Pilot schooner Sylph No. 8., photograph by Nathaniel Stebbins. | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Sylph |
Owner | A. Nash & Co., Joseph W. Colby |
Operator | Joseph W. Colby |
Builder | Nathaniel Porter Keen shipyard, North Weymouth, Massachusetts |
Launched | September 14, 1878 |
Out of service | June 01, 1901 |
Fate | Sold |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | schooner |
Tonnage | 61-tons TM [1] |
Length | 71 ft 5 in (21.77 m) |
Beam | 21 ft 0 in (6.40 m) |
Depth | 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m) |
Propulsion | Sail |
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 pilot-boat Sylph owned by China merchant and ship owner Captain Robert Bennet Forbes. She was built in Boston in 1834 by Whitmore & Holbrook shipyard for John Perkins Cushing. Forbes supervised her construction of the schooner. [2]
According to Samuel Eliot Morison, the Sylph won the first recorded American yacht race [3] on August 3, 1835. The race was held at Martha's Vineyard and sponsored by the Southern Massachusetts Yacht Racing Association, between the ninety-two foot yacht Wave, owned by John Cox Stevens and the sixty-foot yacht Sylph. The race started off Vineyard Sound, then around Block Island and finished off Naushon Island. [4] William Carlton Fowler took charge of the pilot-boat Sylph, [5] and skippered the Sylph at the 1835 yacht race. [2]
The Sylph was a pilot boat in the Boston Harbor between 1836 and 1837 and then sold to the New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots in October, 1837. [2] : p31
The New Jersey Sylph, No. 1, was lost on March 2, 1857, with all hands during a blizzard off Barnegat, New Jersey. Pilots Daniel Lane, John H. Lane, a brother, William Glyun, and William Champlain were lost. Two of her pilots, Charles E. Warren and Isaish Harlan boarded ships before the storm. [6]
The Boston fishing schooner Sylph was built in 1865 from a half-model by Dennison J. Lawlor. [7] She was launched on May 22, 1865, Meg McManus (Aunt of Thomas F. McManus) and Kate Leonard, christened the new schooner Sylph at her launch at Bucks Wharf in Chelsea, Massachusetts. She was 55.8 feet long with a beam of 17.5 feet and 30.24 tons. [8] [9]
On November 9, 1883, the Sylph sank in a winter storm on Georges Bank with all hands.
The Boston pilot-boat Sylph, No. 8, was launched on September 14, 1878, from Keen's shipyard in North Weymouth, Massachusetts. The shipyard was founded by Nathaniel Porter Keen who was a ship, yacht, and boat builder. [10]
The new Sylph was commanded by Captain Joseph H. Wilson. [11] [5] : p166 She was registered with the Record of American and Foreign Shipping from 1881 to 1898 to J. H. Wilson as master and to A. Nash & Co. as owners. She belonged to the port of Boston. [1]
On April 30, 1885, the pilot-boat Sylph, No. 8, was cruising off the Middle Bank, twenty-five miles east of Boston. Second boatkeeper, Charles Sands was swept away in a terrible storm. [12]
On May 23, 1896, the pilot-boat Sylph, No. 8, towed fishing sloop Main Girl of Gloucester. Captain Joseph W. Colby of the Sylph, picked up the fishing boat ten miles east of Highland Light as her rigging had fallen to pieces with no sail. [13]
On February 17, 1899, the pilot-boat Sylph, No. 8, arrived in the Boston port after being blown off shore by gales and not been heard from for over a week. Captain James H. Reid, Jr., of the America, No. 1, spotted her forty miles outside the Boston Light, and reported the news. [14] In May of the same year, pilot-boat Sylph, No. 8, rescued the naphtha launch Tirzah, forty-five miles southeast of the Boston Light. Captain Joseph Colby, of the Sylph towed the boat into Boston. [15]
In November 1899, many transatlantic liners were used as supply ships during the South African wars, which caused some of the Boston pilot-boats to be placed out of commission. Captain Colby of the pilot-boat Sylph, and the pilot-boat Minerva were moved to East Boston. [16]
In 1900, Boston had seven pilots boats in commission. The Sylph was Boston's pilot schooner number eight. The other Boston boats included, the America, No. 1; Liberty, No. 3; Adams, No. 4; Hesper, No. 5; Varuna, No. 6; and Minerva, No. 7. [17]
When the Boston pilots reorganized down to five boats, the pilot-boat Sylph was sold out of service on June 1, 1901, to Captain Burgess of the Metropolitan coal company. [2] She had been in the Boston pilot service for twenty-three years. [5] : p166 She was owned and commanded by Captain Joseph Colby, one of the best known Boston pilots. [18]
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 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.
Abel F. Hayden, was a 19th-century American Maritime pilot. He was one of the oldest Boston pilots, serving for over thirty years. He helped bring in the USS San Jacinto, into the Boston Harbor in 1861. Hayden was owner of the pilot-boat D. J. Lawlor, that was struck by a fishing schooner Horace B. Parker, in 1895.
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.
Thomas Francis McManus was a fish merchant who became a naval architect, who introduced a shortened bowsprit and long stern overhang to make his vessels faster. He was well known for revolutionizing the Gloucester fishing schooner. He made the fastest vessels of their type in the world, and was honored on two continents for his skill as a naval architect. He became known as the "Father of the Fishermen's Races." 500 fishing schooners used his designs to improve speed. He was a friend of Sir Thomas Lipton and President Theodore Roosevelt.
Minerva was a 19th-century Boston pilot boat built in 1896 by Ambrose A. Martin of East Boston, Massachusetts. She was owned by Franklin B. Wellock who was a Boston pilot for more than 55 years. The pilot-boat was named for his daughter, Minerva Hill. She was sold to Plymouth parties in 1901 to be used as a fishing vessel.
The Edwin Forrest was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1855 by Jacob A. Westervelt's Sons & Co., for a group of New York pilots. She was designed by Dennison J. Lawlor, for Pilot Captain John Low. The Edwin Forrest was named in honor of the American actor Edwin Forrest. A second Edwin Forrest was built for Boston pilots in 1865 to replace the New York Edwin Forrest, No. 14, that was lost in 1862. She attained celebrity for her speed and stability. The Edwin Forrest was sold to Pensacola, Florida parties in 1882 and replaced by the George H. Warren.
The Adams was a 19th-century Boston pilot boat, built in 1888 by Moses Adams at Essex, Massachusetts for Captain John H. Jeffries. She was named for Melvin O. Adams, an American attorney and railroad executive. Her design was by yacht designer Edward Burgess, known for his America's Cup defenders. In 1901, she was one of only five pilot-boats left in the Boston fleet. In 1912, she was sold to haul gravel to Boston, then sold again where she landed in the Portuguese immigrant trade. She was sunk by enemy action during World War I.
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 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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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