One Day in Baltimore Harbor - Part 3, Lightship Chesapeake and USCGC Taney

Pages:

1 2 3 4

Lightbox (179) Tags: baltimore maryland museums ship usa Posted: May 10, 2009 by Vassilik

There are two more ships to visit if you have time: Lightship Chesapeake and USCG Taney. Both ships have great history behind them. For example, Taney, built in 1936, is the last surviving warship from the attack on Pearl Harbor. Called sometimes "Lucky Lady" or "The Queen of the Pacific," she participated in numerous patrols during World War II and after it: anti-submarine patrols, convoy escorts, served as flagship on several occasions, ocean weather patrol, law enforcement and search and rescue duties, naval gunfire support missions, medical assistance to South Vietnamese, fisheries patrols, training cruises for the Coast Guard Academy, drug interdiction in the Caribbean.

For those interested in Taney's technical characteristics, I can say that her displacement is 2,700 tons, length - 327 feet with two Westinghouse turbines as main engines. Maximum speed was 20 knots with cruising range of 8,270 nautical miles. The full complement of personnel at various times included from 12 to 26 officers and from 107 to 226 crewmen with highest numbers during World War II. She was armed with one or more 5"/51 caliber guns and several 20 mm and 40 mm antiaircraft guns.

The duties performed by Lightship Chesapeake were less spectacular but nonetheless very important. Since 1930 until 1970 she served in various locations in Chesapeake and Delaware Bays guiding maritime traffic. In 1942-45, the lightship was painted gray, armed with two small cannons, and used as a patrol and inspection vessel. Lightship "Chesapeake" is a relatively small vessel designed for a crew of 16. Accommodations included two-man staterooms, a crew's mess, galley. Four officers had their own staterooms next to their mess, and the Master had his own stateroom behind the pilothouse. The ship was propelled by an electric motor with electricity supplied by four diesel engine and generator units. Het light beacon system relied on 13,000 candlepower electric lamp.

If decide to visit Lightship Chesapeake and USCG Taney, you will certainly start with Chesapeake since she is located next to Torsk. Good news is that you will find less crowds wishing to visit both ships. Perhaps, this is the result of less spectacular nature of these vessels. At the same time, I think that the Baltimore Maritime Museum can do a better job of making visits to both ships more interesting. To visit Taney, you will have to go to Pier 5 which is not that far - it will take five minutes to get there.

You can also tour the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse - the oldest surviving screw-pile lighthouse built to facilitate navigation on the Chesapeake Bay. It was constructed at the mouth of the Patapsco River in 1855 to mark the shoal called "Seven Foot Knoll" for 133 years from 1856 to 1989. The lighthouse was donated to Baltimore City by Coast Guard to preserve it as a historic landmark. The visit to the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse is free. However, during our one day in Baltimore Inner Harbor and having visited four vessels, we felt that it was time to take some rest. That's why the light house is not included in the gallery below.

National Aquarium at Baltimore, Glass Pavilion	Lightship 116 Chesapeake	Stateroom on Lightship Chesapeake	Lightship Chesapeake volunteers mixing paint
View down to the Engine Room	Wheelhouse on Lightship Chesapeake	The Chesapeake Bay watershed map on pavement in front of the Baltimore National Aquarium	Moving to Pier 4 of the Baltimore harbor
Barnes & Noble store in the Historic Baltimore Power Plant At the Inner Harbor	USCGC Taney (Center of Marine Biotechnology is behind the ship)	Decommissioned in December 1986, Taney is displayed in Baltimore's Inner Harbor since 2008	On Taney' main deck
5"/51 caliber gun is the main caliber weapon on Taney	Inside 5"/51 caliber gun	View on main deck from bridge	A lifeboat on Taney
Taney' bridge	Radio Room	View from bridge deck on E Pratt Street	Inside Taney
Mess hall	Lockers with exhibits of uniforms	Berthing area on Taney	Crew Washroom
Barber shop	Galley	Gun repair shop	Pearl Harbor display
Engine room	Taney - parting view.	Center of Marine Biotechnology (University of Maryland, Biotechnology Institute)	Baltimore, Market Pl