Lightship Ambrose at South Street Seaport

Ambrose Light marks the entrance to Ambrose Channel, which is the main shipping channel through Lower New York Bay.

South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton Street
New York City, NY 10038
212.748.8786

For almost two centuries, ships bringing cargo and passengers from Europe to the United States have been guided into the Port of New York by a lightstation marking the entrance to Ambrose Channel, which is the primary passage to New York Harbor. Boats followed the “great circle” routes across the North Atlantic, passing near Newfoundland and the coast of Nova Scotia, rounding Cape Cod and heading for Montauk Point at the eastern tip of Long Island. Having reached the home stretch, they set a course roughly parallel with the south shore of Long Island, aiming for the Lightship Ambrose.

In fact, several ships have been commissioned Lightship Ambrose and served at this station, starting in 1823. The South Street Seaport Museum’s Lightship Ambrose was built in 1908 and served until 1963, guiding ships safely into the broad mouth of Lower New York Bay. The lightstation was between Coney Island, New York and Sandy Hook, New Jersey; an area filled with sand bars and shoals invisible to approaching vessels. While a lighthouse is normally used for this purpose, the water at this location was too deep, and the bottom was too soft, so a floating alternative was needed.

The last lightship stationed at the entrance to Ambrose Channel was replaced in 1965 by Ambrose Light, a tower which was built on four tall legs anchored to the sea bottom, and which could be seen at a distance of 18 miles. In addition to its primary function as a beacon, Ambrose Tower was a staging point for pilot boats. Harbor pilots are experts in navigating ships through the dangerous approach to dry land; New York Harbor pilots guide ships past Staten Island and through Upper New York Bay. Pilots boarded at Ambrose Light and steered vessels through Ambrose Channel towards Staten Island, guided by lighted buoys which line both sides of the channel. As ships approach Staten Island the buoys guide pilots through the Verrazano Narrows and into Upper New York Bay.

Replacing a ship with a tower was progress, but progress is not synonymous with perfection. In 1996 a Greek oil tanker struck the tower, causing the old structure to be razed and replaced with a new tower. In 2001 a Maltese freighter struck the new tower, which survived the incident. In 2007, the 799-foot tanker Axel Spirit struck Ambrose Light, and, as they say in baseball, three strikes and you’re out. The Coast Guard determined that a tower was no longer needed, given recent advances in electronic navigation and taking into consideration new LED technology that was installed in the series of buoys mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Lightship Ambrose is on exhibit at the South Street Seaport Museum, which boasts of being home to the nation’s largest fleet of privately maintained historic vessels. You can board the ship and walk around above board and tour the lower deck. On the lower deck there are a good set of interpretive signs which explain maritime history as it relates to the lightship and which help you to understand the purpose of each compartment. You’re allowed to take photographs and I did so; following are some of the more interesting ones.

The Ambrose is docked at Pier 17, which is part of the South Street Seaport complex.

This is not part of a chain of electronics stores, but it is a radio shack. The crew used radio to communicate with the shore and with other ships, to report weather conditions, the arrivals and departures of ships, and to send distress signals. The Ambrose received her first radio during World War I; this radio shack was built when the vessel’s deck layout was altered in the 1930s.

All food for the crew was prepared in this galley. The stove originally burned coal and was later converted to oil. The rectangular grid fixed to the stove top prevented pots from sliding off when the ship rolled. The cook grabbed the wooden rail visible at the upper-right to keep his balance in rough weather.

The large piece of machinery filling this room is the ship’s windlass, used to haul up, or weigh the anchor. This windlass was originally powered by steam, and later by compressed air. If the system failed, the crew could operate the windlass by hand. The anchor chain was hauled in through chocks at the forward end of this space, passed over the windlass and sent down through the deck to be stored below.