Ship John
Shoal, Delaware
Harbour
Lights Limited Edition #245
Ship John, on
a voyage from Germany to Philadelphia in 1797, entered the
Delaware Bay carrying its supplies of glass and spirits. The crew
carefully navigated the unfamiliar waters, but grounded the vessel
on an invisible shoal, leaving the sixty passengers, captain and
crew shipwrecked far from shore. While vessels came to the rescue
and managed to salvage some of the cargo, the mariners had to
abandon the ship and leave it on the shoal. Thus it became 'Ship
John Shoal' and mariners desperately needed a lighthouse to help
guide them around the shallows.
After the ship
sunk, officials erected a wooden lighthouse, but ice soon
destroyed the structure. In 1874, a stronger cast iron lighthouse
was constructed that could with stand the dangerous elements of
winter on the Delaware Bay. A temporary structure topped the
caisson while the cast iron lighthouse was exhibited at the
International Centennial Exposition. Following the Exposition, the
temporary lighthouse was lifted off and the cast iron structure
was put in place.
Ship John
Shoal features a light that flashes red on the shoal side and
white on the channel side. It is an active light station and
guides mariners through the channel to this day.
| HL# |
Name |
MSRP |
Introduced |
Edition |
|
245
|
Ship
John Shoal DE |
$68 |
1/2000 |
6,500 |
The designs of Harbour Lights lighthouses and
Anchor Bay ships are copyright B.C. Younger & Associates,
Inc.
These Harbour Light text & Images are from the Harbour
Lights web site and may not be reproduced. (more...)
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