OVERFALLS SHOALS HISTORY.

OVERFALLS SHOALS

LIGHTSHIP HISTORY

Southward of Cape May the entrance to the Delaware Bay is

obstructed to a distance of near six miles by shoals named the

Overfalls, with the water depth 12 to 17 feet with some spots under 6

feet, and were for years a hazard to navigation.

In 1892 a lightship, the LV-46, was anchored 3-1/2 miles east of Cape Henlopen, to warn mariners of dangerous shallow waters, which reduced accidents off Cape Henlopen, was also a ringside seat for spectacular events in coastal history.

LV-46, a two masted schooner, was the first vessel to mark the

Overfall's shoals.

Lightships were given a 'number' when built and took the name of

the station where they were anchored.

The short and fat vessels rolled incessantly with the seas so that

their decks were always washed. Painted a bright red with white lettering

of their station name on her high bulwarks and tethered by a large

mushroom anchor making her a sitting target for ice flows and wayward

ships.

In 1917 during WW I German subs planted mines not far from the

Overfalls and on the 3^rd of June, 1918 the tanker Herbert L. Pratt when between Lewes and Rehoboth hit one of the German mines. The captain

of the Pratt, thinking he had been torpedoed, made a run for the Delaware

Breakwater, but sank before entering the Bay. The pilot boat, Philadelphia,

being close by rescued the crew and landed them at Lewes. German

mines sank a cargo ship, the Saetia and a battleship, the Minnesota, was

damaged near Fenwick Island, in sight of the Overfalls. Later, in 1925,

the 1st of January, a liner, the Mohawk with 0ver 200 passengers, caught

fire off the Jersey coast, sailed between the Overfalls and Cape May as the

crew watched rescue operations from her deck.

Abstract: Delaware Diary by Michael Morgan.