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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 withstand 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.

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Photographs by Paul L. Brady © Harbour Lights  December 13, 2001
December 13, 2001