![]() Pilot Boat John G. Whilldin | |
History | |
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Name | John G. Whilldin |
Namesake | Dr. John G. Whilldin |
Operator | Humphrey Hughes |
Builder | Joseph Vogle shipyard |
Launched | August 1, 1839 |
Out of service | September 8, 1915 |
Fate | Wrecked |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | schooner |
Tonnage | 85-tons TM |
Propulsion | Sail |
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.
Pilot boat John G. Whilldin was launched on August 1, 1839, from the shipyard of Joseph Vogle, from Southwark, Philadelphia. At her launch she sailed from Cape May, New Jersey. She was named in honor of Dr. Whilldin, son of Captain Wilmon Whilldin of Philadelphia. Whilldin was 85-tons burthen. [1]
In 1839, the pilots of Delaware had seven boats ready for use. The Thomas P. Cropper,Lewis Pulaski and Thomas A. Morgan, that sailed from Lewes, Delaware; the Spartan,Leonidas and John G. Whilldin that sailed from Cape May; and the William Price from Philadelphia. [2]
On September 20, 1861, lying at the Breakwater during a fierce storm, Christopher Eldridge was on the pilot boat John G. Whilldin when lightning hit the mast as he was leaning against the mainmast watching the storm, which killed him instantly. [3]
Captain Humphrey Hughes was the pilot on the Whilldin when it was capsized on November 29, 1870, as it was caught up with heavy breakers. She had two apprentices onboard that all made it to shore. [4]
On May 4, 1876, pilot boat Johnn G. Whilldin sailed through a lot cases of coal oil near Cape May and was able to pick up 86 cases, containing two tin cans each of five gallons, making 860 gallons of refined petroleum. [5]
In 1882, there was competition and rivalry between New Jersey and Pennsylvania pilots and the Delaware pilots. The Delaware pilotage laws had hurt trade in the Port of Philadelphia. Because of this, on September 21, 1882, the Board of Port Wardens of Philadelphia approved a resolution to assign seven pilots, that were attached to Delaware boats, and assign them to Pennsylvania boats. There were five pilots assigned to the Cape Henlopen boats, Thomas Howard and Enoch Turley and two pilots assigned to the Cape May boats, John G. Whilldin and E. C. Knight. [6] The resolution said that there would be no further connection with the Delaware pilots and that the Delaware pilots would not be able to board the New Jersey and Pennsylvania pilot boats. [7] [8] [9] The Delaware pilots had only the pilot boats Henry C. Cope and the Thomas F. Bayard, which refused to be governed by the new rules. [10]
On August 3, 1886, the Board of Port Wardens of Philadelphia met and adopted two new resolutions that amended the September 1882 resolutions. The Pilot Commissioners of the State of Delaware declared that the pilot boat Thomas Howard would become a Delaware pilot boat. As a result, the board recognized four pilot boats, the E. C. Knight,John G. Whilldin,Enoch Turley and Christian Bergh. The Pennsylvania pilots were instructed to have the abbreviation "Penna." placed on the sail, which contained the boat number. [11]
In October, 1886, the Pennsylvania pilot boats Edward C. Knight and the John G. Whilldin were in a collision at the Delaware Breakwater east of Lewes, Delaware on Cape Henlopen. [12]
By August 1893, the Board of Port Wardens recognized only four pilot boats for the Port of Philadelphia, the E. C. Knight,John G. Whilldin, William W. Ker and J. Henry Edmunds. [13]
In December 1996, a joint meeting of the Pennsylvania and Delaware pilots was held at the Delaware pilots' office with the purpose to complete the organization of the two bodies of pilots into a new organization to be known as the Delaware Bay and River Pilots' Association. [14] [15]
Steam power rendered the John G. Whilldin obsolete. She was sold as a fruit schooner running between the Gulf ports and the West Indies. [8] On January 10, 1898, the schooner John G. Whilldin arrived in Jacksonville, Florida. [16] On September 8, 1915, she was wrecked in a hurricane and eight of her crew were lost. Charles Ross was the only one that was rescued from the wreckage near Port St. Joe, Florida. [17]
Theodore Cordy "Ted" Freeman, was an American aeronautical engineer, U.S. Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. Selected in the third group of NASA astronauts in 1963, he was killed a year later in the crash of a T-38 jet, marking the first fatality among the NASA Astronaut Corps. At the time of his death, he held the rank of captain.
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 D. J. Lawlor was a 19th-century Boston pilot boat built in 1881 at North Weymouth, Massachusetts. The schooner was considered the largest for her type, noted for her seaworthiness and heavy weather performance. She was named after the prominent Boston shipbuilder Dennison J. Lawlor. She was struck by a fishing schooner Horace B. Parker, in 1895, and was replaced by the pilot-boat Liberty in 1896.
The Christian Bergh was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1851 at the Westervelt & Co. shipyard. She later became a Pennsylvania pilot boat until her service ended in 1886 when she became an oyster boat in the Delaware Bay. She was named after Christian Bergh a prominent shipbuilder in New York and a close friend of Jacob Westervelt.
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 Caprice, was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1871 by Brown & Lovell in East Boston, Massachusetts for Peter McEnany and other New York pilots. In 1876, she was run down and sank, off Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, by the steamship New Orleans. She was raised and was one of the pilot boats that survived the Great Blizzard of 1888. The Caprice was last reported sailing off the coast of New York in 1891.
The Hermann Oelrichs was a 19th-century Sandy Hook Pilot boat, built in 1894 by Moses Adams at Essex, Massachusetts for a group of New York Pilots. She helped transport New York City maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the New York Harbor. The Herman Oelrichs was said to be the fastest of the New York pilot fleet. She was built to replace the pilot boat Hope, that was wrecked in 1890.
Captain William Robinson Lampee was a 19th-century Boston maritime pilot. He was one of the oldest and most experienced pilots in the Boston service. He was a Boston pilot for forty years. He had ownership in the Boston pilot boat Friend.
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 Caleb Curtis was a 19th-century two-masted Boston pilot boat, built in 1859 at Chelsea, Massachusetts for Boston maritime pilots. She well known for her speed. the Curtis was sold to the San Francisco Pilots' Opposition Line in October 1861 and sailed from Boston around Cape Horn and then to San Francisco to become a pilot boat with the San Francisco fleet. She was shipwrecked inside the Bonita Channel in 1867. The Caleb Curtis was repaired, and was able to continue as a pilot boat in San Francisco from 1867 to 1892. She was sold at auction 1892. From 1892 to 1899, she had different owners and sailed the waters of Japan, Socorro Island, Clipperton Island and Tahiti, Hong Kong and Klondike, Yukon. She was shipwrecked at Cape Nome, Alaska in 1899.
Thomas D. Harrison was a 19th-century New York pilot boat built for New Jersey pilots. She was launched from the Jacob S. Ellis & Son shipyard, at Tottenville, Staten Island in 1875. The Harrison went ashore in the Great Blizzard of 1888 with no lives lost. She continued as a pilot boat with Pilot Stephen Cooper in command. She was purchased in 1897 by Allerton D. Hitch and used for coastal trade in the Cape Verde islands off the west African coast.
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 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 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.
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