![]() Pilot Boat Richard K. Fox, No. 8 | |
History | |
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Name | Lillie |
Namesake | Richard Kyle Fox, sportsman and publisher of the Police Gazette |
Owner |
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Operator | George W. Lawler, James L. Smith, John J. Canvin Jr. |
Builder | Pierce Montgomery & Howard |
Cost | $8,000 |
Launched | May 20, 1876 |
Out of service | February 1, 1896 |
Renamed | Richard K. Fox |
Fate | Sold |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | schooner |
Tonnage | |
Length | 73 ft 11 in (22.53 m) |
Beam | 19 ft 10 in (6.05 m) |
Depth | 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
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 was sold in 1896 to the Marine Hospital Service.
The Boston pilot-boat Lillie, No. 1, was launched in Chelsea, Massachusetts on May 20, 1876. She was constructed by Pierce, Montgomery & Howard from a half-model made by prominent naval architect Dennison J. Lawlor of Chelsea. The half-model shows a pilot-boat with a low freeboard, a straight keel and rounded forefoot. Her dimensions were listed at: 73 feet and 11 inches, 19 feet 10 inches to beam, and 10 feet depth. She was built for Captain George W. Lawler, who was connected with the Boston pilot service for more than forty years. He named the Lillie after his mother. The Lillie was towed from Chelsea to the Atlantic Works wharf, East Boston. [3] [2] [4] [5] The schooner was described as one of the most graceful and well-built of pilot-boats. [6]
On June 22, 1876, on her first trial trip, the pilot boat Lillie went down the Boston Harbor with a party of about seventy-five men and woman were on board, which were by invitation of Captain Lawler. Food and refreshments was served on board the boat. [7]
On June 24, 1876, the pilot boat Centennial was on her trail trip when the Lillie was sited, and a race began between the two boats. The course of nine miles was from Boston Light to Minot's Ledge Light. The raced was cut short after six miles, when the Lillie, sighted the steamship China and took off for the ship. [8]
The Lillie was registered with the Index to Ship Registers from 1877 to 1892 to George W. Lawler as Master and to the Boston Pilots as the owners. She belonged to the Boston port. Her dimensions varied in different years of registration. [9]
On January 25, 1879, the pilot-boat Lillie was caught out in Boston Bay by a 68-miles per-hour wind and stormy sea. Captain Lawler had to light a woolen cloth in kerosene to thaw the frozen ropes and sails. The Lillie survived the storm and was towed to the Gallops Island Wharf and then to her home in Boston. She was later sold c. 1884 to the New York pilots and renamed the Richard K. Fox. [5] [6]
On September 12, 1884, the pilot-boat Lillie No. 1 was sold to Captain James M. Dolliver. The price that was paid was $8,000. [10]
One of the last reports from the pilot-boat Lillie was on June 8, 1890, when Pilot Nicolay of the Lillie hailed to the French steamship La Bourgogne, with her machinery out of order. The captain of the La Bourgogne handed to Pilot Nicolay a cable to be dispatch on reaching New York. [11]
When the Lillie was sold to the New York pilots, she was renamed the Richard K. Fox. [5] The Fox was named in honor of Richard Kyle Fox, the famous sportsman and publisher of the Police Gazette. [12]
The Fox was registered with the Record of American and Foreign Shipping from 1884-1887 as the Richard K. Fox. She was owned by Andrew Leighton. She weighed 78-tons. Her captain was Charles H. Harty. [1] [13]
One of the first reports of the pilot-boat Richard K. Fox was on November 19, 1891, when the steamboat Havana picked up a yawl from the pilot-boat Richard K. Fox that was on station duty east of Sandy Hook. [14]
On February 14, 1895, the tank steamer Chester and the pilot-boat Richard K. Fox, No. 8, were long overdue due to the bad weather. [15]
On February 14, 1895, the pilot-boat Richard K. Fox, No. 8, was wrecked on the Rockaway Shoals in a dense fog. The tug Argus picked up the pilot boat's yawl and seven of the crew near Coney Island en route to the mainland. The Fox was saved by the Rockaway Beach life-Saving Station at Coney Island. She was insured for $8,000. [16] [2] The Board of Pilot Commissioners reviewed the case of Pilot David S. Nicolay, who was in command of the Fox when she went ashore on Rockaway Shoals. Pilot John Shooks charged Nicolay with not staying with the boat, but abandoned the vessel. The issue was settled and Nicolay was cleared from the charge. [17]
Captain John J. Canvin Jr., son of John Joseph Canvin, was a pilot on the pilot boat Richard K. Fox when he boarded the steamship Idaho. He died of heart disease shortly after climbing the robe ladder to board the vessel on September 19, 1897. [18]
On February 1, 1896, the New York Pilots discarded sixteen sailboats and moved them to the Erie Basin in Brooklyn. They were replaced with steam pilot boats. The Richard K. Fox was sold for $4,000. [19] The Marine Hospital Service purchased the Richard K. Fox of New York for transporting mail and supplies from Cuba to the Marine hospital at Dry Tortugas near Key West. [20]
USS Louise No. 2 (SP-1230), sometimes written Louise # 2 and also referred to during her naval career as Louise and as Pilot Boat No. 2, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1917 to 1919. The Louise, was a pilot boat from 1900 to 1917. She was a replacement for the pilot boat Columbia, that was washed ashore in 1898. After the World War I the Louise returned to pilot service until 1924 when she was purchased as a yacht. In 1924, the Boston pilot boat Pilot, took the place of the Louise.
