Pilots' Association For The Bay & River Delaware

Last updated
Pilots' Association For The Bay & River Delaware
Formation1896
Type Piloting
Headquarters800 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Location
  • United States
Official language
English
LeaderDavid Cuff (president)
Key people
Robert Bailey, Daniel MacElrevey, J. Troy Selph, Dennis Cluff
Website Pilots' Association For The Bay & River Delaware

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.

Contents

History

Delaware Bay Pilot Service

Delaware Bay Delaware bay map.jpg
Delaware Bay
Cape Henlopen Light Cape Henlopen Light.jpg
Cape Henlopen Light

Author and historian, John Thomas Scharf in his book History Of Delaware, said that Delaware Bay Pilots have been piloting ships in the Delaware Bay and Delaware River since 1650. [1] By the end of the 18th-century, the Delaware pilots were an organized body of pilots. Pilots served a four-year apprenticeship before taking an examination for their licenses. [2]

Pilots in the Delaware Bay and River were controlled by the laws of Pennsylvania until 1833. One of the first certificates for Delaware pilots was dated in 1837. Throughout the colonial period pilotage continued to develop. Pilots from the three states of New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania each operated under their own rules. By 1860, the pilot license for the Delaware Bay and River pilots was still being given at Philadelphia. In 1865, the governor of New Netherland reported looking for men who have knowledge of the Delaware shoals to be hired as pilots. As shipping in the bay increased, pilots would anchor behind Cape Henlopen. [2]

The Governor of Delaware became responsible for appointing commissioners for pilots. In 1881, the state of Delaware ushered in new pilotage legislation. A board of five commissioners was established to issue licenses and rule in disputes. The laws stated that pilotage fees were due when for a crippled vessel or when a ship could not complete her passage up the bay. [2]

Competition

On September 21, 1882, there was competition and rivalry between New Jersey and Pennsylvania pilots. The resolution of the Board of Port Wardens of Philadelphia said that no Delaware pilots would be able to board the pilot boats E. C. Knight, John G. Whilden, Thomas Howard, or Enoch Turley. [3] The Delaware pilot boats Henry C. Cope and Thomas F. Bayard refused to be governed by the new rules. [4]

New association

On November 28, 1896, the Delaware bay and river pilots held their first meeting at the office of F. C. Maull, in Lewes, and decided to organize the Pilots' Association for Delaware Bay and River. Financial arrangements were completed at the meeting. Shares were put at $1,000. The business of piloting was consolidated and the earnings equally shared by active members. [5] The first meeting for the organization was held on December 3, 1896, to adopting the by-laws and elected officers at 319 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. There were 75 Delaware river and bay pilots present at the meeting. Members of the old Pennsylvania Pilots' Association and the Delaware Pilots' Association were among the members. Pilot Eldridge was elected temporary chairman of the association. [6]

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 be known as the Delaware Bay and River Pilots' Association. [7] The pilots pooled their resources and commissioned the Neafie & Levy Ship and Engine building company to build the steel steam pilot boat Philadelphia, which was the first Pilot station five miles outside the cape. The new Pilots' Association had 92 pilots and 12 apprentices. Pilot boats Ebe W. Tunnell and J. Henry Edmunds kept the area of the Five Fathom Bank, which was twenty-five miles east of Cape Henlopen. The William W. Ker and the John G. Whilldin cruised near the Fenwick Island Light. [8] [2]

Last of the Delaware sailing schooners

Thomas F. Bayard Thomas F. Bayard.jpg
Thomas F. Bayard

The Delaware pilot boats Thomas F. Bayard and Thomas Howard were two of the last sailing schooners that enjoyed a long service. The schooner Thomas Howard was built in 1870, at the Cramps shipyard in Philadelphia for the Delaware Bay maritime pilots. She had a long career in the pilot boat service. Pilot James A. Orton, in 1880, kept a journal of the daily life aboard the Howard. Her dimensions were 79.2-ft in length, 20.6-ft in beam, 7.6-ft depth in hold and 50.59-tons. The pilot schooner Thomas F. Bayard was built in 1880, at the C. & R. Poillon shipyard in Brooklyn, New York, for the Delaware Bay pilots. She was 86-ft long and 70-tons. She was named in honor of Thomas F. Bayard an early Delaware politician and diplomat from Wilmington, Delaware. The Thomas F. Bayard, No. 2, was one of the last schooners in Delaware Bay service. [2] : p62-65 

