PORTSMOUTH, Va. - I recently got a behind-the-scenes tour of the Lightship Portsmouth Museum and got a history lesson from the Curator of History at Portsmouth Museums and Tourism, Michael Hogan.
"A lightship essentially functions as a lighthouse in a place where it's too difficult to build the lighthouse itself," says Hogan.
Built in 1915, this ship was stationed along the coast of Virginia, Delaware, and Massachusetts before being decommissioned and moved to Portsmouth in 1964.
On top of the tall center mast is a light, shining 24/7 to alert boaters of the rocks or shoal in the area.
"The reason that the lens is unique is because it's all of these different angle mirrors that help magnify the light for a greater distance," says Hogan.
Can you imagine having to climb up that mast to do maintenance on the lens while the ship is bobbing in the water? Some good news: the mast is hollow, so you climb up on the inside.
"The idea of the hollow mast is that provides sort of an external protection against the elements, and it would allow the person to go more comfortably and work on the Fresnel lens itself," says Hogan.
There would have been 15 crew members on the ship for 30 days at a time. The senior enlisted had better living quarters with a bathroom and sink. The junior enlisted were crammed in, six to a room.
Hogan says, "It is one of the few museums that looks exactly as it would have looked when it was in operation. It gives you a real sense of what the experience on the ship would have been like."
The Lightship Portsmouth Museum is located along Water Street. The museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
