Caption
LURCHER II, here cloaked by swirling fog, pitches and rolls her red hull at permanent anchor several thousand feet off the shoals. One of eight lightships operated on both coasts by the Canadian Department of Transport, this 600-ton ocean-going vessel keeps constant vigil over Fundy shipping lanes, as well as being a central gathering point for weather data in that area. Lightship is equipped with extra-powerful anchor cables to withstand battering gales that might drag her onto the submerged rocks.
Release Date
May 24, 1955
Materials
Typescript with illustrations
Photographers
Blouin, GuyCollection
CMCP fonds
Credit Line
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives
Caption
Fog horn, here being serviced by ship's second engineer, supplements intermittent flashing of beacon. Except for short voyages to port twenty miles away for dry-docking and over-haul, lightship seldom sails from her position. Crew spends two months aboard ship at a time.
Accession Number
LAC-NFB60554
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175850
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Second mate stands night watch on the LURCHER's bridge. Life aboard a lightship can have its tense, dramatic moments: during War II floating mines, submarines gave east coast lightships some anxious days. Today, heavy seas and monotony are crew's main enemies.
Accession Number
LAC-NFB60559
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175851
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Bright lights atop LURCHER's swaying lantern mast -- ten seconds on, two seconds eclipse -- are visible for twenty miles at night, warning approaching vessels of shoal water and danger. Lurcher Shoal is a cluster of submerged rocks lying directly in the lane of Fundy-bound shipping, twenty miles off Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. In spite of heavy fog and battering seas that frequently mask the jagged shoals, free-sailing vessels ply their way in safety, thanks to the warning beacon of this permanently-anchored lightship.
Accession Number
LAC-NFB60560
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175852
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Lightship's powerful diesels, capable of producing up to 9 knots, are kept spotless and ready for a voyage that never comes. LURCHER II was commissioned in 1950 to replace LURCHER I which had completed 45 years service off Nova Scotia's Lurcher Shoal.
Accession Number
LAC-NFB60564
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175853
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
Time hangs on the hands of the LURCHER's sixteen-man crew. With routine chores done and weather observations made, they spend most of their off-time reading, playing checkers, and waiting for the monthly supply boat bringing news and mail from the mainland.
Accession Number
LAC-NFB60566
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175854
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Caption
LURCHER II, here cloaked by swirling fog, pitches and rolls her red hull at permanent anchor several thousand feet off the shoals. One of eight lightships operated on both coasts by the Canadian Department of Transport, this 600-ton ocean-going vessel keeps constant vigil over Fundy shipping lanes, as well as being a central gathering point for weather data in that area. Lightship is equipped with extra-powerful anchor cables to withstand battering gales that might drag her onto the submerged rocks.
Accession Number
LAC-NFB60570
Materials
Black and white negative
Photographer
Enumber
e011175855
Collection
National Film Board of Canada
Credit Line
Library and Archives Canada, Mikan no. 205928
Photostory #10: Canadian Lightship: Stands Vigil Over Fundy's Shoals
Photographers
Maker
National Film Board of Canada
Release Date
May 24, 1955
Collection
CMCP fonds
Credit Line
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography fonds, National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives
Main Text
LURCHER II, here cloaked by swirling fog, pitches and rolls her red hull at permanent anchor several thousand feet off the shoals. One of eight lightships operated on both coasts by the Canadian Department of Transport, this 600-ton ocean-going vessel keeps constant vigil over Fundy shipping lanes, as well as being a central gathering point for weather data in that area. Lightship is equipped with extra-powerful anchor cables to withstand battering gales that might drag her onto the submerged rocks.
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