The Fleur de Lis was a 19th-century yacht and pilot boat built in 1865 by J. B. Van Deusen for Captain John S. Dickerson of the New York Yacht Club. She was bought by pilot Franklin B. Wellock and became the Boston pilot boat No. 7. She was known as one of the best pilot boats in the Boston harbor. By 1904, the pilot boat Fleur de Lis was lying in a graveyard for old boats in East Boston.
The schooner yacht Fleur de Lis was built in 1865 by the J.B & J.D. Van Deusen shipyard at East River, New York for Captain John S. Dickerson of the New York Yacht Club. The sailmaker was J. M. Sawyer. She was a keel Schooner. Her dimensions were 80.1ft. in length; 21.4ft. breadth of beam; 6.10ft. depth of hold; 8.9ft. draft; and 94.31-tons Tonnage.[1]
Van Deusen went to William H. Webb's ship building Academy. He then went into business with his brother James De Witt, under the firm name of J. D. and J. B. Van Deusen. They built some notable yachts like the Columbia, which was the second defender of the America's Cup, the Fleur de Lis, and the Fleeting, which sailed in the first ocean race against the Henrietta and Vesta.[2][3] They also built the pilot boat John D. Jones in December 1859.[4]
On June 28, 1869, the yacht Fleur de Lis went from New York for a cruise eastward.[5]
On May 21, 1872, Vice-Commodore Dickerson of the Brooklyn Yacht Club took the schooner-yacht Fleur de Lis to be fitted out by David Carll of City Island. She also got an entire suit of canvass by J. M. Sawyer. Alterations were completed on June 10, 1872.[6]
On August 28, 1872, Vice-Commodore Dickerson took a large party of ladies and gentlemen, on the Fleur de Lis, to see the a race between the Maude and the W. F. Davide. The race started off in the position alongside of the Fleur de Lis.[7]
Pilot Franklin B. Wellock purchased and sailed the Fleur de Lis, as a pilot boat for two years, then sold her to parties that converted her into a pleasure yacht out of Boston.[8]
On June 20, 1876, Arthur Cheney, of the Globe Theatre, arrived from New York on the yacht Fleur de Lis and went to East Boston. She was said to be "one of the finest models afloat."[9] On September 6, 1876, Cheney and the yacht Fleur de Lis came into collision with the tug boat John Bacon, off Governors Island. The yacht was towed to East Boston for repairs.[10] On May 20, 1878, Cheney's yacht Fleur de Lis went into commission after being stored for the winter. She was anchored off City Point.[11]
On June 30, 1878, Irish actor and playwright Dion Boucicault purchased the Fleur de Lis from Arthur Cheney for $7,500. She was 80 feet long and 94-tons.[12]
On Dec 24, 1882, the schooner Martha C., ran into Boston pilot boat Fleur de Lis, No. 7 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The damages to the pilot boat were for $50, which was paid by the owners of the schooner.[13]
On June 27, 1887, Albert Everson bought Arthur Cheney's yacht Fleur de Lis from the Hichborn & Co. auction for $550. She was known as "one of the best pilot boats in the Boston harbor."[14]
On April 6, 1888, the yacht Fleur de Lis, of the Atlantic Yacht Club, took down a large party to witness a race between the Carrie E. Phillips,L. J. Merritt, Jr., and others. The Fleur de Lis was flying the pennant of the Atlantic Yacht Club.[15]
On September 13, 1891, Captain Alfred Sorensen owner and pilot of the Boston yacht Fleur de Lis, took a party of quests out fishing when she was run into by the steamer Cumberland. The passengers were safely taken off the yacht and she was repaired.[16] Captain Alfred Sorensen was reported owning the yacht from 1891 to 1895.[17]
On September 25, 1897, the schooner Fleur de Lis, sank at the Commercial wharf in Boston. Thieves had cut away a lead pipe connected to the boat.[18] On February 7, 1904, the pilot boat Fleur de Lis was in a graveyard for boats in East Boston. She was used by Daniel Webster, an American lawyer and statesman, Edwin Booth an American actor, and Edwin Forrest an American Shakespearean actor, and many other prominent men.[19]
USS Liberty III (SP-1229), sometimes written Liberty # 3, and also referred to during her naval career as Liberty and as Pilot Boat Liberty, No. 3, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. The Liberty was a pilot boat from 1896-1917. She was a replacement for the pilot boat D. J. Lawlor. After World War I, the Liberty returned to pilot service until 1934 when she was purchased as a yacht.
