Digest>Archives> Jan/Feb 2014

From the Archives: Operation Big Lift

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North Carolina’s Oak Island Lighthouse was close to being completed when this photograph was taken. Although only two helicopters are shown in this image, three U.S. Marine Corps helicopters were used for the installation of the lantern room atop the newly completed Oak Island Lighthouse on December 18, 1957. Two helicopters were used as support aircraft to monitor and communicate with the third helicopter that gently lifted the 11-foot high, 1,740-pound lantern and placed it atop the giant tower. The Marines dubbed the event as “Operation Big Lift.”

The Oak Island lighthouse is the tallest concrete lighthouse built by the United States Coast Guard and the second tallest concrete tower built by the government of the United States. The tallest concrete tower, at 162-feet high, tower was built by the United States Lighthouse Service on Navassa Island in the West Indies. This translates to the Oak Island Lighthouse being the tallest concrete lighthouse in the continental United States. The lighthouse is now owned by the Town of Caswell Beach, and in the summer months, by arrangement, the Friends of Oak Island Lighthouse make the tower available to climb. For more information go to www.OakIslandLighthouse.org.

This story appeared in the Jan/Feb 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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