Gallery of Ships

A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying goods or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity, and tradition.


lightship Ambrose LV-78 / WLV-505
The lightship Ambrose LV-78 / WLV-505, now on display at the South Street Seaport, along with the tower that replaced her ( since replaced by another tower, and then a buoy that got run over a few times. I'm not sure if there is anything out there now. )

A lightship is a small vessel with minimal engine power and a stout stable hull, designed to act as an anchored long-term floating lighthouse outside of a harbor. They were generally painted in bright red or orange anti-collision colors. Not that it helped much.


tanker ship drawing
Typical 1930s oil tanker

A tanker is a cargo ship designed to carry liquid cargoes, usually but not always fuel oils.


Pinta

A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship that carries goods and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, being equipped with cranes and other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes. Specialized types of cargo vessels include container ships and bulk carriers. ( Tankers and supertankers are also cargo ships, although they are habitually thought of as a separate category. )


pilot boat Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook

A harbor pilot is a person who takes control of a seagoing ship when it is entering or leaving port. He is expertly familiar with all the channels, shoals, currents, tides, and regulations of his particular port, and is essential to safely steer the ships in and out. It is an ancient and exclusive profession, often passed down from father to son*. In old days, the top two signal flags at right were used by ships entering and exiting a harbor to call for a pilot, while the bottom flag indicated "pilot on board."


schooner barge
A beached schooner barge. Compare the hull form with a square barge.

The schooner barge was the final development of the working sailing ship. The design originally evolved in the 1870s on the Great Lakes, where it was found that sailing ships could be more profitably towed from place to place than sailed. No longer subject to the vagaries of the wind, such trips could be made on a scheduled basis, and with reduced labor costs. The idea spread into general use, resulting in the conversion of many sailing ships into barges. Ironically, most of the vessels that were converted to schooner barges were not actually schooners, but square-rigged ships. Square-riggers, with their large and expensive crews of skilled sailors, became uneconomical to operate in the face of ever-improving steam power, while more efficient schooners managed to compete for a few years longer.


barge beached
Notice the blocky shape and structure of this stranded but otherwise typical old wooden barge. Barges usually have minimal crews, to tend the lines.

A barge is a vessel that does not have its own means of propulsion ( usually. ) Barges are towed or pushed from place to place by tugboats, or anchored in place to serve as temporary work platforms, floating docks, or storage. Some barges are self-propelled, in a limited way. These are known as scows, and their limited propulsive power restricts them to protected waters without the assistance of a tugboat.


Type:
artificial reef, freighter, purse seiner
Built:
1944, JK Welding - Yonkers NY, as FS-355 (US Army)
Specs:
( 166 x 32 ft ) 542 tons
Sunk:
Thursday, Jan 21, 2021 - DelJerseyLand Artificial Reef
GPS:
38°31.340' -74°30.671'
Depth:
125 ft

John S Dempster Jr. is sister to Shearwater and Reedville, see those vessels for details, links in the sidebar. All three vessels were originally small Army transports, converted to Menhaden fishing by Omega Protein company. FS-355 was USCG-manned, and retained by USA as PVT Carl V. Sheridan (see below) until sold in 1972.

The aging Shearwater and Reedville were retired when Omega got two new modern vessels in 2017, but Dempster was kept as a reserve. Finally, almost 80 years old, the Dempster was sent to her reward as well. Another sister, Tangier Island, was reefed off Georgia in 2020. As of 2023, one old sister remains - Smuggler's Point, FS-400, launched in 1944!

Printed from njscuba.net