Samuel Havre Pine, was a 19th-century American ship designer and builder located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. He built the racing yacht Enchantress as well as many sailing schooners and yachts; steam yachts; and steamships.
The Sylph was a 19th-century pilot boat first built in 1834, by Whitmore & Holbrook for John Perkins Cushing as a Boston yacht and pilot-boat for merchant and ship owner Robert Bennet Forbes. She won the first recorded American yacht race in 1835. She was a pilot boat in the Boston Harbor in 1836 and 1837 and sold to the New York and Sandy Hook Pilots in October 1837. She was lost in winter of 1857 with all hands during a blizzard off Barnegat, New Jersey. The second Sylph was built in 1865 from a half-model by Dennison J. Lawlor. The third Sylph was built in 1878 at North Weymouth, Massachusetts for Boston Pilots. She was sold out of service in 1901, after 23 years of Boston pilot service.
The Hesper was a 19th-century Boston pilot boat built in 1884, designed from a model by Dennison J. Lawlor as a Boston yacht and pilot-boat for merchant and ship owner George W. Lawler. She was known to be the largest pilot boat under the American flag at 104 feet long and the fastest of the Boston fleet. She competed in several first-class sailing races, and in 1886, the Hesper won the silver cup in what was known as the first Fishermen's Race. She was withdrawn from the pilot service and sold in 1901. The Hesper became a wreck on the point off Cape Henlopen in 1919.
The Varuna was a 19th-century Boston pilot boat, built by Montgomery & Howard at Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1890, for a group of Boston pilots. She was designed by yacht designer Edward Burgess, known for his America's Cup defenders. She was the first centerboard pilot-boat in operation in the Massachusetts Bay. The Varuna went out of service in 1912 because of the introduction of steam power into pilot-boats. She was later sold to Stephen Simmons to be used as a trading vessel between ports in the Spanish Main in 1913.
The Actaea, or Actea, was a 19th-century Boston yacht built in 1880 by Weld and David Clark of Kennebunk, Maine for David Sears, Jr., of Montgomery Sears of Boston. She was purchased by a group of New York Sandy Hook Pilots in 1890. She was one of the largest and fastest pilot boats in the fleet. In the age of steam, the Actaea was sold in 1896 to John J. Phelps of the New York Yacht Club and used as a pleasure yacht.
The Friend was a 19th-century pilot boat built by Daniel D. Kelley & Holmes East Boston shipyard in 1848 for Boston pilots. She helped transport Boston maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the Boston Harbor. The Friend was one of the last of the low sided, straight sheared schooners built in the 1840s for Boston pilots. The second Boston pilot boat Friend was built in 1887. Her name came from the older Friend that was in the service in the late 1840s. Captain Thomas Cooper sold the Friend to New York pilots in 1893. Cooper replaced the Friend with the pilot-boat Columbia in 1894.
David Carll was a 19th-century American shipbuilder. He built yachts and schooners. He specialized in shallow draft Centreboard schooners. The David Carll's shipyard was the first commercial shipyard built in City Island. He built the popular schooners David Carll, Vesta,Resolute, and Ambassadress. His brother, Jesse Carll had a successful shipyard in Northport, New York.
Dennison J. Lawlor, was a 19th-century Canadian-Irish shipbuilder and yacht designer. He apprenticed under shipbuilder Whitmore & Holbrook. Lawlor had his own shipyard, building and designing for 40 years some of the finest yachts, pilot boats, and 150 merchant vessels built from his designs. The most notable were the Hesper, Florence, and D. J. Lawlor. Lawlor died in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1892.
