Chesapeake
Across this arm of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, we could see the Chesapeake, a U.S. Coast Guard lightship launched in 1930 that spent most its career parked in the middle of Chesapeake Bay. The masts each have big lanterns at the top, making this a floating lighthouse.
This was one of several lightships that operated along the East Coast in places where somebody might have wanted to build a lighthouse if a sand bar had been handy. This lightship's job was to go park itself in the middle of the bay, drop anchor, and stay put, shining its light so the cargo ships could keep track of where they were and where the bay was. It had a 5,000-pound anchor to keep it in place. If a storm came up and broke the chain, it had another 5,000-pound anchor it could drop as a backup. If that chain broke, it could use its engines to stay in place. If the engines broke, the ship was probably going to sink, and the crew had other things to worry about besides what the cargo ships might hit.
The Chesapeake stayed in service until 1970, when she was decommissioned and replaced by a big buoy. The ship was handed over to the National Park Service for a while, then leased out in 1981 to the Baltimore Maritime Museum to serve as a museum ship. There are several other museum lightships floating around (Doug has posted pictures of a couple, including this one), but this is the first one I've ever seen.
Behind the Chesapeake, you can see what's left of the coal-fired Pratt Street Power Plant, which had been built in 1900 to power several lines of electric streetcars. It was decommissioned in 1973 and eventually turned into a little mall. There's a Hard Rock Cafe in there. I've never been to a Hard Rock Cafe.
Chesapeake
Across this arm of Baltimore's Inner Harbor, we could see the Chesapeake, a U.S. Coast Guard lightship launched in 1930 that spent most its career parked in the middle of Chesapeake Bay. The masts each have big lanterns at the top, making this a floating lighthouse.
This was one of several lightships that operated along the East Coast in places where somebody might have wanted to build a lighthouse if a sand bar had been handy. This lightship's job was to go park itself in the middle of the bay, drop anchor, and stay put, shining its light so the cargo ships could keep track of where they were and where the bay was. It had a 5,000-pound anchor to keep it in place. If a storm came up and broke the chain, it had another 5,000-pound anchor it could drop as a backup. If that chain broke, it could use its engines to stay in place. If the engines broke, the ship was probably going to sink, and the crew had other things to worry about besides what the cargo ships might hit.
The Chesapeake stayed in service until 1970, when she was decommissioned and replaced by a big buoy. The ship was handed over to the National Park Service for a while, then leased out in 1981 to the Baltimore Maritime Museum to serve as a museum ship. There are several other museum lightships floating around (Doug has posted pictures of a couple, including this one), but this is the first one I've ever seen.
Behind the Chesapeake, you can see what's left of the coal-fired Pratt Street Power Plant, which had been built in 1900 to power several lines of electric streetcars. It was decommissioned in 1973 and eventually turned into a little mall. There's a Hard Rock Cafe in there. I've never been to a Hard Rock Cafe.