Fog Bell, Maine Maritime Museum - Bath, ME
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 43° 53.635 W 069° 48.994
19T E 434415 N 4860414
This fog bell, currently located at the main entrance to the Maine Maritime Museum, was originally placed about a mile down river to warn ships as they travel through.
Waymark Code: WMQ9G6
Location: Maine, United States
Date Posted: 01/16/2016
Views: 1
In Bath, at the Maine Maritime Museum, is this former fog bell placed near the main entrance to the museum.
The museum is located along Washington Street south of US Route 1 and south of the Bath Iron Works. There is parking right at the entrance and an auxiliary lot to the south. The bell is located outside of the main entrance and near the walkway. You do not need to pay an admission fee to see this waymark.
The bell is mounted on an A-frame, which is on a wood platform. The bell is attached to the top of the frame. The clapper is still on the bell. Embossed on the bell is "Meneely & Co., West Troy, N.Y. 1912."
There is a sign, which has the following on it
"Fog Signal Ball, United States Light House Service (U.S.L.H.S)
from Fiddler's Reach, Kennebec River
...
The 1914 installation of a fog signal bell at the tricky double right angle turns of Fiddler's Reach was prompted by the 1912 grounding of the passenger steamer Ransom B. Fuller upon the edge of the river about 1 1/4 mile downriver from the present-day site of this Museum.
As at many lighthouse stations, this bell was deployed on a pyramid-shaped tower that contained a clockwork striker mechanism. It was the duty of the nearby Kennebec Range Light keeper to activate the striker in foggy conditions.
Removed from the tower by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1972 the bell was displayed at the USCG Academy in New London, Connecticut until 2013, when it was returned to the Kennebec River as a permanent loan to Maine Maritime Museum..."
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