The Coquette was a 19th-century yacht and pilot boat, built in 1845 by Louis Winde, at the Winde & Clinkard shipyard in Chelsea, Massachusetts for yachtsmen James A. Perkins. Her design was based on a model by shipbuilder Dennison J. Lawlor. The Coquette was a good example of an early American yacht with a clipper bow. As a yacht, she won the attention for outsailing the larger New York yacht Maria at the second New York Yacht Club regatta in 1846. Perkins sold the Coquette to the Boston Pilots' Association for pilot service in 1848. She continued as a pilot boat until 1867 when she was sold as a Blackbirder to be used on the African coast.
The George H. Warren was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1882 by Porter Keene at Weymouth, Massachusetts, to replace the Edwin Forrest, No. 4, which was sold to the Pensacola, Florida pilots. The George H. Warren, originally belonged to the Boston pilot fleet but in 1889, she was purchase by a group of New York pilots. She and her crew were lost in the great blizzard of 1895.
The America, No. 1 was a 19th-century American pilot boat built in 1897 for Captain James H. Reid Sr. of Boston and designed by Boston designer Thomas F. McManus. The Boston America did not resemble her famous namesake, yacht America, rather she was designed with a fishing schooner "Indian header" bow. After serving 21 years in the Boston Pilots' Association, the America was sold to David W. Simpson of Boston in 1918.
The Gracie was a 19th-century racing sloop yacht built in 1868 by James E. Smith shipyard at Nyack, New York. She raced the America's Cup defender Mischief in the trails off Sandy Hook in 1881. Gracie raced at the New York Yacht Club, Atlantic Yacht Club and other eastern yacht clubs. After a 42-year career in racing, she was sold in 1909 and converted to a freight boat sailing from Milton Point, off Long Island to New York.
Moses Adams, was an Essex County shipbuilder. He had his own shipyard and built eighty-five schooners and pilot boats. Adams died in Essex, Massachusetts in 1894.
Ambrose A. Martin, was a 19th-century Boston, Massachusetts yacht and boat shipbuilder. He built the Ambrose A. Martin shipyard in 1882 at Jeffries Point, East Boston, where he built many notable Boston yachts and schooners. Martin died in Boston in 1934.
J.B & J.D. Van Deusen was a 19th-century American shipbuilding company started by Joseph B. Van Deusen and James D. Van Deusen in 1865. The shipyard was in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They designed and built yachts, schooners and steamboats in New York. The last boat that was built at the shipyard was the schooner-yacht Mohawk in 1875, which was later renamed Eagre and transferred to the United States Navy in 1903.
Andrew Jackson Comstock was a 19th-century maritime pilot. He was one of the most experienced yachtsman having sailed for more than 27 years. He was known for being the captain of the racing yachts Columbia and Magic that won races for the America's Cup.
The Fleetwing was a 19th-century wooden yacht schooner, built in 1865 by Joseph D. Van Deusen and owned by yachtsman George Archer Osgood. She was one of the fastest yachts in the squadron. The Fleetwing was in the famous 1886 transatlantic ocean race for the New York Yacht Club. She came in 12th in an unsuccessful America’s Cup defense in 1870.
The Phantom was a 19th-century centerboard schooner-yacht built in 1865 by Joseph D. Van Deusen and first owned by yachtsman Henry G. Stebbins. She was one of the fastest yachts in the New York squadron. The Phantom won 1st place in the June 1867 New York Yacht Club regatta. She came in 7th place in an unsuccessful America's Cup defense in 1870. She was sold as a racing yacht several times before she went out of service in 1900.
Elbridge T. Gerry was a 19th-century New York Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1888 at the Robinson & Waterhouse shipyard in City Island, Bronx. She was named in honor of Elbridge Thomas Gerry, a commodore of the New York Yacht Club. She served as a pilot boat from 1888 to 1896, when she was sold for offshore yachting cruises. Her name was changed to Kwasind, after the strongman in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha.
↑ Van Deusen, Albert Harrison (1912). Van Deusen Family(PDF). New York. p.388.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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