List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats

This list of pilot boats is a list of notable pilot boats for New York, New Jersey, and Boston, Massachusetts. Pilot boats with the same ship numbers are organized by date and location.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
A small pilot boat.

Pilot boats
Ship No. Ship Name Image Ship Captain Description
No. 1 Moses H. Ginnell (picture available in citation for Pilots book) George W. Blunt The pilot boat Moses H. Grinnell was built in 1850 for the Jersey pilots and designed by George Steers. It was owned by George W. Blunt. The pilot boat was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. She was run down by the steamer Union on the Outer Middle Ground in 1863. The Grinnell was the first pilot boat to show the fully developed long entry that was to become the New York schooner's trade mark.[1][2]
No. 1 Hope (picture available in citation for Pilots book) New York Pilot Boat (1862). Made from the model by Henry Steers. She was lost at Sandy Hook on March 15, 1890. [3][4]
No. 1 T. S. Negus (picture available in citation for Pilots book) The New York pilot boat T. S. Negus, No. 1 boarded her pilot onto the clipper ship Glory of the Sea.[3]
No. 1 Herman Oelrichs (picture available in citation for Pilots book) New York Pilot Boat Herman Oelrichs, No. 1, was built in 1894 in Essex, Connecticut, for the New York pilots.[3]
No. 1 America Richard Brown (pilot)[5][6] On February 13, 1895, Pilot boat America No. 1 arrived at Stapleton, having on board Capt. J. G. Brown and eight sailors from the schooner Rose Esterbrook of Bedford, which was abandoned at sea.[7] On April 29, 1902, Boston Pilot Boat America, No. 1, carried the ashes of Capt. Fowler, encased in a small rosewood box, at the National dock wharf, East Boston.[8]
No. 1 Lillie (picture available in citation for Pilots book) George W. Lawler Boston pilot boat Lillie, No. 1, was design by Dennison J. Lawlor in 1876. Owned by Captain George W. Lawler. Lillie was named after his mother. She was later sold to the New York pilots and renamed the Richard K. Fox.[3][9]
No. 2 Edmund Blunt Abram Jones[10] The pilot boat Edmund Blunt, No. 2, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. Pilot boats Mary A. Williams, William H. Bateman and Edmund Blunt raced and competed for honors in May, 1890. Blunt went ashore in the storm of March, 1888 on the Long Island coast.[1] There was also a boat called the "Edwin" Blunt from 1859 to 1875 in the index to Ship Registers.
No. 2 Louise The pilot boat Louise No. 2, was built as a pilot boat in 1900 by Ambrose Martin at East Boston, Massachusetts. On 10 September 1917 the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, the Boston Pilots Relief Society, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I.[9]
No. 3 Commerce (no picture) McNight Smith The Pilot Boat Commerce (1852) belonged to the New Jersey and Sandy Hook Pilots. In January 1953, the pilot boat Commerce with four pilots McNight Smith, Mathew M. Betts, Thomas Scott, and Nelson Cole), one apprentice (Thos Smith), and a crew of five hands (Roger Clark), was lost in a gale off the Sandy Hook.[11]
No. 3 Charles H. Marshall (no picture) John Calvin Sr. The pilot boat Charles H. Marshall, No. 3, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] This boat is listed in the Index to Ship Registers with the owners as the N. Y. Pilots. John Calvin Sr. drowned on the Charles H. Marshall, No. 3 on January 28, 1890. Calvin was 72 years old and one of the oldest pilots in the service.[12]
No. 3 D. J. Lawlor Picture available in book Pilots and Pilot Boats of Poston Harbor. Pilot Peter partridge of Pilot Boat No. 3.[13] The pilot boat D. J. Lawlor, No. 3, was built in 1882 by Porter Keene at Weymouth, Mass. She was considered the best heavy weather boat in the service. She was named for Dennison J. Lawlor, the pilot boat designer.[9]
No. 4 Washington (no picture) The pilot boat Washington, No. 4, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] This boat is listed in the Index to Ship Registers with the owners as the N. Y. Pilots.[12] Pilot John Van Dusen was on the pilot boat Washington, No. 4.[14]
No. 4 Adams (picutre at Digital Commonwealth Adams Pilot Boat #4) Boston Pilot Boat that was built in 1888 by Moses Adams at Essex, Massachusetts for Captain John H. Jeffery.[3] Photographed by Nathaniel Stebbins.
