Sometimes restoring a historic ship involves starting at the keel and working up, or the deck and working down.  And sometimes it involves rediscovering the ship one piece at a time.  That was the case this year when three missing parts came home to the ex-USCG Cutter Liliac.  An account by Museum Director, Mary Habstritt:

The Voice Tube:  One day in February last year, our Museum Director got an email asking, “Is LILAC missing a voice tube from her bridge?” The ship was missing the mouthpiece to that very voice tube, but, how did the writer know to ask that question? He had it, of course. Ed Hlywa did, however, come by it honestly, buying it for $10 in the 1980s from LILAC’s last owner, Henry Houck. He says, “I always assumed that LILAC was heading to a shipbreaker and that I was preserving a little bit of nautical history.” Reminiscing one day, he Googled “LILAC Falling Creek” and was amazed to discover that she had survived and that the Lilac Preservation Project was working to restore her. Ed graciously offered to return this little piece of history, saying, “It has served me well and if you hold it to your ear, you may be able to still hear the orders being called down to the engine room.”

The Ship’s Wheel: Also returned to the bridge is the ship’s original inlaid wooden wheel. Captain Homer Purdy, one of LILAC’s last commanding officers, oversaw the wheel’s replacement in the late 1960s and when it was not wanted for office decor at the Coast Guard base, he took it home and made it into a dining table. Because of it’s size, it took some time to determine that the best way to get it from Tennessee was for Captain Purdy’s daughter and grandson, Jennifer and Graydon Mazur, to drive it to New York. They lost their transmission on the way and, with limited time for the trip, sent out an SOS. Tom Knotts, who once served as a petty officer under Captain Purdy, came to the rescue ferrying the wheel the rest of the way to Pier 25. We are very proud to have this beautiful item back on our bridge. Captain Purdy has dedicated his donation to the memory of his son, R. Benjamin Purdy.

The Builder’s Plate: We already knew that E.F. “Willy” Williams, LILAC’s last chief engineer, had her builder’s plate, a souvenir of the ship’s decommissioning. We’d been discussing with him how best to get it to New York from his home in Florida, including connecting him with one of our volunteers who has a second home in the same state. When Willy heard that the wheel was on its way back, he decided not wait any longer and put this unique item in the mail to us. It is been returned to the forward bulkhead in the engine room and has proven to be a popular photo stop for visitors. We’re thrilled to have it back where it belongs.