History with ‘Hud’: Protecting ships along Frying Pan Shoals since 1854
BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — More than 30 miles off the Brunswick County coast stands a piece of Cape Fear history. Frying Pan Tower rises 135 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, once serving as an important guiding tool for ships. But long before there was Frying Pan Tower, there were a series of lightships helping vessels avoid the notoriously shallow waters of Frying Pan Shoals.
The important work began in 1854, following complaints from mariners the height of the existing Bald Head Lighthouse was inadequate and the beam was not bright enough to warn mariners of the dangerous conditions.
For the next 110 years (except for three years during the Civil War and two years during World War Two), nine different lightships were individually stationed at the shoals. Arguably the most famous of those lightships was the final one positioned there to protect mariners.
Also known as the Frying Pan Lightship, the LV-115 vessel was built in 1929 by the U.S. Coast Guard. For more than 30 years the 133-foot ship stood guard at the tip of Frying Pan Shoals to warn passing ships of the shallow water.
But the arrival of Frying Pan Tower on November 24, 1964 made the ship unnecessary. So it was reassigned to the Southport waterfront, serving as a floating museum of sorts for several years. The ship was fully retired more than 30 years later, and now resides in New York City as one of just 13 of the original 100 lightships remaining.
The new Frying Pan Tower was made from a modified Texas drilling platform, called a “Texas Tower”, designed to provide housing and support for the crewmen helping warn ships. It was staffed year-round by a four-person crew until the operation of the light was automated in 1979.
The advent of GPS and radar systems rendered the light tower obsolete in the decades to come. The Coast Guard abandoned the structure in 2004 and officially retired the light station.
The plan for what to do next was up in the air. Frying Pan Shoals is designated a protected reef area, so the original idea of destroying the tower, relocating it, or recovering it for scrap was discarded. In 2010, the government placed the Frying Pan Tower up for auction, with the winning bid going to Richard Neal of Charlotte for $85,000.
Neal had the desire to restore, protect, and preserve the tower. To generate a sustainable funding source, he converted it to an adventure destination to cover the costs of updating, maintenance, and minor repairs.
In addition to surviving demolition, the tower has made it through countless tropical storms and hurricanes since 1964. In September 2018, the Shoals were in the path of powerful Hurricane Florence. Media coverage in the hours before the storms landfall noted the American flag on Frying Pan Tower being torn to shreds by the extreme conditions as the hurricane approached.
Today, Frying Pan Tower remains a place for research, education and enhancing the public’s knowledge of the ocean churning underneath.
