Even after the city reduced the starting bid to $10,000 no one stepped forward to bid. After the failed attempts to sell the lightship, the city had historical artifacts removed from her, then placed the ship on eBay. After four days, the ship sold for $1,775 to Sea Roy Enterprises. The city however decided not to dispose of LV 114 for such a small amount. Eventually, Sea Roy Enterprises agreed in May, 2007 to pay the city $10,000 for the lightship. The following month she was broken up and her remains sold to salvage yards.[1]
References[]
- ↑ "Lightship New Bedford LV 114/WAL 536". Lighthousefriends.com. 23 May 2010. http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=617. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
- "Vessel Designation: LV 114/WAL 536". U.S. Coast Guard Lightships & Those of the U.S. Lighthouse Service. United States Coast Guard. http://www.uscg.mil/history/weblightships/LV114.asp. Retrieved 2012-10-05.
External links[]
- "Strange Life Of A Big Ship That Never Goes Anywhere". Bonnier Corporation. February 1931. p. 68. ISSN 0161-7370. http://books.google.com/books?id=3ScDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68.
The original article can be found at Lightship No. 114 and the edit history here.