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Kenrick A.Claflin & Son

13443f. (photo) Experimental Lightship No. 99. c.1950.

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13443f. (photo) Experimental Lightship No. 99. c.1950.

13443f. (photo) Experimental Lightship No. 99. c.1950. Lightship No. 99 was constructed in 1916. She was assigned to a number of stations on the Great Lakes and the East Coast until 1949, when the Coast Guard modified Lightship No. 99 to an unmanned, experimental radio-controlled vessel named Exp or Exp-99, and later Sandy Hook Experimental Lightship. The vessel was to have a “crew” of electronic devices operating automatically or controlled by radio from shore. Each of its signals –marker light, foghorn, radio beacon, and bell — is either duplicated or otherwise arranged to defy failure. Cost of the new ship was $375, 000 –just half of a manned lightship. An annual saving of $59,000 in maintenance and personnel was also anticipated. The vessel was moved to the Coast Guard’s Third District headquarters at Staten Island , New York , in May 1950, for a three-month experimental trial run at the Ambrose station. However, the experiment was postponed indefinitely and the experimental vessel was apparently never used. The electronic fog signal shown employed 180 speakers in a five-sided array. Original Coast Guard b/w view and includes description on back. Dated May 6, 1950. Photo measures 8” x 10” and is clear, with some crop marks and wear. (VG). $38.