''Frying Pan'' (LV-115) is a

lightvessel 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 ...

moored at Pier 66a in the Chelsea neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

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 ...

. It served at Frying Pan Shoals, off Cape Fear in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, for over 30 years.

Frying Pan Shoals station

In 1854, because of complaints from mariners that the height of the existing Bald Head Lighthouse was inadequate, and the light of its third-order

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens (optics), lens which reduces the amount of material required compared to a conventional lens by dividing the lens into a set of concentric annular sections. The simpler Dioptrics, d ...

was not bright enough to warn mariners of the shallow waters of the treacherous Frying Pan Shoals off the coast of Cape Fear in

, United States, the first lightship was stationed on the shoals, in lieu of a proposal to improve Bald Point Lighthouse. The Bald Point lighthouse, and others, were turned off during the Civil War to avoid aiding the Northern ships. Lightships remained on station for 110 years. On July 29, 1944, Lieutenant (jg)

Clarence Samuels Lieutenant Junior Grade Clarence Samuels (June 11, 1900 – April 4, 1983), was the first Hispanic and Latino Americans, Hispanic American of African descent photographer in the United States Coast Guard, to command a cutter, as well as the first o ...

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

, became the first Hispanic-American of African descent to command a lightship when he assumed command of ''Frying Pan''. The ship was replaced by a lighttower in 1964. The lighttower, a Texas tower, was manned until 1979, is known as a diving spot and still stands. ''Frying Pan'' was the last of nine ships that served in succession, with some alternation, at the Frying Pan Shoals station during and since the American Civil War.

Construction and features

LV-115 was built in 1929–1930 by Charleston Drydock & Machine Co. for a contract price of $274,434., includes photos of the sinking in progress, and a description of its history The keel was laid January 30, 1929 with launch on August 30 and delivery on April 8, 1930. In addition to the light, horn and manually operated bell the vessel was equipped with radio, radio-beacon and submarine signal bell when built.

Service

''Frying Pan'' served at Frying Pan Shoals from 1930 to 1942, and again from 1945 to 1964. During World War II the ship was used as an examination vessel, as part of training. ''Frying Pan'' was retired from duty at Frying Pan Shoals in 1964. It served briefly as a relief ship at

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

, New Jersey, and then was decommissioned in 1965. The ship sank in 1986. It was raised in 1987, then resold and eventually restoration began in 1988. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1999. ''Frying Pan'' is one of about 13 surviving American lightships, out of about 100 built. Four other lightships, ''

Ambrose Ambrose of Milan (; 4 April 397), venerated as Saint Ambrose, was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promoting Roman Christianity against Ari ...

'' at South Street Seaport, ''

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

'' at Oyster Bay, Long Island, '' Chesapeake'' at Baltimore Inner Harbor and '' Swiftsure'' at Northwest Seaport became National Historic Landmarks and are open to the public as

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

Party ship

''Frying Pan'' can be rented for events and functions. It became known as a party site in New York.

References

External links

Welcome Aboard the Lightship "Frying Pan"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frying Pan National Register of Historic Places in New York City Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Lightships of the United States Ships of the United States Lighthouse Service Chelsea, Manhattan Museum ships in New York City 1929 ships Floating restaurants