The United States Lightship WLV-613 was a
lightvessel
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, t ...
commissioned in 1952 that became the last lightship to mark the
Ambrose Channel. She was replaced by a
Texas Tower lightstation on 24 August 1967.
[Lightships are given numbers that serve as names, often serving many light stations. When assigned to a station other than with relief duty the name of the station is painted on the vessel's hull for easy identification of the place being marked. They become that station's lightship as in "Ambrose lightship" but the vessels are not renamed. In this case ''WLV-613'' became the Ambrose lightship and then one of the Nantucket lightships.]
The ''WLV-613'' was reassigned as a relief ship on the Massachusetts coastline from 1967–79. After being assigned in 1979 to Nantucket Shoals the lightship alternated with her sister ship, the
Lightship ''WLV-612'', relieving each other approximately every 21 days as the Nantucket lightship. The ''WLV-613'' was also the last lightship to mark the Nantucket channel on 20 December 1983. She was decommissioned and retired in 1983.
''WLV-613'' was berthed at the Wareham Shipyard along Main Street in
Wareham, Massachusetts
Wareham ( ) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 23,303.
History
Wareham was first settled in 1678 by Europeans as part of the towns of Plymouth and Rochester. It was ...
from about 1990 until she was moved to New
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
on December 1, 2014. The vessel (now painted as "NANTUCKET") is now privately owned by
William B. Golden and Kristen Golden, owners of ''WLV-612'' that also served as the
Nantucket station lightship. Currently, she is located in
New Bedford, MA
New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...
but closed to the public.
Footnotes
References
External links
Lightship Nantucket II WLV 613, MA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nantucket II (WLV-613)
1952 ships
Lightships of the United States
Museum ships in Massachusetts