No. 4 Alexander M. Lawrence (picture of the famous pilot boat, Alexander M. Lawrence is in citation for Russell's book) Pilot Boat Alexander M. Lawrence, No. 4, was a station boat. She was one of the largest and best in the Sandy Hook fleet.[2] On May 19, 1885, Boatkeeper Sullivan said that on Tuesday last the Lawrence was about 20 miles east of Nantucket. A whale ran headlong into the port bow of the vessel. None were hurt. The escape of the Lawrence, which measures only 88 tons, was a narrow one.[15]
No. 4 Jacob Bell (no picture) The Pilot Boat (1853), No. 4, went down in a gale far out of the Sandy Hook in 1854.[1]
No. 5 Charlotte Webb (no picture) New York Pilot Boat Charlotte Webb No. 5, was run down and sunk March 18, 1889, when eighteen miles east of Sandy Hook lightship by French Line steamship La Normandie.[2]
No. 5 Hesper (picutre at Digital Commonwealth Hesper No. 5) Hesper was a wooden Boston pilot schooner, designed for speed in order to be the first to reach offshore merchant vessels and escort them through the treacherous harbor islands into the port. The fastest boat got to the client first, and Hesper had the reputation of being the fastest throughout her working career. Designed in 1884 by Boston naval architect Dennison J. Lawlor and built by Montgomery & Howard. The schooner measured 102 feet on deck by 23 feet in beam, with a 12-foot draft. She was sold out of the Boston pilot service in 1901[16][9] Photographed by Nathaniel Stebbins.
No. 5 David Mitchell (no picture) The pilot boat David Mitchell, No. 5, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] The New York Times reported that the Pilot-boat David Mitchell, No. 5, went to her assistance, and placed on board the ship two of her pilots.
No. 5 David T. Leahy (no picture) James D. M. Beebe James D. M. Beebe was a part-owner of the pilot-boat David T. Leahy that was the subject of the launch on September 4, 1890 witnessed by a fifteen hundred people at the shipyards of C & R Poillon.[17]
No. 6 Mary and Catherine (no picture) Pilot Jacob M. Heath (owner), Pilot Oscar Stoffenden, Pilot Frederick Reinsen (owner), Pilot John J. Devere The pilot boat Mary and Catherine, No. 6, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] This boat is listed in the Index to Ship Registers with the owners as the N. Y. Pilots.[12] She went down and sank in November 1885 by a tramp steamer off Barnegat, New Jersey. Pilot Oscar Stoffenden was in charge of the boat. Owners said they would build another boat.[13]
No. 6 George Steers (picture available in citation for Pilots book) New Jersey Pilot Boat George Steers No. 6, was built in 1851. She was driven ashore near Barnet Inlet in a northeasterly gale on February 12, 1865. All hands five perished.[3]
No. 6 William H. Starbuck Pilots Captain Jacob M. Heath (owner), Oscar Stoffenden, Prederick Riersen (owner) New York Pilot Boat William H. Starbuck, No. 6, was run down by SS Japanese off Barnegat, New Jersey on March 12, 1888 with six men on board.[1][13]
No. 7 Elwood Walter Joseph Henderson, William J. Murphy, Augustus H. Murphy, Charles W. Hawthorne, Thomas Orr The pilot boat Elwood Walter, No. 7, was built by Mr. Edward F. Williams of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York in 1853. The schooner was named after Ellwood Walter (businessman), the President of the Mercantile Mutual Insurance Company. She was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2]
No. 7 Edmund Driggs (no picture) Captain William M. Qualey (Sandy Hook Pilot) Pilot Boat Edmund Driggs No. 7, was cast ashore in the blizzard of 1888 but survived.[2] On July 27, 1894, she boarded the French man-of-war Huzzard outside the bar.[18]
No. 7 Friend (replaced by Columbia) (picutre at Digital Commonwealth Pilot Boat Friend, No. 7) Thomas Cooper Boston pilot boat Friend No. 7 was built in 1888. One of the captains was Captain Thomas Cooper. She was replaced by the pilot boat Columbia.[3] Thomas Cooper was the pilot of pilot boat Columbia in 1898.[19]
No. 7 Minerva (picutre at Digital Commonwealth Pilot Boat No. 7) Boston pilot noat. Photographed by Nathaniel Stebbins.
No. 8 Sylph Boston Pilot Boat ooner Sylph No. 8 was built at North Weymouth, MA in 1878. She was sold out of service in 1901, after 23 years of Boston pilot service.[20][9] Photographed by Nathaniel Stebbins.
