AsIDP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS
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SS Lane Victory, a fully operational World War II cargo ship, is preparing for her 14th year of cruises off Catalina Island. The ship carries full wartime armament, which was made complete in 2002 with a pre-fab forward gun rub to replace the original that had been removed after the war. Each cruise remembers a
specific ship and its crew of civilian Merchant Marine and US Naval Armed Guard lost at sea in wartime. Onboard are rwo museums: one displays more than thirty models of merchant ships of the WWII era; the other displays the large triple-expansion engine used in the movie, The Sand Pebbles. Lane Victory is a veteran of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. (SS Lane Victory, PO Box 629, San Pedro, CA 90733; Ph. 310 519-9545; e-mail: sslanevicrory@juno.com; www.lanevictory.org) . . . Looking to get more maritime history taught in your schoolsi' The Columbia River Maritime Museum offers their "Museum in a Trunk" to teachers to use in their classrooms. Five different themed trunks, loaded with maritime material culture, are available for classroom use, loaned for one-month periods. Themes are: "Captain's Gray's Sea Chest", "Lighthouses," "Many Distant Lands," which studies the cultures that shaped the Pacific Northwest, "Buoys, Bearings and Beacons," and "Storm Warning! " (1792 Maritime Dr. , Astoria, OR 97103; Education Director: Ph. 503 325-2323; e-mail: ellerbroek@crmm.org; www.crmm.org). Many other maritime museums offer similar materials for schools. The Erie Maritime Museum lends out a packed seabag, for example. Call your local maritime museum's education department and ask what materials they might have available. (Erie Maritime Museum, 150 East From Street., Suire 100, Erie, PA. 16507; Ph. 814 4522744 ext. 214., www.brigniagara.org) ... The Great Lakes Historical Society has SEA HISTORY 113, WINTER 2005-2006
SPUN YARN announced a proposal to build a new maritime museum on the Black River in the Port of Lorain Resort in Ohio. The new museum will feature a mix of cutting edge technology and artifacts. The new 40,000+ sq. fr. museum will replace the Society's current facility in Vermilion, Ohio. The new museum will also have docking space for tall ships and other touring maritime attractions. They plan to raise the needed funds over the next five years. (Great Lakes Historical Society, Inland Seas Maritime Museum, 480 Main Sr., POB 435, Vermilion, Ohio 44089; email: glhs l@inlandseas.org; www.inlandseas.org) • • • Persons with a current Maryland drivers license and a vehicle registered in the state can buy the new Calvert Marine Museum license plates. Funds from plate sales will go towards the preservation of the Cove Point Lighthouse. Cove Point Lighthouse was
CO U RTESY CA LVERT M AR INE MUSEUM
built in 1828. In 1857 a fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed with a weight driven rotation mechanism, and in 1928 the light was converted from kerosene to electricity. In 1969 its air-powered horn was replaced with an electric diaphone signal that could be heard for a distance of rwo
Cove Point Lighthouse
miles. By August 1986, Cove Point Lighthouse was officially automated. The new equipment included a fog detector to turn on the horn when visibility dropped below three miles, a lamp-changer in the lantern to change burned out lamps, and a computer to monitor everything-all controlled from Baltimore. Plates are available for $45 and can be ordered by mailing or
faxing the form , which you can download from their web sire. Send the form to: Calvert Marine Museum, c/o Lee Ann Wright - License Plate, POB 97, Solomons, MD 20688; Ph. 410 326-2042 ext. 17; POB 97, Solomons, MD 20688; e-mail: mccormmj @co.cal.md.us; www.calvertmarinemuseum.com/auction) ... A lot has been happening with the National Lighthouse Museum project on Staten Island over the past year. In January, Jerry Roberts left his position as Vice President in charge of exhibits at the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum in New York City to rake the helm at the NLM . Committing his efforts to turning the fare of the project around, he brought with him the New York Harbor Tugboat Challenge, which he had created in 1992. The event has become a major Labor Day weekend tradition; this year it was held under the NLM banner for the first time. Sixteen rugs participated, and over $25,000 was raised for Hurricane Katrina relief. Meanwhile the museum's historic Nantucket Lightship, LV-112, in Oyster Bay, Long Island, is undergoing renovations and was opened to the public as part of this year's Oyster Festival. Eventually, the museum hopes to operate the ship as a seagoing educational outreach vessel, bringing maritime heritage and lighthouse history to ports up and down the eastern seaboard. The NLM chose what was once the nation's largest lighthouse depot, supplying much of the east coast with lenses, training, research, and development, for the proposed museum in 1987 through a national competition. The big news is that NYC's Economic Development Corp. has released an RFP for developers to submit plans to use part of the ten-acre sire to support the museum. Income generated from the private use of portions of it will support the public use of the rest of the site, as represented by the national lighthouse museum. Funding problems have plagued the project, bur with new leadership the effort is moving forward. (www.lighrhousemuseum. org) . . • The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race went on this year, despite the passing of its founder, Captain Lane Briggs, in September (see his obituary, page 8). This year, his famous 'rugantine' Norfolk Rebel sailed under the command 35