Here’s the HURON Lightship Site Manager, Jerry Rome.

Life aboard this ship could really be difficult at times depending on stormy conditions or a nice day, but onboard this ship it had a crew of 11, 7 on board with 4 ashore for one week. During their time on board this ship they would have various duties depending on where their training was at, because even at anchor there was somebody on watch in the Radio Room 24/7, and somebody on watch in the engine room as well. During the course of the day they would have 4 hours of work depending on their training and their classification if they were an officer they would have 4 hours of clerical work, and the workers chipping, painting, cleaning, and maintaining this ship. Also during that 4 hours they would stand watch, either in the Radio Room, or the engine room, so they would put in at least an 8 hour day working.

As this ship was anchored out there, they got their work done, they weren’t on watch, life could be pretty monotonous for them. Well depending on the Captain of this ship which would dictate what life was like onboard this ship, a lot of times they were permitted to fish, and the crew would fish for perch, and the cook would gladly cook it. Nice days, they would also be permitted to swim, they would play a lot of cards, and they would write letters to home. During that early period, a lot of the crew members joined the military without a high school education, so the military had at that time a sophies course which was a home course, and they would be able to study and at the end of that, write for their high school diploma which a lot of the sailors in the navy, the Coast Guard, and other branches took full advantage of that.

When this ship was out there, needing supplies they would put a small boat over the side, in the early days it was a row boat, and in those early days they had no refrigeration aboard this ship, no refrigeration meant no way to keep their food from spoiling. So like our ancestors in the early days, they were used to basically shopping every day, which would’ve meant to put a row boat over the side, and row to shore. So that was also very time consuming as well, as they would have to row in and row back, weather permitting, now if weather was bad of course that would not be an acceptable thing to do. Now this wasn’t the only Lightship for the US Government, there was actually 120 different lightship stations on rivers, lakes, and oceans, with 20 of them just out on the great lakes. Well the ones out on the ocean, wouldn’t be very feasible for them to put their own boat over the side and go ashore from an ocean station, so they were serviced by the same tenders, the same Coast Guard ships that would bring supplies out to the Lighthouse Keepers, and on their route they would stop at Lightships bringing them mail, pay, and groceries, but however with the location of this ship being very close to shore, they had the ability to go to shore. That was accepted practice aboard this ship up until 1948, and what happened in 1948 was two sailors Robert and Vince, going ashore to pick up mail, pay, and groceries, and encountering a storm, and Robert ended up drowning, that practice was changed, and from that point forward the Coast Guard at the Coast Guard Station in Fort Gratiot would send one of its larger crafts out with mail, pay, and groceries for this ship.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this brief audio recording. There is so much more for you to enjoy with a guided tour. For more information, click “PortHuronMuseums.com”

Recorded and produced by Van Rohr