Notable Delaware pilot boats

Today

The Pilots' Association for the Bay and River Delaware is located at 800 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest state pilot organizations in the nation. All pilots licensed by the State of Pennsylvania and Delaware are members of the association. Pennsylavania and Delaware pilots are about equally represented in this association. [9] Pilot services are provided on a 24-hour basis by the association. There is a pilot station at Cape Henlopen and offices in Lewes, Delaware, Chesapeake City, Maryland and Philadelphia. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewes, Delaware</span> City in Delaware, United States

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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rehoboth Beach, Delaware</span> City in Delaware, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape May–Lewes Ferry</span>

The Cape May–Lewes Ferry is a ferry system in the United States that traverses a 17-mile (27 km) crossing of the Delaware Bay connecting North Cape May, New Jersey with Lewes, Delaware. The ferry constitutes a portion of U.S. Route 9 and is the final crossing of the Delaware River-Delaware Bay waterway before it meets the Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaware Bay</span> Estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States

Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately 782 square miles (2,030 km2) in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Henlopen</span>

Cape Henlopen is the southern cape of the Delaware Bay along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It lies in the state of Delaware, near the town of Lewes, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. Off the coast on the bay side are two lighthouses, called the Harbor of Refuge Light and the Delaware Breakwater East End Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ebe W. Tunnell</span> American politician

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.

E. C. Knight Pilot boat

The Edward C. Knight, also known as the E. 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.

<i>Hesper</i> (pilot boat) Boston Pilot boat

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 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.

Thomas D. Harrison New Jersey Pilot boat

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.

<i>Thomas Howard</i> (pilot boat) Delaware Pilot boat

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.

<i>Thomas F. Bayard</i> (pilot boat) 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.

John G. Whilldin Pilot boat

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.

Enoch Turley Pennsylvania Pilot boat

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.

William W. Ker 19th-century American pilot schooner

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.

<i>Ebe W. Tunnell</i> (pilot boat) Pennsylvania Pilot boat

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.

J. Henry Edmunds Pennsylvania Pilot boat

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.

<i>The Breakwater Light</i> Defunct American newspaper

The Breakwater Light, later known as The Delaware Pilot, was an American weekly newspaper based in Lewes, Delaware, United States. It was founded in 1871 by I. H. D. Knowles as the first newspaper in the town's history, and ran under the name Breakwater Light for twenty years. It was sold to future state governor Ebe W. Tunnell in 1891, who renamed it to the Delaware Pilot. It continued under this name before suspending operations in 1920, later returning in 1938 for a few years before disestablishing permanently in c. 1942.

References

  1. ↑ Scharf, J. Thomas (2001). History Of Delaware. 1609 - 1888. Volume II. L. J. Richards & Co. p. 1201. OCLC   1229502864.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Cunliffe, Tom (2001). Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar. Brooklin, Maine: Wooden Boat Publications. pp. 48–50. ISBN   9780937822692.
  3. ↑ "Oppression. Two Great States Combine To Crush Delaware On A Count Of The Pilot Law". Daily Republican. Wilmington, Delaware. 23 Sep 1882. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  4. ↑ "A Pilotage Crisis. Pennsylvania Pilots Taking Out delaware Licneses". The Daily Gazette. Wilmington, Delaware. 8 Jun 1882. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  5. ↑ "A Pilots' Association. Delaware River and Bay Pilots Meet in Lewes For The Purpose". The Evening Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. 28 Nov 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  6. ↑ "Organization Of Pilots". The Evening Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. 2 Dec 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  7. ↑ "Pilots Meet To-Day. Two Bodies to Unite as One Organization". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1 Dec 1896. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-08-21.
  8. ↑ "Pilot Boat Launch. Philadelphia to Be Crhistened on Saturday Next". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 19 Mar 1897. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  9. ↑ "Special Agents Series". U.S. Government Printing Office. Ohio. 1917. p. 57. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
  10. ↑ "United States Coast Pilot Atlantic Coast. Sandy Hook to Cape Henry". U.S. Government Printing Office. Illinois. 1995. p. 124. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
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