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The Lightship "Nantucket" by Benjamin S. Richmond, Curator.
THE ACQUISITION OF the lightship N a n t u c k e t , so that it now has become a part of our waterfront scene, is a story in itself. The facts are as follows: In May, 1975, the lightship was suddenly (for us) declared surplus by the General Services Administration and was up for grabs on a first come first served basis. Several hurried conferences of Town officials and the Historical Association ensued. We learned acquisition would have to be made by the Town as ownership could be transferred only to a tax sup ported organization. The Town has no funds to operate the ship so agreement was made to lease the ship to the Historical Association who would then underwrite expenses. All this was done with utmost speed and the Town then applied for the ship, only to learn we were too late. A group from Atlantic City had already acquired her. At that time, we learned the Lightship B o s t o n was available and it was offered to us. Research by Representative Gerry Studds' staff revealed this ship had never served on the Nantucket Station. Lengthy negotiations were then undertaken to swap the Boston for the Nantucket with the Atlantic City group. Agreement was reached on the condition the Boston be delivered to Atlantic City and we pay the shipyard bills they had incurred on the Nantucket. The Atlantic City group was unable to round up a crew competent to take the Boston from Boston to Atlantic City. An impasse occurred. After several weeks of attempts to get a crew without success Mike Todd agreed to get together a crew of Nantucketers to take the Boston to Atlantic City. This was done in July 1975. We then acquired the N a n t u c k e t . She was drydocked in Chelsea in November and had the bottom cleaned and painted. Mike Todd and his crew, plus a few others, brought the Nantucket from Chelsea to Nan tucket in December 1975. After months of delays the permits to dredge the area on the north side of Straight Wharf were received in July 1976. A steel bulkhead was installed and the dredging completed by mid-August. Mike Todd and his lightship crew, who proudly call themselves "the Dirty Dozen" moved the lightship to her permanent berth on Friday, August 13, 1976.