No. 8 Richard K. Fox Boston pilot boat Lillie, No. 1, was built at East Boston, Massachusetts, on a model by Dennison J. Lawlor in 1876. She was later sold to the New York pilots and renamed the Richard K. Fox.[21]
No. 8 Isaac Webb (picture available in the Russell citation) The pilot boat Isaac Webb No. 8, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. She rescued the crew of the Sarah in October 1878. The Webb was shipwrecked on the Rhode Island coast, where the boat became a total loss. Isaac Webb was also a shipbuilder.[2] This boat is listed in the Index to Ship Registers with the owners as the N. Y. Pilots.[12]
No. 8 Columbia Augustus Van Pelt Pilot boat Columvia, No. 8, was run down off Fire Island on December 3, 1883 by the S. S. Alaska of the Guion Line. All hands were lost. Captain Augustus Van Pelt was one of the owners of the pilot boat Columbia No. 8.[1][22]
No. 9 James Avery (no picture) The pilot boat James Avery, No. 9 was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. David S. Nicolay served as boat-keeper on the James Avery No. 9, from 1866 to 1867.[23]
No. 9 Pet Joseph Henderson The pilot boat Pet was built in 1866 by Edward E. "Ned" Costigan at Charlestown, Massachusetts, for Pilot Captain Abel T. Hayden. She was 54 tons and steered by a tiller. She was in service for a number of years in Boston and later sold to the New York pilots.[9] By 1876, she was registered to Joseph Henderson.[12]
No. 9 E. D. Jordan (no picture) Pilot Jackson The pilot boat E. D. Jordan, No. 9, also arrived at Stapleton this morning in charge of Pilot Jackson. The Jordan on Thursday night was carried 75 miles beyond the Highlands and her trysail was carried a way. A wave of 30 feet washed over her smashing her yawl, the Boom and flooding the cabin.[7]
No. 10 J. M. Waterbury Picture is in the book "Maritime New York in Nineteenth-Century Photographs" by Harry Johnson and Frederick S. Lifghtfoot, 1980, page 25. Pilot boat J. M. Waterbury, No. 10 was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2]
No. 10 Widgeon (citation has picture of the Widgeon No. 9) Franklin Osgood The pilot schooner Widgeon was originally built as a yacht for owner Franklin Osgood of the New York Yacht Club. Pilot Boat #10 was of the New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Association.[24]
No. 11 Edward K. Collins (no picture) Pilot Boat Edward K. Collins, No. 11 ran ashore on Fire Island in a blinding snow storm on January 10, 1856.[1]
No. 11 George W. Blunt The pilot boat George W. Blunt, No. 11, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] She was a two-masted, 85-foot long, 122-ton schooner. She was built by Daniel Westervelt son of Jacob Aaron Westervelt of the shipyard Westervelt & Co., built in 1856.
No. 11 G. W. Blunt (no picture) The G. W. Blunt was acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat as well as a dispatch boat in support of the Union Navy blockade of Confederate waterways. She was lot on the Long Island shore about thirty miles from Sandy Hook light vessel in 1875.[1]
No. 11 Phantom The Phantom, No. 11, was design by Dennison J. Lawlor. The SS Oregon was rescued by the pilot boat Phantom No. 11.[1]
No. 11 William H. Bateman Pilot boats Mary A. Williams, William H. Bateman and Edmund Blunt raced and competed for honors in May, 1890. Pilot John Handran was lost on pilot-boat Bateman No. 11, on April 15, 1889.[1][25]
No. 12 William J. Romer James McGuire The pilot-boat, William J. Romer, No. 12, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] Captain James McGuire was on the Romer when she left for England on February 9, 1846.[1]
No. 13 Mary Ann (no picture) The pilot boat Mary Ann, No. 23 was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. Several reports about the Mary Ann, No. 13 going ashore outside of Sandy Hook.[26]
No. 13 Francis Perkins (no picture) The pilot boat Francis Perkins No. 13, hailing from New York, was struck by a wreck on Barnegat shoals in a gale and snow storm in January, 1887. Six of the crew were saved and two lost.[27] Pilot Walter A. Reddin was safe but Pilot Robert Vineer was lost when the Francis Perkins sank.[28]
No. 14 Edwin Forest (no picture) The pilot Boat Edwin Forest No. 14, of New York, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] She was lost on Long Island in 1862. She was replaced in 1865 by Dennison J. Lawlor of Boston, Massachusetts.[21]
