Chesapeake Lightship
The lightship Chesapeake received a little TLC from Chapter and Museum volunteers on September 7th. There were five volunteers total – three Chapter and two additional volunteers and based on the report provided they accomplished quite a bit.
As you probably know, maintenance is a never-ending task on any maritime structure and this is true of lightships sitting at dock or on site. The ship was launched on October 22, 1930 and decommissioned in 1971. She was handed over to the City of Baltimore in 1982 and became part of the museum in 1988 and tourists have been visiting her ever since. As volunteers returned many of the tasks will seem very familiar to those of us who have volunteered over the years that the Chapter has been working with the museum. On this work day those tasks included scraping, priming and electrical work.
Some of the scraping was done on portions of the handrail that were showing some wear. Due to a light rain volunteers were only able to do the scrapping and chipping. They were unable to apply a coat of primer – which will come later when the weather permits.
Volunteers prepared a display item by removing rust and peeling paint from an oxygen bottle topside and they were in this case, able to apply a coat of primer. The museum needs to get the correct color of paint for the final coat. It will then be stenciled with “Empty, For Display Only” so visitors will know it is for educational purposes only.
The Brass alarm bell and phone buzzer button cover were installed in the engine room control area. And speaking of Brass – the pilot house Brass was given a nice shine. It has been many many years since we have done that.
The electrical work included the following:
- The electrical relays were removed from some old Battle Lantern Relay Boxes and then stored as spares for use later if they are needed. The empty boxes are being sent to another museum for their use.
- A light fixture junction box was mounted and the wiring installed. However the fixture itself is not assembles so a blank cover was installed.
- The wires for the aft deck lights were then wired up to the new junction box.
- Once AC plug inside a display cabinet was installed and now works when using a switch outside the case.
Looks like the volunteers had a busy day up at the lightship.
Chapter Volunteers:
Heidi Moser
Robert Stein
Greg Krawczyk
