Behind the fast new destroyer Eugene A. G reene, Liberty ships ride at anchor in New York waiting to transport munitions, supplies and men to the battlefields ofAfrica, Europe and Russia. (National A rchives, courtesy Intrepid SeaA ir-Space Museum) chants and officials in Manh attan. The ships will sweep past the Ambrose Light Tower marking the beginning of th e Ambrose Channel, New York's sixteenmile main ship channel, dredged in 1900 to a depth of 45 feet and a width of two thousand feet. The channel is nam ed for Iri sh-born civil engineer John Wolf Ambrose, its tireless advocate. For yea rs the Ambrose Lightship marked the harbor entrance. Today you can go aboard the original Ambrose Lightship at the South Street Seaport Museum in Manhattan. Pass ing between Sandy Hook, N ew Jersey, and Rockaway Point, N ew York, the tall ships will enter the Lower Bay. Earl y arrivals will anchor in Rariran Bay, in th e lee of Sandy Hook, where the Raritan River flows into the harbor. On th e Fourth, the ships will steer up the chann el, passing Norton Point Light on the tip of Co ney Island to starboard. Here, during W o rld W ar II, a 40mm battery guarded th e N a rrows from enemy motor torpedo boats. Pas t Coney Island and Gravese nd Bay, the ships enter the Narrows, today clearly id entified by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, compl eted in 1965. For years defense interests opposed a bridge spannin g the N arrows, fearing that a potenti al enemy might drop rhe bridge, blocking rhe N arrows and bottling up shipping in rhe Upper Bay. C rossing under rhe bridge, rhe call ships will co me to the spot where, in 1524, Italian navigator Giovanni da Verraza no became rh e first European sailor to glimpse rh e magnificent, sheltered waters of N ew York's Opper Bay. The ships will pass between the twin guardi ans of the N ar-
SEA HISTORY 93 , SUMMER 2000
rows, Fort H amilton , Broo klyn, to starboard, and Fo rt Wadswo rth, Sraren Island, to port. Here, during both Wo rld Wars, an anti-submarine net and anti- motor-torpedo-boar boom stretched across the Na rrows. High atop Fo rt H amil ton 's Battery Tompkins, rhe H arbo r Entrance Co ntrol Post monitored rhe arrival and departure of World W ar II co nvoys. T oday visitors can tour Fort W adswo rth , as well as Fo rt Hancock on rhe rip of Sandy H ook.
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the war began at the sea buoy. " Above rhe N arrows, rh e ships w ill sail pas t photographer Ali ce Austen's co ttage and the nearby headquarters of the New York and N ew Jersey Sandy H ook Pilots Association . Fro m here, Ali ce reco rded rhe life of the harbo r wirh her cumbersome box camera ar rhe turn of rhe century. T he Sandy Hook Pilo ts, organized in the 1600s, have been guidin g ships safely in and ourof N ew York ever sin ce. Th eir swift pilot boats are a common sight in rhe Lower Bay as they race our to rendezvous with inbound ships. Farther alo ng the Staten Island shore is rhe Saint Geo rge ferry terminal, Staten Island terminus of rhe famed Staten Island Ferry. Ferry service between M anhattan and Staten Island was established in the early 19 th century by the future "Commodore" Cornelius V anderbilc and has continued uninterrupted ever since.
Ir is still , fo r my mon ey, th e bes t bargain in New Yo rk. Beyo nd Saint George lies Robbins Reef Li ght at the entrance of the Kill van Kull. H ere, for a generatio n, legendary lightho use keeper M argaret Walker never failed to li ght rhe light. T oday huge contain er ships pass up th e Kill van Kull bound for th e co ntain er centers of Pon Newark and Po rt Eliza beth. On rhe way they pass the magnifi cent tree-shaded cam pus of the Snug H arbor C ultu ral Center, once Sailo r's Snug H arbo r, Captain Randall's great charitable fo undatio n rhar provided a retirement home fo r generatio ns o f indigent seamen. Today, rhe C ultural Center houses a number of museums including T he John A. Noble Coll ectio n, which interprets rhe history of N ew Yo rk harbor through rhe work of artist and lithographer John Noble. For yea rs, N oble prowled rhe port's nooks and crannies in his rowboat, then returned to his houseboat/studio to record , in m ovin g images, rhe last days of sail and the conrin uing life of the wo rking port he loved. Far across rhe Upper Bay, sailors and spectators will be able to make our rhe outlin es of rhe Brooklyn Army T erminal , headquarters of rhe N ew York Port of Embarkation during World War II. The larges t wareho use in rhe world when com pleted in 19 18, rhe terminal held over rhree milli o n square feet of storage and room to unload 45 0 railroad freight cars and transfer their contents to waiting ships. From here rhe ships delivered armored ve hicl es and viral supplies to Allied forces in North Africa. Now rhe tall ships will pass New York 11