No. 14 Edward F. Williams (no picture) In the March blizzard of 1888, Pilot Boat Edward F. Williams No. 14 dragged her anchors and went ashore in the Sandy Hook horseshoe.[2]
No. 15 John D. Jones Picture is in the book "Maritime New York in Nineteenth-Century Photographs" by Harry Johnson and Frederick S. Lifghtfoot, 1980, page 17. Theodore Robinson (Sandy Hook Pilot) The 125-ton pilot boat John D. Jones, No. 15 was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. On March 18, 1871, pilot boat J. D. Jones, while in the act of boarding the Inman Line steamship City of Washington, from Liverpool for New York, 280 miles east from Sandy Hook, was run into and struck sinking her in 15 minutes in a stormy night. The pilots and crew all saved.[29]
No. 16 Christian Bergh (no picture) The pilot boat Christian Bergh, No. 16 was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. On March 10, 1860, the New York Evening Express reported: Packet Ship De Witt Clinton Ashore! Passengers were safe and put on board the pilot boat Christian Bergh, No. 16, and would go through Quarantine.[30]
No. 16 J. F. Loubat (no picture) Electus Comfort and Frank P. Van Pelt The pilot boat J. F. Loubat, No. 16 was a New York pilot boat with the Captain Electus Comfort, who was in active service for 42 years. The steamer Santiago sank the Loubat pilot boat. Captain Frank P. Van Pelt was rescued.[1]
No. 17 Fannie Captain John Martin The pilot boat Fannie, No. 17 was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] There are several newspaper accounts of doing business as a New York pilot boat from 1860 through 1891.
No. 17 Mary Taylor (image is in citation for "Pilots") Richard Brown New York pilot boat built in 1849 at Williamsburg, New York and designed by George Steers for Captain Richard Brown.[3]
No. 18 Enchantress (no picture) Daniel V. Jones The pilot Boat Enchantress No. 18, was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860.[2] She went down with all hands on March 13, 1888 blizzard. Pilot Daniel V. Jones and others were lost.[1] Daniel V. Jones was a pilot for the Sandy Hook Pilot Boat. 14. He took charge of the steamer Cephalonia that hit a tug boat in the New York harbor.[31]
No. 18 James Stafford Pilot Peterson was in charge New York Pilot boat James Stafford, No. 18 was built in 1880 by Conrad Freitag. On February 13, 1895, Pilot-bat Stafford, No. 18, which had been missing at sea for several days, arrived at Stapleton, Staten Island this morning in tow by a tug.[7]
No. 19 Mary A. Williams The pilot boat Mary A. Williams, No. 19 was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. Pilot boats Mary A. Williams, William H. Bateman and Edmund Blunt raced and competed for honors in May, 1890.[1]
No. 19 Jacob A. Westervelt (picture available in citation) Pilot Boat Jacob A. Westervelt No. 19 was run down and sunk by the British steamer Saxonia on Tuesday morning, April 20, 1858, her Captain, John O’Keefe, drowned. She was built in 1853 by Aaron Westervely. She was 110 tons burthen and one of the best and fastest boats in the fleet.[32][3][2]
No. 20 Nettle (no picture) The pilot boat Nettle, No. 20 was one of twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. On April 23, 1860, pilot boat Nettle fell in with the wreck of the Bark Belle. She made the following report: "Sunday 15th, at three P.M. fell in with the wreck of bark Belle of Boston, dismasted and waterlogged; attempted to tow her, but wind being light made no impression upon her; lay by her all night."[33]
No. 20 Joseph Pulitzer (picture in citation for book "Pilots") Captain J. M. Heath New York Pilot Boat Joseph Pulitzer was built in 1894 at Essex, Massachusetts for the New York Captain J. M. Heath.[3] She resuced part of the crew and some of the passengers of the schooner Georgiana Young, who had abandoned their ship after it had stranded in an easterly gale, on Roamer Shoal.[1]
No. 21 William H. Aspinwall (no picture) The pilot boat William H. Aspinwall, No. 21 was one of the twenty-one New York pilot boats in 1860. The boat was lost near Fire Island in April, 1880. She has been replaced by the new schooner "America," built especially for the service.[34]
No. 21 America (no picture) Joseph Henderson was attached to the pilot boat, America, No. 21, in the blizzard of March 1888, and at the time of his death in 1890.[35][36] There is also newspaper accounts of a pilot boat "American", No. 21.
