Harbour Lights has done most of the lighthouses from the earliest lighthouse sites in America (including Boston, Brant Point, Beavertail, Tybee and Sandy Hook). To complete these early sites it's about time that HL does New London Harbor Light.

New London Harbor has been homeport to many industries relating to seafaring. Shipbuilding, fishing, transportation and international trade to name a few. It is the fourth oldest site in the U.S., est. 1760.

The present white 80 foot octagonal stone tower was built on the site in 1801 and is still in operation today.

Men and women serving aboard the U. S. Coast Guard Academy's barque Eagle, the Navy's many submarines from the submarine base in Groton (including the world's first nuclear powered submarine Nautilus) have used the sight of this tower as a welcoming safe haven, a beacon to return to and to sail proudly from.

The Harbour Lights collection could use another of the early style octagonal stone towers, and what better selection to complete America's first lighthouse locations.

How many of you have served in the Coast Guard or Navy and been stationed near, or sailed past this beautiful beacon? You would be proud to have this in your collection.

I like Ron Fosters idea of a New London Harbor piece made by HL. Woudn't it look cool with a submarine gliding by...kinda the Cape Canaveral effect!!
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Kat Waterson

Kat,
How about the Nautilus?? Or maybe the Kamehameha for Rick Mau??

Ron

Yeah! SSBN 642, the USS Kamehameha. Connecticut and Hawaii honored in the same HL piece. I like it.

With the crew on deck eating meatball sandwiches? [vbseg]

Or let's stay in period costume. How 'bout Bushnell's 'Turtle'?


Rgds,
Donatello [or maybe the Red October?]

How about just a modern day sub? Like the one in this photo that Mark Wagner took of a sub sailing past New London Ledge.

www.HarbourLights.com/galleries/images/Mark/pan_newlondon.htm

All great ideas. How about the U.S. Coast Guard barque Eagle that is stationed in New London at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy? This would honor the many women and men who have served our country in the Coast Guard (and kept the lights). This tall ship would resemble the ships of old that sailed into New London Harbor years ago when the lighthouse was first built.

This may be the first piece that brings both Harbour Lights lighthouses and Anchor Bay ships together. It could be sold as two seperate pieces that fit together or could be displayed individually. This would open up a new marketing approach for future releases of both Harbour Lights and Anchor Bay, say one set per year.

Ron

[This message has been edited by RFoster (edited 11-21-98).]

[This message has been edited by RFoster (edited 11-21-98).]

Great idea, Ron! The Eagle would be a great subject.

http://www.uscg.mil/images/photos/B98.jpg

Combining HL with AB might give sales of the AB line a real shot in the arm. The AB might need to be a "mini" to match the HL scale, though (or how about an upscaled HL? Like 18" tall? Kind of a vertical Navesink! Hmmmm. Move over, Dr. Mudd). We have been looking for a 19th century cutter, sloop, schooner or any kind of sailing vessel that (a) looks great and (b) is done in the correct scale to the lighthouses (or at least doesn't make the HL line look Lilliputian). How do the rest of you feel about a mini Anchor Bay v. a maxi Harbour Lights? Personally, I think I'd like the mini AB, so it fits the scale of most of the HL line.
Besides, I'd have to take an entire shelf out of a curio cabinet to house "The Big 'Un". And *that's* the most valuable real estate in Tennessee!

-Art

Thanks Art for the great link to the picture of this wonderful tall ship, the Eagle.
I would opt for a slightly smaller-scale ship rather than the larger-scale lighthouse (if that needed to be done at all). I'm not sure how tall the Eagle is (above the waterline) but the lighthouse is 80 feet tall.
A submarine passing wouldn't present as much of a problem (mostly underwater) but then it wouldn't be much of an Anchor Bay piece (unless, of course, the submerged section of the sub were depicted underwater and could still be seen from the side view). To do this the submerged section of the sub could be encased in acrylic with the top of the acrylic shaped and colored like waves, ripples, or even a wake. This could be a real challenge for Younger & Associates to step into this expanded medium.
I do think that New London Harbor Light should be done to complete the early lighthouses and I like the idea of a passing ship (be it the Eagle from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London or a submarine from the Sub Base in Groton).
Whether or not this concept is made up of a single Harbour Lights piece, or a Harbour Lights piece and an Anchor Bay piece is best left to the folks at Younger & Assoc.
Thanks again HL & John, for giving us this great site where we can express our ideas and share them with others.

Ron

Strongly concur with the idea of doing New London Harbor light - it's a stately old structure that has served mariners well for almost 2 centuries. I'd vote for the combination of the light with the USS Nautilus, the world's 1st nuclear-powered sub. It would be a great depiction of ancient (by U.S. standards) and modern technologies. And without meaning to offend our USCG friends, it would also be considerably more affordable than if it was done in combo with the Eagle.

I love everyone's ideas, the Eagle would look so stately but I also think it would be quite an undertaking for HL to do on a scale that would look appropriate for a standard size lighthouse piece. I love the idea of the nautilus, my father served onboard with the first crew. I think it would be wonderful to honor the "silent" guardians of our coastlines...the submariners, and who better to honor them than BY and HL.
Kat Waterson

How about a sub on one side and the Eagle on the other?
If only one can happen,then the Coast Guard is the better connection as the keeper of the Lighthouses.

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LoNgIsLaNd BoB

I have gone out to Eastern Point on the Thames River, where the Avery Point Lighthouse is located to watch my husband's Sub, USS Hartford, come into the river. Watching it go past both the New London Ledge and the New London Harbor Lighthouses makes for beautiful phototgraphy. I would love to see the New London Harbor portrayed with either a sub or the Eagle. The Eagle is an incredible boat and quite a lot of fun to tour. What is neat is that I have a few pictures of the Eagle with a submarine going by it on the river. That is kind of an interesting clash of the times.

Sara, the pictures of the Eagle and the Hartford sound very interesting, would like to see them. It would be neat if you or one of the other members of the "family of the silent service" (or the Sub Base) had a picture of a sub going past New London Harbor Light. One that could be put on this site (with permission, of course).

Kat, are their any photos from when your Dad was on the Nautilus that may show it going past this light?

Rick M., how about from your years in the service on the SSBN 642?

Anyone else out there have a picture that would fit the bill?

I will check with The New London Day newspaper to see if they may have a picture of this nature.

Ron