Lightship Nantucket

Coordinates: 40°37′02″N 69°37′06″W / 40.61722°N 69.61833°W / 40.61722; -69.61833

The Lightship Nantucket or Nantucket Shoals was the name given to the lightvessel that marked the hazardous Nantucket Shoals south of Nantucket Island. Several ships have been commissioned and served at the Nantucket Shoals lightship station and have been called Nantucket. It was common for a lightship to be reassigned and then renamed for its new station.

The Nantucket station was a significant US lightship station for transatlantic voyages. Established in 1854, the station marked the limits of the dangerous Nantucket Shoals. She was the last lightship seen by vessels departing the United States, as well as the first beacon seen on approach. The position was 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Nantucket Island, the farthest lightship in North America, and experienced clockwise rotary tidal currents.

History

Lightships and their crews were exposed to many dangers. In addition to the obvious hazards posed by the weather and sea conditions, vessels marking shipping lanes on occasion were struck by the very traffic they existed to protect. Ships would home on their radio beacons at night and in fog, but were expected to post lookouts and to turn away in time.

Nantucket

Nantucket /ˌnænˈtʌkᵻt/ is an island 30 miles (50 km) south of Cape Cod, in the American state of Massachusetts. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the Town of Nantucket, and the conterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,172, making it the least-populous county in Massachusetts. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket CDP, or census-designated place. The region of Surfside on Nantucket is the southernmost settlement in Massachusetts.

The name, Nantucket, is adapted from similar Algonquian names for the island, perhaps meaning "faraway land or island".

Nantucket is a tourist destination and summer colony. The population of the island increases to about 50,000 during the summer months, due to tourists and seasonal residents. In 2008, Forbes magazine cited Nantucket as having home values among the highest in the US. Home prices per square foot are considered much higher than those in the Hamptons on Long Island

United States lightship Nantucket (LV-112)

United States lightship Nantucket (LV-112), also known as Lightship No. 112, Nantucket, is a National Historic Landmark lightship that served at the Lightship Nantucket position. She was the last serving lightship and at time of its application as a landmark, one of only two capable of moving under their own power. She served as the lightship for such notable vessels as SS United States, RMS Queen Mary, and SS Normandie.

History

Her $300,000 cost, greater than that of any predecessor, was paid for by the White Star Line in compensation for the collision and sinking of United States lightship LV-117 at the Lightship Nantucket position by RMS Olympic, a sister ship to RMS Titanic. Seven of the eleven crew aboard the lightship were killed. LV-112, the permanent replacement, was built to be indestructible, and outlasted all others, serving until 1983.

She was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989. At that time, the ship was located at the Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute Pier in South Portland, Maine, but touring along the New England Coast. An organization was seeking a permanent home for her in Portland, Maine.

Nantucket (album)

Nantucket is the debut release by North Carolina music group, Nantucket. It includes the hit single "Heartbreaker", which helped this album make the Billboard charts and sell around 200,000 copies. Other featured songs include "She's No Good", "Born in a Honky Tonk", "Girl, You Blew a Good Thing" and "Quite Like You". Norton Buffalo from the Steve Miller Band has a harp (harmonica) solo on the song "Never Gonna Take Your Lies". Nantucket was released on compact disc by re-issue label Wounded Bird Records in 2003.

Track listing

Personnel