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Tour the Station

Tour the Station: Kitchen

Tour the Station: Kitchen

A look at the food and methods of preparation, as well as the appliances utilized by the crew at the station.

Tour the Station: Keeper’s Office

Tour the Station: Keeper’s Office

The room of the keeper, or manager of the station, as well as an overview of their responsibilities and reasoning behind the room's placement.

Tour the Station: Boat Room

Tour the Station: Boat Room

An in-depth look at the main room of the station, containing the rowboats, rope, lanterns, flares, and other lifesaving equipment.

Martha Coston Signal Flares

Martha Coston Signal Flares

Watch for the story of Martha Coston, who developed the signal flares that are still used by the US Navy today. After finding earlier works of her deceased husband, Coston spent ten years testing and refining her process of night flares before patenting it in 1859. If...

Comical Rescues

Comical Rescues

Three tales of "Comical Rescues" from the Ocean City Life Saving Station including one about the surfmen in a low-tech row boat who rescued a high-tech Navy Submarine stranded on the sand bar in the Great Egg Harbor Inlet....

The Telephone in the Kitchen

The Telephone in the Kitchen

Ocean City Life Saving Station tales of daily life of the Surfmen and commonly asked questions of visitors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC_huNjF12k

Boats, Buoys and Cars

Boats, Buoys and Cars

Watch for some great explanations of the various types of rescue equipment used and on display at the Ocean City NJ Life Saving Station. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssmFN3J-Zm0&feature=youtu.be

The Natucket 26 Hour Rescue

The Natucket 26 Hour Rescue

The Natucket 26 hour Rescue - Walter N. Chase and his six man Coskata life saving crew battled heavy seas to rescue A British three masted schooner, H.P. Kirkham, sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday, January 16, 1892, bound for New York. The Kirkham carried...

The Sindia – A Reading

The Sindia – A Reading

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r8mvkfDGgU&feature=youtu.be The following is an excerpt from a recently discovered unpublished work, written by one of the surfmen at The Ocean City Life Saving Station who witnessed the wreck of the 329 foot 4-masted sailing ship...

Traveling the Oceans

Traveling the Oceans

Traveling the Oceans was a way of life in the later 1800's. The hazards from this form of travel made the Lifesaving Service indispensable. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDu57PGZur8&feature=youtu.be

The Rescue

The Rescue

This episode is a dramatic recreation of a beach shipwreck, the Surfman's response, the deployment and use of the breaches buoy, and the Surfman's wives helping on the beach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFmFp1svlfs&feature=youtu.be

Sindia

Sindia

John Loeper's presentation about the Sindia Story on the anniversary of the wreck December 10, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLJdE38nEDw&feature=youtu.be

The Different Types of Rescues

The Different Types of Rescues

The natural power of the ocean presented a danger to any vessel that came too close to shore. "The men in this station had to patrol, they had to patrol the beach. There were 3 stations in Ocean City, one in Longport and one in Strathmere. If they came across a wreck...

The Surfboat

The Surfboat

In order for the men of The Life Saving Service to protect lives and cargo; a wide range of skills, technology and equipment was always at the ready. On the front line of these efforts was the surfboat. Every station had at least one and they varied in design in...

You Have to Go Out

You Have to Go Out

During the active years of the Ocean City US Life Saving Service – from the 1880’s to around 1915 – a strict set of rules and regulations were set in place to assure successful missions protecting lives and cargo. Life Saving Station scholar Richard Boonisar guides us...

The Men of the Life Saving Service

The Men of the Life Saving Service

The mid eighteen hundreds saw the advent of regular ocean travel up and down the Jersey coast; much of it between the busy ports of New York and Philadelphia; and with it came frequent encounters with the shallow shoals and the windward shore, leading to dire...

History of Water Lifesaving in New Jersey

History of Water Lifesaving in New Jersey

In a time before highways and runways, ocean going vessels provided much of the transportation for passengers, cargo and immigrants coming to America. Hundreds of vessels a day would pass Ocean City’s shoreline; which at times could be a very dangerous place. Locked...