Lightship ''Ambrose'' was the name given to multiple

lightships A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is 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, the ...

that served as the sentinel beacon marking

Ambrose Channel Ambrose Channel is the only shipping channel in and out of the Port of New York and New Jersey. The channel is considered to be part of Lower New York Bay and is located several miles off the coasts of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and Breezy Point ...

New York Harbor New York Harbor is a bay that covers all of the Upper Bay. It is at the mouth of the Hudson River near the East River tidal estuary on the East Coast of the United States. New York Harbor is generally synonymous with Upper New York Bay, ...

's main shipping channel. The first lightstation was established south of the

off of

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, in 1823. From 1823 through 1967, several ships served the Ambrose Channel station; each was referred to as Lightship ''Ambrose'' and bore the station's name being painted on her side. In 1906, the lightship serving this station was relocated closer to the center of the Ambrose Channel. On 24 August 1967, the Ambrose station lightship was replaced by a Texas Tower, the

Ambrose Light Ambrose Light, often called Ambrose Tower, was the light station at the convergence of several major shipping lanes in Lower New York Bay, including Ambrose Channel, the primary passage for ships entering and departing the Port of New York a ...

United States Lightship LV-16 (''Sandy Hook'')

The first lightship on station in the Ambrose Channel was the ''Sandy Hook'', which marked its south edge for 37 years from 1854 to 1891. A

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

built of

white oak ''Quercus'' subgenus ''Quercus'' is one of the two subgenera into which the genus ''Quercus'' was divided in a 2017 classification (the other being subgenus ''Cerris''). It contains about 190 species divided among five sections. It may be calle ...

with copper and brass fastenings, she was assigned the number 16 in 1862. The ship was equipped with two

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

s, each with eight

oil lamp An oil lamp is a lamp used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and continues to this day, although their use is less common in modern times. The ...

s and reflectors, as well as a hand-rung bell for a

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

warning. A Thiers automatic

bilge pump A bilge pump is a water pump used to remove bilge water. Since fuel can be present in the bilge, electric bilge pumps are designed to not cause sparks. Electric bilge pumps are often fitted with float switches which turn on the pump when the bilg ...

, ventilator, and fog signal were installed in 1872, but the fog signal was found to be "unsatisfactory" and was removed. 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

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts of which the fore mast, mainmast, and any additional masts are Square rig, rigged square, and only the aftmost mast (mizzen in three-maste ...

''Star of the East''.

United States Lightship LV-51 (''Sandy Hook'')

Lightship ''Sandy Hook'' (LV-51) was built in 1892 and served the post from 1894 to 1908. She was renamed Ambrose Lightship in 1907. Pilots would deliver mail to the vessel. A

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

, she was the first U.S. lightship to have an all-

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

and fastenings, and the first to use electric lights; she was also the last ship to hold the post on the southern side of the channel, near Sandy Hook. After 1908, she was reassigned to relief duty. On 24 April 1919, she was rammed and sunk by a

Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...

barge while relieving the Cornfield Point Lightship (LV-14). As a result of this incident,

was forced to pay for the construction of LV111, which served as the Lightship ''Ambrose'' from 1932 to 1952.

United States Lightship LV-87 / WAL-512 (''Ambrose Channel / Ambrose'')

The Lightship ''Ambrose'' (LV87) was built 1908 and served her station until 1932, when she was reassigned to serve as the Lightship ''Scotland'' much closer to Sandy Hook. She was the first lightship to serve in the relocated position nearer the center of the channel, and in 1921 received the first

radio beacon In navigation, a radio beacon or radiobeacon is a kind of beacon, a device that marks a fixed location and allows direction finding, direction-finding equipment to find relative Bearing (navigation), bearing. But instead of employing visible lig ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, greatly assisting navigation of the congested channel in dense fog. She also was 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

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

, and in 1968, she was given to the

South Street Seaport Museum The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street (Manhattan), Fulton Street meets the East River, within the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial ...

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and moored at Pier 16 on the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

. In 1989, she was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

. and

United States Lightship LV-111 / WAL-533 (''Ambrose'')

Lightship ''Ambrose'' (LV111) staffed the station from 1932 to 1952, a period of time encompassing all of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She was the first

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

-powered ship to mark the Ambrose Channel. Although the station was active throughout World War II, ''Ambrose'' was never armed, but did gain a

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

in 1945. ''Ambrose'' was involved in a number of collisions. In September 1935, she was rammed by the Grace Liner ''Santa Barbara'', with both ships sustaining heavy damage. In January 1950, she was "brushed" in heavy fog by an unidentified vessel, suffering damage to her radio antenna and losing her spare

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

. Eleven weeks later, in March 1950, ''Santa Monica'', another Grace Line vessel, rammed ''Ambrose'' in a dense fog, rupturing her hull. She was later repaired, and redeployed to

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. Retired from lightship duty in 1969, she passed through several owners before being sold for scrap in 1984.

United States Lightship WLV-613 (''Ambrose'')

The Lightship Ambrose (WLV-613) was commissioned in 1952 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 Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

coastline from 1967 to 1975. After being renamed ''Relief'' (1967 to 1980) and then ''Nantucket II'' (1980 to 1983), she was reassigned to

Nantucket Shoals Nantucket Shoals is an area of dangerously shallow water in the Atlantic Ocean that extends from Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, eastward for and southeastward for ; in places water depth can be as shallow as . Depth soundings are unpredictable ...

. She alternated with her sister ship, the Lightship ''Nantucket'' (WLV-612), on station, relieving each other approximately every 21 days, and was retired in 1983 after 31 years of service. WLV-613 had various assignments following her retirement including use in

public relation Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

events and

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

missions. She was sold to New England Historic Seaport on 7 July 1984 and was present for the rededication ceremony for the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

in 1986. By 2006 she had been sold to the Wareham Steamship Corporation and was berthed on Main Street in Wareham, Massachusetts.

References

External links

U.S. Coast Guard
- Information on lightships {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrose Museum ships in New York (state) Lightship stations 1952 ships South Street Seaport