Pilot boat Ebe W. Tunnell, No. 4. | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | Ebe W. Tunnell |
Namesake | Ebe W. Tunnell, Governor of Delaware |
Owner | Delaware Pilots |
Operator |
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Builder | C. & R. Poillon |
Cost | $13,000 |
Launched | 1887 |
Christened | E. W. Tunnell |
Out of service | 1909 |
Fate | Sold |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | schooner |
Length | 88 ft 0 in (26.82 m) [1] |
Beam | 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m) |
Depth | 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
The Ebe W. Tunnell was a 19th-century Delaware pilot schooner built in 1887 in Brooklyn, New York. In 1889, the Tunnell was driven out to sea in a fierce storm. The crew spent five days in turbulent waters before they were rescued. In the age of steam, Ebe W. Tunnell had outlived its usefulness and was sold as a houseboat for a group of men working in the Chesapeake Bay in 1909.
Ebe W. Tunnell was a pilot schooner built at the C. & R. Poillon shipyard in 1887, at Brooklyn, New York for twelve licensed Delaware maritime pilots. She was launched on April 23, 1887, for service at the Delaware Breakwater. She cost $13,000 when fully equipped for service. [1] She was named in honor of Ebe W. Tunnell, the then Governor of Delaware. [2] [3] She was No. 4 of the Delaware fleet.
The E. W. Tunnell, was registered as a pilot Schooner with the ‘’Record of American and Foreign Shipping,’’ from 1888 to 1900. She was listed as being built in 1887 at Brooklyn, New York; and her hailing port was the Lewes, Delaware. Her dimensions were 76.3 ft. in length; 20.5 ft. breadth of beam; 8.6 ft. depth of hold; and 60-tons Tonnage. [4]
The Delaware pilot boats Ebe W. Tunnell and the J. Henry Edmunds, of the Cape May pilots, kept to their assigned area at the Five Fathom Bank, which was twenty-five miles east of Cape Henlopen until the Pilots' Association For The Bay & River Delaware was formed in November 28, 1896. This area was ideal for boarding steamers as it was on the direct line from Europe. After the Pilots' Association was formed, many of the Delaware pilot boats were purchased or sold. [2] : p57
In September 1889, Captain A. W. Marshall, Sr., served as captain of the Ebe W. Tunnell when the vessel was driven out to sea in a fierce storm. The crew spent five days in turbulent waters before they were rescued. Captain John Barnes and James K. Rowland were two pilots aboard the Tunnell. [5]
On August 13, 1897, the pilot boat Ebe W. Tunnell went down to the Delaware Breakwater to relieve the pilot boat Thomas F. Bayard as a tender to the new steamboat Pennsylvania. [6]
When the Pennsylvania was purchased by the United States Navy on May 23, 1898 from the Philadelphia Pilots' Association, she was replaced by the two remaining pilot boats, the Ebe W. Tunnell and the J. Henry Edmunds. [7] The Philadelphia Pilots' Association took good care of her. In November 1899 they placed her on the railway at the Jackson and Sharp Company for general overhauling and repairs. [8]
In 1909, in the age of steam, the sailboat Ebe W. Tunnell had outlived its usefulness and was sold for $500.00. She became a houseboat for a group of men working in the Chesapeake Bay. [9] [2] : p61
Lewes is an incorporated city on the Delaware Bay in eastern Sussex County, Delaware, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747. Along with neighboring Rehoboth Beach, Lewes is one of the principal cities of Delaware's rapidly growing Cape Region. The city lies within the Salisbury, Maryland–Delaware Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lewes proudly claims to be "The First Town in The First State."
The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal is a 14-mile (22.5 km)-long, 450-foot (137.2 m)-wide and 35-foot (10.7 m)-deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. The C&D Canal is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District. The project office in Chesapeake City, Maryland, is also the site of the C&D Canal Museum and Bethel Bridge Lighthouse. The canal saves approximately 300 miles on the route between Wilmington and Philadelphia on the Delaware River, and the major Chesapeake Bay ports such as Baltimore, Richmond, and the Hampton Roads, avoiding a course around the Delmarva Peninsula.
Ebe Walter Tunnell was an American merchant and politician from Lewes, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.
The Edward C. Knight, was a 19th-century pilot boat built by the C. & R. Poillon shipyard in 1875 for the Delaware River Pilots. She was the finest and fastest pilot-boat belonging to the Philadelphia port. She was sold to the Brunswick Pilots' Association of Georgia in 1898.
The Richard K. Fox, first named Lillie, was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1876 for Boston Pilots. She was designed by model by Dennison J. Lawlor. She was one of the most graceful and attractive of the Boston pilot-boats and represented a trend toward deep-bodied boats. She was later sold to the New York pilots and renamed Richard K. Fox, in honor of the famous sportsman and publisher of the Police Gazette. In the age of steam, she sold sold in 1896 to the Marine Hospital Service.
The New York was the first steam pilot boat in the New York harbor. She was built in 1897, by the Harlan and Hollingsworth company at Wilmington, Delaware for the a group of New York Sandy Hook pilots. She was designed by Archibald Cary Smith, who was a prominent naval architect and marine engineer. The New York was retired from pilot service in 1951.
