Jersey Shore Magazine

J e r s e y s h o r e • S p r i n g 2 0 1 8 54 JERSEY SHORE PROFILE THE NEW JERSEY MARITIME MUSEUM, continued from page 53 (USLSS) annual reports, shipwreck books, periodicals, and many websites on the internet. Listed below are just some of the other contents and themes that can be found on display at the museum. • U.S. Life-Saving Service Exhibit: The USLSS was the predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard. The exhibit includes rare documents, station log books, uniform medals and but- tons, a complete 39-volume set of annual reports from 1876 to 1914, a Lyle gun, a coston flare canister, patrolman "checks," and more. • Rare Postcard Collection: The collection includes New Jersey towns, USLSS stations, lighthouses, and other maritime-related fields. • Extensive Research Library: The library contains hundreds of rare, out-of-print books, periodicals (including Sailor's Magazine and Naval Journal), shipwreck files, and photographs. • Pre-historic Fossils (on loan): Recovered from the inter-continental shelf off the New Jersey coast. • Antique Navigational Equipment: The exhibit includes taffrail logs, a speaking trumpet, chronograph, compass, inclinometer, and naviga- tional charts. • Historic Photographs: The collec- tion includes Beach Haven's 1930s head-boats by renowned photog- rapher Dave Gurtcheff along with classic scenes of yesteryear Beach Haven and other New Jersey coastal communities. • Shipwreck Artifacts: The artifacts include items recovered from vari- ous wreck sites off the New Jersey coast by well-known members of the diving community. • Antique China and Silver: Includes items depicting coastal towns, life-saving stations, and lighthouses along the New Jersey coast. • Morro Castle Exhibit: The exhibit is the most extensive of the ship- wreck ever seen, including rare photographs, original 1934 video news footage of the disaster, 1934 newspaper accounts, original Acme News media photos, an authenti- cated life-vest worn by one of the survivors, autographed menus, stateroom keys, rescuer notes, inscribed tokens, and more. • Antique Diving Gear: The display includes a Mark V Navy diving outfit, rebreather, double hose regulators, and more. • Aurora artifacts: The display includes china plates, platters, pitchers, and other artifacts recov- ered from the 1827 wreck off Sandy Hook. • The Robert J. Walker Exhibit: The Robert J. Walker was an iron- clad side-wheel steamer assigned to the U.S. Coast Survey to chart the coast of the United States. The Walker sank on June 21, 1860 after a collision with the Fanny twelve miles east of Absecon Beach. The Coast Survey is now part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The wreck of the Walker has been identified and surveyed by NOAA and local divers. The museum is the only location to have a permanent exhibit of the Walker and some of her artifacts. • 19th Century Shipbuilding Tools: These tools help to understand how those huge wooden ships were built by shipwrights and can be useful in dating shipwrecks. Almost as interesting as the wide range of collections is how the museum came to be. Its genesis can be traced back to when a sixteen- year-old Deb was being certified as a SCUBA diver and saw her first ship- wreck scattered on the ocean floor. Her curiosity was aroused. She won- One room at the museum is dedicated to the ill-fated SS Morro Castle and artifacts from the ship, which was en route to New York from Havana on the morning of September 8, 1934 when it was engulfed in flames, killing 137 passengers and crewmembers. Many questions remain about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the tragedy that led to the ship dramatically beaching close to Asbury Park. When you're at the Maritime Museum, no matter which way you look—up, down, or all around— something will surprise or catch your eye. Gordon Hesse Gordon Hesse

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