New York pilot boat Mary Taylor | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Mary Taylor |
Namesake | Mary Taylor, popular New York actress |
Owner | New York Pilots |
Operator | Captain Richard Brown |
Builder | Hathorne & Steers shipyard |
Launched | 1849 |
Out of service | November 10, 1863 |
Fate | Sank at sea on November 10, 1863 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | schooner |
Tonnage | 75-tons TM [1] : p72 |
Length | 67 ft 0 in (20.42 m) |
Beam | 17 ft 10 in (5.44 m) |
Depth | 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
The Mary Taylor was a 19th-century yacht and Sandy Hook pilot boat, built at the Hathorne & Steers shipyard in 1849 for Captain Richard Brown. She was designed by George Steers with a new radical design with a long thin bow and wide stern, which made her faster than any other boat in her class. This design proved successful and led to the famous yacht America, which won the America's Cup in 1851. The Mary Taylor sank after colliding with the schooner Fairhaven in 1863. She was replaced by the Mary E. Fish .
New York pilot boat Mary Taylor, was built in early 1849 at the Hathorne & Steers shipyard, at the foot of North First street, in Williamsburg, New York. [2] She was designed by George Steers for Captain Richard "Dick" Brown. Steers designed her with a new thin bow and wide stern, which made her faster than any boat of her size. Fitting with the new design, Brown named her after a scandalous New York actress Mary Taylor, known for dancing the bawdy polka. The schooner was a big success, out sailing other boats in the pilot fleet. [1] [3] The Mary Taylor was followed the next year by the Moses H. Grinnell, which led to the famous yacht America, which won the America's Cup. [4]
The following is from Steers about the Mary Taylor:
When George Steers laid the keel of the pilot boat, Mary Taylor, he engaged in advance to make a faster and steadier craft that had ever left the port of New York, and he succeeded exactly according to expectation. For encountering less resistance from the narrow bows, the vessel went faster, experienced no corresponding strain, and suffered no more in the storm than in the breeze. [2] [5]
The sail number "5" was painted as a large number on the mainsail identified the boat as belonging to the Sandy Hook Pilots. Based on this number, the Mary Taylor No. 5, appeared in several prominent newspapers from 1849 to 1863. She was gaff rigged, two-masted schooner, 67 feet long; 17.10 feet beam; and 7.9 feet in depth. [1] : p72 Without the success of the Mary Taylor, the America may not have been built. [6]
A half model of the Mary Taylor's starboard side was made in 1849 by George Steers. The model is a representation of the boats's molded lines with a long thin bow and plum stern. Inscribed in black letters are the words "MARY TAYLOR." [7]
On November 10, 1863, the U. S. steam transport Fairhaven, came into collision with the Mary Taylor, No. 5, near Barnegat, New Jersey causing her to sink. A crew of six on board were saved. [8] [9] : p23 [1]
America was a 19th-century racing yacht and first winner of the America's Cup international sailing trophy.
USS Hope was a 19th-century wooden yacht schooner, designed and built in 1861 by Henry Steers for Captain Thomas B. Ives of Providence, Rhode Island. She was acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was placed into service as a gunboat assigned to support the fleet blockading the ports of the Confederate States of America. However, at times, Hope was assigned extra tasks, such as that of a dispatch boat, supply runner and salvage ship. She was a pilot boat from 1866 to 1891 and in 1891 she was replaced by the Herman Oelrichs, when the Hope was wrecked ashore the Sandy Hook Point.
George Steers & Co was a 19th century shipyard company at Greenpoint, Long Island, New York.
George Steers was a designer of yachts best known for the famous racing yacht America. He founded a shipyard with his brother, George Steers and Co, and died in an accident just as he was landing a major contract to build boats for the Russian Czar.
Pet No. 9 was a pilot boat used by the New York Sandy Hook Pilots in the 19th century. The schooner was used to pilot vessels to and from the Port of New York and New Jersey.