No. 22 James Funck (no picture) Smith On August 11, 1864, the pilot boat James Funk, No. 22, was captured and burned by the Confederate pirate cruiser Tallahassee.[1] The pilot boat was called the James Funk, No. 2 by Charles E. Russel in his book From Sandy Hook to 62. Pilot Smith was onboard at the time of the capture.[2]
No. 23 Josiah Johnson (no picture) Pilot Boat Josiah Johnson, No. 23 was sunk in 1869.[2]
No. 24 William Bell Joseph Henderson, William H. Anderson, John Van Dusen, and James Callahan The William Bell was built in Greenpoint, Long Island, New York, in 1863–64 by shipbuilder Edward F. Williams of Brooklyn for Joseph Henderson, William H. Anderson, John Van Dusen, and James Callahan.

Not identified
Ship Name Image Description
F. E. Pinto Picture of boat is in the book "Maritime New York in Nineteenth-Century Photographs" by Harry Johnson and Frederick S. Lifghtfoot, 1980, page 131. This book has a picture of a barge tied up to the dock of F. E. Pinto in 1872.[37]
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See also

References
  1. Allen, Edward L. (1922). Pilot Lore From sail to Steam. New York: The United New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Benevolent Associations.
  2. Russell, Charles Edward (1929). From Sandy Hook to 62°. New York: Century Co.
  3. Cunliffe, Tom (2001). Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar. Brooklin, Maine: WoodenBoat. p. 73.
  4. "Wrecked By Fog. Pilot Boat Hope, No. 1, a Total Loss on Sandy Hook Point". The Evening World. New York, New York. 13 March 1891. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. "Death of the Oldest Sandy Hook Pilot". New York, New York: The Sun. 19 June 1885. Retrieved 2 August 2020. He went to England with the yacht America in 1851, and piloted her to the victory by which she captured the Qeen's cup.
  6. America's Victory: The Heroic Story of a Team of Ordinary Americans. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  7. "The E. D. Jordan Arrives in Tow". The Evening World. New York, New York. 13 February 1895. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  8. "Throwing The Ashes Of Capt Frank Fowler's Remains Into The Water". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 29 April 1902. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  9. Eastman, Ralph M. (1956). Pilots and pilot boats of Boston Harbor. Boston, Massachusetts: Second Bank-State Street Trust Company.
  10. "Staten Island". The New York Times. New York, New York. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  11. "The Missing Pilot Baot Commerce". www.newspapers.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020..
  12. "Index to Ship Registers". research.mysticseaport.org. Mystic seaport. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  13. "Five Men Lost, The Sad Fate of the Pilot Boat W. H. Starbuck". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New Yokr. 15 March 1888. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  14. "Arrival of the Great Eastern". 28 June 1860. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  15. RUN INTO BY A WHALE.; THE NARROW ESCAPE OF THE PILOT BOAT ALEXANDER M. LAWRENCE, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 19, 1885.
  16. Half Model of the Pilot Schooner Hesper
  17. "A Model Pilotbat The Successul Launching of the David T. Leahy". New York Times. 4 September 1890. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  18. "French Man-Of-War Here". The Evening World. New York, New York. 27 July 1894. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  19. "Battleship Massachusets Goes to New York". www.newspapers.com. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  20. Pilot schooner Sylph No. 8
  21. Cahpelle, Howard I. (1960). The National Watercraft Collection. United States National Museum, Bulletin 219. p. 89.
  22. "Lost Hope Regarding Pilot Boat No. 8, of the New York Fleet". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 5 December 1883. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  23. Free masonry in North America, Henry Whitemore, page 235.
  24. N.Y. Pilot Schooner #10-Widgeon off Sandy Hook
  25. "Hit by a Falling Mast. Pilot Handran Killed On The Commodore Bateman". Times Union. Brooklyn, New York. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
  26. Marine Intelligence The New York Times, August 28, 1863
  27. General Telegraph News Hudson Register, January 24, 1887
  28. "The Lost Pilot Boat", upload.wikimedia.org, retrieved 2 August 2020
  29. Disaster At Sea, A New York Pilot Boat Cut Down by an Ocean Steamer New York Evening Express, March 30, 1871
  30. Packet Ship De Witt Clinton Ashore! New York Evening Express, March 10, 1860
  31. "Run Down By A Steamer". 28 February 1884. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  32. Loss of the Pilot Boat Jacob A. Westervelt No. 19 August 5, 2010
  33. New York Morning Express, Marine News, April 23, 1860
  34. Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York, Issues 12-28, 1881, Page 4
  35. Pilot Henderson Dead The Evening Edition World, October 8, 1890
  36. Record of American and Foreign Shipping 1890 Walter Brewer was ship master.
  37. The Brooklyn Waterfront. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
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