Decker’s wheelhouse and aft cabin being lifted off the tug at Caddell Dry Dock and Repair in Staten Island. In addition to facilitating work on the superstructure, its removal will give access to the decking, which is also being restored. author George A. Matteson, will get the restoration of the tugboat W. O. Decker underway. Built in 1930 and given the name Russell 1, the Decker, renamed for Decker Towing Company’s William Oscar Decker, is the last working-order wooden New York tug. The overhaul will include removing and repairing the pilothouse, replacing the decking, and reinforcing the mooring bitts. Meanwhile, the City of New York has committed $4.5 million to stabilize and restore the Ambrose lightship, which lit the way for ships navigating in lower New York Bay from 1908 to 1932. (SSSM, 12 Fulton St., New York, NY; www.south streetseaportmuseum.org) ... The Maritime Museum of San Diego was also awarded a $200,000 Maritime Heritage Grant, for the restoration of the 1898 steam ferry Berkeley, which carried thousands of San Franciscans out of the city after the 1906 earthquake. Built by San Francisco’s Union Iron Works, the 279-foot Berkeley carried passengers between Oakland and San Francisco for 60 years. One of the last of its kind in existence, the 50
Steam Ferry Berkeley as she appeared in the early twentieth century. (below right) The ferry serves as the main hub of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, with the rest of the museum fleet moored to the ferry and floating docks surrounding it. ferry represents the transition to steampowered propulsion, with its triple-expansion engine. The vessel was notable for having been the first propeller-driven ferry on the west coast. The ferry was taken out of service in 1958 and was bought by the Maritime Museum of San Diego in 1973. The museum was awarded an America’s Treasures Grant for the Berkeley in 2001, which funded what was then a revolutionary preservation technique adapted from the offshore oil industry to coat the entire exposed outer surface of the hull with a ceramic/epoxy composite to eliminate further corrosion. This groundbreaking process proved successful, and subsequently has been used on other metal-hulled historic vessels in the museum’s fleet and on other ships throughout the United States. While the hull is thus in good shape, the ferry’s superstructure is an ongoing concern. “The entire superstructure is essentially a massive and ornate wooden building, not all that different from the showpiece Queen Anne Victorian buildings that grace the historic districts of many American cities.” The ship has been moored in her present location for more than thirty years, with its south side exposed to the cumulative effects of direct sunlight and weather, especially the southerly winds and rain typical of the region’s winter storms. The Maritime Heritage Grant provides the means to create a watertight, weatherproof, and much more durable structure for the Berkeley’s starboard side. The historic ferry’s role at the museum goes beyond its presence
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South Street Seaport Museum, which is celebrating its 50th year of operations and just last year welcomed back the square rigger Wavertree after a $13 million restoration and $4.5 million in adaptations to improve accessibility, has received funding for two more vessels in its historic fleet. A $200,000 Maritime Heritage Grant administered by the National Park Service, along with a $200,000 challenge grant from Tugboats of New York
as a maritime artifact; onboard are the museum’s offices, a major maritime research library, workshop, model shop, the museum store, special events venue with room for 800 guests, and numerous dry storage and archive areas. The grant program funds maritime heritage education and preservation projects throughout the country. Funding for Maritime Heritage Grants require a 1-to-1 match with non-federal assets from non-federal sources. The Maritime Museum of San Diego has been awarded three Maritime Heritage Grants in recent years. (MMSD, 492 North Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA; Ph. 619 234-9153; www.sdmaritime.org. Read about the Maritime Heritage Grants program on pages 14-17 of this issue, online at the NMHS website at www.seahistory.org, or through the National Park Service website at www.nps. gov/maritime/.) ... Award-winning artist Marc Castelli and the Naval Academy Sailing Foundation, Inc., have announced a sale of limited-edition, signed prints celebrating the Corinthian spirit of intercollegiate yacht racing, to support SEA HISTORY 161, WINTER 2017–18