Local History

Lightships on the Lurcher

From: Bill Day

To: MSRNA members at large

Before the era of navigation by global positioning systems, mariners tended to treat landmarks off the coast of Yarmouth County with caution and respect. Seal and Mud Islands were situated west of Cape Sable and south of the Tusket Islands. Gannet Rock and Green Island lay south of Cape Forchu, while to its west the Lurcher Shoal interfered with travel to New England or to the Bay of Fundy. West of Port Maitland, Trinity Ledge hindered passage north to St. Mary’s Bay. Off Brier Island was Gull Rock, ever ready to ambush the unlucky or unwary.

Lurcher Shoal lies about 13 miles offshore of Yarmouth and comprises two separate shoal heads. Southwest Shoal, the larger of the two, with a least depth of 1.25 fathoms (2m2), is situated about 14.5 miles westward from Cape Forchu. From the shoal a bank with depths of less than 10 fathoms (18m3) extends about 1.5 miles northward and half a mile southward; there is considerable tide-rip over the northern part of this bank. Northeast Shoal, with a depth of 4.5 fathoms (8m2), lies about 2.5 miles north-northeastward from Southwest Shoal; uneven ground, with in places depths of from 7 to 10 fathoms (12m8 to 18m3), over which there are tide-rips, extends about a mile northward and three quarters of a mile southward of this shoal. [1, 1966 ed.]

“When, in 1903, the Board of Trade at Saint John, NB, requested that a light vessel be stationed on the Lurcher shoals, it was to Polson of Toronto that the contract was entrusted.
“In the event, two vessels were ordered, the first to protect the approaches to the Bay of Fundy at the Lurcher shoal, the second to be moored off the northeast coast of Anticosti Island. The new lightships were 112 feet long, were built of steel, and had two masts and no bowsprit; in common with most steamers of the day, they carried a jury rig of fore and aft sails, but they were fitted with propelling machinery of reasonable power. Best of all, they had oversize mushroom anchors and Lloyds tested stud link cable fitted in a generous hawse pipe merging into the stem. The lights were electric, comprising seventh order lenses at each masthead and showed an occulting light visible at 13 miles from all points of approach. The foghorn was a compressed air diaphone, supported by a steam whistle as ‘second wind’ and a bell was provided in case the wind instruments became inoperative. In February 1904 the Lurcher light vessel was placed on station.” [2]

Figure 1. Lightship No. 14 on station at the Lurcher. In 1944 she was moored about 2.5 miles southwestward from the 1.25 fathom (2m2) patch on the Southwest Shoal. [1]

Figure 2. Lightship No. 14 moored at Meteghan

Figure 3. Lightship No. 14’s dining room

For almost 47 years Lightship No. 14 provided service on the Lurcher; but in 1950 Lightship No. 2 was built at the Vickers plant in Montreal, and it replaced No. 14 in October 1950. By June 1964 No. 14 had been renamed St. Iris and was working as a freight boat on the St. Lawrence River.

Figure 4. Lightship No. 2 leaving Yarmouth Harbour. The ship was fitted with complete living quarters for a 16-man crew and carried provisions for three-month periods of service. In addition to the necessary light, No. 2 carried a 1,000 lb. fog bell, loud-hailing apparatus, radio direction finder, wind direction indicator, wireless-telegraphy equipment, and radio telephone.

Figure 5. Original crew of Lightship No. 2 in October 1950. First and sixth from left are Chief Engineer W. Thomas Goodwin and his son, Third Engineer J. Clive Goodwin. Second from left is Captain Leazon Maillet, who also was the last master of Lightship No. 14. Third from left is Chief Officer Bernadine d’Eon.

Figure 6. Provisioning Lightship No. 2 at the Lurcher

Lightship No. 2 was stationed on the Lurcher for fifteen years, from 1950 until 1965.

Figure 7. This newspaper photo appears to be of the launching, in 1959, at Kingston Shipyard in Kingston, ON, of Lightship No. 3 (Cataraqui), which was then stationed on the St. Lawrence River near Prince Shoal at the mouth of the Saguenay River in Quebec. In 1965 Lightship No. 3 was renamed Lightship No. 4 (Lurcher); that October she replaced Lightship No. 2 at the Lurcher Shoal.

Figure 8. Lightship No. 4 on station at the Lurcher

1. According to the Nova Scotia (S.E. Coast) and Bay of Fundy Pilot (1966 ed., p. 210),
2. “Lurcher Shoal light-vessel No. 4 is moored about 2.3 miles southwestward from the 1.25 fathom (2m2) patch on the Southwest Shoal. A light is exhibited, at an elevation of 56 feet (17m1), from the foremast of the light-vessel which is equipped with radio. A fog signal is sounded from the vessel and there is a radio beacon. ...”
As the years passed, technological advances and economic considerations led to ongoing reductions in the Canadian lightship service in favour of automated buoys or offshore towers. By 1969 only Lightship No. 4 remained on active service. Finally the Yarmouth Vanguard reported that lightship service at the Lurcher would be permanently discontinued by the end of September 1969.

Figure 9. Lightship No. 4’s last day on station at the Lurcher in 1969. Captain Hubert Hall, of Yarmouth, took the photo.

Lightships served on the Lurcher for almost 66 years.

Figure 10. In 1971 Lightship No. 4 became a training vessel at the Canadian Coast Guard College in Cape Breton. In 1973 she was renamed CCG Mikula to honour an earlier icebreaker of that name. This photo of Mikula dates from June 1991. [3]

Figure 11. In 1994 Mikula was declared surplus, renamed 950, and purchased by interests in Lewisporte, NL. In 1995 950 was repurchased and renamed Kormoran. Captain Hubert Hall, of Yarmouth, was hired to deliver Kormoran to her new owner in Florida. On the way Kormoran stopped overnight in Yarmouth, where Capt. Hall took this photo of her on 30 September 1995, almost exactly 26 years after he had taken the photo (Fig. 9) of her as Lightship No. 4.

References and Notes

[1] These facts are from the Nova Scotia (S.E. Coast) and Bay of Fundy Pilot. Canadian Hydrographic Service, Ottawa. 1944 and 1966 editions.

[2] Thomas E. Appleton, Usque Ad Mare: A History of the Canadian Coast Guard and Marine Services. Canadian Department of Transport, 1968. 318 pp. Available online.

[3] The photograph in Figure 10 was taken on Prince Edward Island in June 1991 by René Beauchamp and is available online. I thank Jamie Serran, Archivist at the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives, 22 Collins Street, Yarmouth, NS, for providing access to the photographs or documents on which Figures 1–9 and 11 are based.

[4] The image at the top is © World Lights and is available online from Flickr. Its caption reads: “The Lurcher Shoals Lightship, Principal Mark West of Cape Sable, Nova Scotia. This vessel is 128 feet long overall, 28 feet beam. The equipment of the vessel is very complete. Under her own steam she can make 8.5 knots. Her usual coal supply is about 115 tons, which is enough to last about 55 days. Light is electric, one at each masthead, visible 12 miles.”

[5] I am indebted to David Holmes for suggesting that I write about the lightships stationed on the Lurcher.

Friday, June 1, 2012

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