The Phantom was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1867 from the designs by Dennison J. Lawlor. The schooner was considered a model for her type with a reputation for being very fast. She helped rescue the passengers on the steamship SS Oregon when it sank in 1886. She was one of the pilot-boats that was lost in the Great Blizzard of 1888. The Phantom was replaced by the pilot-boat William H. Bateman.
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 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 Eben D. Jordan was a 19th-century Boston pilot boat built in 1883 by Ambrose A. Martin in East Boston for Captain Thomas Cooper. Her namesake was Eben Dyer Jordan, the founder of the Jordan Marsh department stores. In 1892, she was sold to the New York Sandy Hook pilots. She was one of the last of the pilot-boats that were discarded in an age of steam and electricity in 1896.
The Charles H. Marshall was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built by Henry Steers in 1860 for a group of New York pilots. She was in the Great Blizzard of 1888, the same year the National Geographic came out with an article about the successful struggle made by the crew of the Marshall. The boat was named in honor of the American businessman Charles Henry Marshall. In the age of steam she was sold in 1896.
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 Centennial was a 19th-century wood pilot boat built in 1876 by Robert Crosbie and designed by Boston designer Dennison J. Lawlor for New York and New Jersey pilots. She was one of the pilot-boats that survived the Great Blizzard of 1888. By 1898, in the age of steam, she was the last pilot boat left in the fleet; then sold in 1898 to a group in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
The Edward E. Barrett, or Edward E. Bartlett, was a 19th-century two-masted Sandy Hook pilot boat, built by C. & R. Poillon in 1883 and designed by William Townsend. She helped transport New Jersey maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the New York Harbor. She was one of the pilot boats that survived the Great Blizzard of 1888. In the age of steam, the Barrett ended her pilot commission and was sold in 1904.
George W. Lawler, was a 19th-century American Boston Maritime pilot. He is best known for being with the Boston pilot service for over 40 years. He was captain of the pilot boats Lillie, and Hesper.
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.
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.
Captain Thomas Cooper was a 19th-century Boston maritime pilot. He was a well-known Boston pilot who took more battleships on their trial voyages than any pilot on the coast. He was a leader among the branch pilots of Boston for 50 years. He had ownership in the Boston pilot boats Friend,Varuna, and Columbia.
Charlotte Webb was a 19th-century New York City pilot boat built in 1865 at the Webb & Bell shipyard to take the place of the James Funk, that was destroyed by the rebel Tallahassee during the Civil War. She survived the Great Blizzard of 1888, but was run down by the French steamship La Normandie in 1889. She was replaced by the pilot boat George H. Warren.
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 Enchantress was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1851 by John Maginn who named her after one of the cast in the opera The Enchantress. She was launched from the Westervelt & McKay shipyard. The Enchantress was one of the oldest pilot-boats in the service. She was Cornelius Vanderbilt's favorite pilot boat. The Enchantress went down with all hands in the Great Blizzard of 1888. The pilot boat James Stafford was built to replace her.
The Yankee was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built by Holbrook & Adams of Boston in 1848. The schooner was sold to New York pilots and used to pilot vessels to and from the Port of New York. In 1852 the crew of the Yankee received silver medals from the Massachusetts Humane Society for rescuing the captain and mate of the schooner Reaper. The Yankee struck an old wreck and sank 35 miles east of Sandy Hook in 1852. The Ellwood Walter was built to replace her in 1853.
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.
Moses Adams, was a 19th-century prominent Essex shipbuilder. He had his own shipyard and built eighty-five schooners and pilot boats. Adams died in Essex, Massachusetts in 1894.
Gracie was a 19th-century Boston pilot boat built in 1869 at the Edward A. Costigan shipyard in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The schooner was used by Boston pilots and was sold to North Carolina pilots in 1881.