The Mary Ann, No. 13, was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built for the New York pilots. She helped transport maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the New York Harbor. In 1860, the Mary Ann, was one of only twenty-one pilot boats in the New York and New Jersey fleet. She went ashore outside Sandy Hook in 1863.
The David Carll, was a 19th-century pilot boat, built in 1885 at the David Carll shipyard in City Island, New York. She was named in honor of David Carll, a well-known City Island shipbuilder. The David Carll, was considered to be among the fastest schooners in the fleet. She was built to replace the Mary E. Fish, that was run down and sank by the schooner Frank Harrington in 1885. She was one of the pilot boats that survived the Great Blizzard of 1888. The David Carll, was lost at sea in 1893.
The Mary E. Fish was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat, built at the Edward F. Williams shipyard of Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 1861 for Richard Brown and the New York Pilots. She was built to replace the Mary Taylor. The Fish was hit and sank by the schooner Frank Harrington in 1885 and replaced by the David Carll.
The Blossom, was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built for the New York pilots around 1837. She helped transport maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the New York Harbor. In 1839, she came across the Slave ship La Amistad. In 1840, there were only eight New York pilot boats, the Blossom being No. 5. Pilot Thomas Freeborn of the Blossom boarded the packet ship John Minturn and tried to guide the ship in bad weather. He was one of thirty-eight passengers that died near the Jersey Shore in 1846.
The Sandy Hook was a steam pilot boat built in 1902, by Lewis Nixon at the Crescent Shipyard in Elizabeth, New Jersey. In 1914, she was purchased by the New York and New Jersey Pilots' Association to replace the pilot boat New Jersey, that was lost in 1914. She could carry 10 to 12 pilots that would help guide ships through the New York Harbor. The Norwegian America Line Oslofjord, with the Crown Prince Olav of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden on board, ran into and sank the Sandy Hook in 1939.
The 1900 Delaware gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1900. Though Governor Ebe W. Tunnell was eligible for re-election under the newly adopted 1897 constitution, the state convention ended up nominating Peter J. Ford, a prominent businessman.
The Pilots' Association For The Bay & River Delaware is the official maritime pilot group for the Delaware Bay and Delaware River. The association is one of the oldest state pilot organizations in the nation that was founded in 1896. Delaware Bay Pilots are licensed maritime pilots for the Delaware Bay and River. Delaware pilots guide oceangoing vessels, passenger liners, freighters and tankers in and out of the harbor. The Delaware Bay is bordered inland by the States of New Jersey and Delaware, and the Delaware Capes, Cape Henlopen to the south and Cape May to the north, on the Atlantic Ocean.
The Thomas Howard, was a 19th-century pilot boat built by the William Cramp & Sons in 1870 for the Philadelphia Pilots' Association. She was the finest and fastest pilot-boat belonging to the Philadelphia port. In 1886, the Pilots' Association for the State of Delaware declared that the Thomas Howard become a Delaware pilot boat.
The Thomas F. Bayard was a 19th-century Delaware River pilot schooner built by C. & R. Poillon shipyard in 1880. She spent sixteen years as a pilot boat before being sold during the Yukon Gold Rush in 1897. She was sold again in 1906 for Seal hunting, then purchased by the Department of Marine & Fisheries where she guided freighters into New Westminster, British Columbia for 43 years. She was then acquired by the Vancouver Maritime Museum in 1978. When she sank at her mooring in 2002, the International Yacht Restoration School, Mystic Seaport and the Vancouver Maritime Museum, removed the vessel in pieces for the archeological teams to study and document the remains of her hull. The Thomas F. Bayard Collection, at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, contains the documents, history and preservation efforts.
The John G. Whilldin was a 19th-century Pennsylvania pilot schooner built in 1839 by the Joseph Vogle shipyard of Southwark, Philadelphia. In 1893, the Board of Port Wardens of Philadelphia recognized only four pilot boats for the Port of Philadelphia, the E. C. Knight, John G. Whilldin,William W. Ker and J. Henry Edmunds. On September 8, 1915, the Whilldin was reported as wrecked near Port St. Joe, Florida.
The Enoch Turley was a 19th-century Pennsylvania pilot schooner built in 1842 in Baltimore, Maryland. In the 1880s she was caught up in the competition and rivalry between New Jersey and Pennsylvania pilots and the Delaware pilots. She survived the Great Blizzard of 1888, but was swept away in 1889, with all hands lost, during a powerful gale.
The William W. Ker was a 19th-century Pennsylvania pilot schooner built in 1889 in Wilmington, Delaware. She was designed by Edward Burgess for the Pennsylvania pilots and was built for speed. She was a favorite with the pilots and was considered the fastest pilot boat on the coast. The Ker was hit and sank by a steamer off the Five Fathom Bank in 1900.
The J. Henry Edmunds was a 19th-century pilot schooner built in 1887 in Brooklyn, New York for Philadelphia pilots. She sank in 1892 and a second Edmunds was built in 1893, which lasted thirty-five years before she sank in bad weather outside Cape Henlopen in 1928. She was the last schooner-rigged pilot boat in the Delaware Bay.
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