George W. Blunt, completed in 1856, was a schooner built in New York that operated as a New York Sandy Hook pilot boat designated Pilot Boat No. 11. The schooner was used to pilot vessels to and from the Port of New York and New Jersey. That schooner was sold to the United States Navy in 1861, renamed and commissioned as the USS G. W. Blunt (1856), serving in the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in the South. A second schooner, also named George W. Blunt, was built in East Boston in 1861 and purchased to replace the first schooner as a pilot boat.
Richard "Dick" Brown was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot. Brown was captain for the 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat Mary Taylor. At the time of his death he was the oldest of the Sandy Hook pilots having served for 50 years. He was the captain of the racing yacht America, which won the inaugural America's Cup in 1851.
The Moses H. Grinnell was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1850 for the New York maritime pilots. She was designed by the yacht designer George Steers. The Grinnell was the first pilot boat to feature a fully developed concave clipper-bow, which was to become the New York schooner-rigged pilot boat's trade mark. This new design was the basis for the celebrated yacht America.
James H. Reid, was a 19th-century American Maritime pilot. He is best known for being the dean of the Boston pilots, serving for 55 years. He was captain of the famous yacht America for 17 years when she was owned by Benjamin F. Butler. In 1897, he built a new America, named after the America's Cup defender.
The George Steers was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1852 for the New Jersey Pilots' Association. She was designed by the yacht designer George Steers and considered to be one of the fastest boat sailing. She had a popular shorter bow overhang, similar to the celebrated yacht America She was driven ashore on the South Shoals near Barnegat Island in 1865. The pilot-boat A. T. Stewart, was built to replace the George Steers.
The Widgeon was a 19th-century yacht and Sandy Hook pilot boat, built in 1855 by James R. & George Steers for Daniel Edgar of the New York Yacht Club and designed by George Steers. She came in 17th in an unsuccessful America’s Cup defense in 1870. Widgeon was sold in 1871 to a group of New York pilots to replace the John D. Jones, which sank in a collision with the steamer City of Washington. New York pilots condemned the Widgeon as unseaworthy in 1879, which sparked a fight for steam pilot-boat service. In 1883 a decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court and the Board of Commissioners of Pilots that pilot boats could be "propelled" by steam.
The Edward F. Williams was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat, built in 1863 at the Edward F. Williams shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a group of New York Pilots. She survived the Great Blizzard of 1888. In the age of steam, the Williams was sold in 1896.
The Ezra Nye was a 19th-century pilot boat, built in 1859 by the Wells & Webb shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a group of New Jersey and Sandy Hook Pilots. She was one of the pilot-boats that was in the Great Blizzard of 1888, that was one of the most severe blizzards in American history. In 1896, in the age of steam, the Ezra Nye along with other pilot boats, were replaced with steamboats.
The Trenton was an auxiliary motor pilot boat built in Essex County, Massachusetts for a company of New Jersey Sandy Hook pilots in 1907. She was formerly the fishing schooner Kernwood, designed by Thomas F. McManus of Boston in 1904. As a pilot boat, she spent twenty-five years in pilot service before being placed out of service in 1934.
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 Anthony B. Neilson was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat, built in 1854 by George Steers for a company of New York Sandy Hook pilots. She was considered to be the fastest boat in the piloting business. She helped transport New York City maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the New York Harbor. She survived the Great Blizzard of 1888. In 1859, the Neilson was sold to a group of New Orleans pilots. The New York pilots then replaced the Neilson, with a new pilot boat, the John D. Jones.
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 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 James W. Elwell was a 19th-century two-masted Sandy Hook pilot boat, built in 1867 by John A. Forsyth at Mystic Bridge, New London, Connecticut for New Jersey and Sandy Hook maritime pilots. She raced for a $1,000 prize at the Cape May Regatta in 1873. She went ashore and was shipwrecked on North Beach Haven, New Jersey in 1875.