The ''Edward F. Williams'' was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat, built in 1863 at the Edward F. Williams

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn� ...

for a group of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Pilots. She survived the

Great Blizzard of 1888 The Great Blizzard of 1888, also known as the Great Blizzard of '88 or the Great White Hurricane (March 11–14, 1888), was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history. The storm paralyzed the East Coast from the Chesapeake Ba ...

. In the age of steam, the ''Williams'' was sold in 1896.

Construction and service

New York pilot-boat ''Edward F. Williams No. 14'' was built 1863 at the Edward F. Williams

. The boat number "14" was painted as a large number on her mainsail, that identified the boat as belonging to the Sandy Hook Pilots. She was launched on April 28, 1863 from the Edward F. Williams yard for the Sandy Hook pilots. She was built for company of pilots that owned the Forrest, No. 14, which was wrecked on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

in 1862. The ''Edward F. Williams'' was registered with the ''Record of American and Foreign Shipping'' from 1877 to 1900, as a Pilot

Schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

, with the New York Pilots as owners and Geo. H. Berry as the Master. She was 76 in length, 21 in breadth of beam, 7 in depth of hold, 50-tons and built in 1863. In the March

, Pilot Boat Edward F. Williams No. 14, was one of 17 vessels out on pilot duty at the time of the storm. She went ashore in the Sandy Hook horseshoe along with along with ''Edmund Blunt'' and ''W. W. Story''. Pilot Marshal P. White was in command at the time of the storm and was able to seek shelter inside Sandy Hook. The anchors did not hold and she was dragged towards the shore where she hit sand, that caused her keel to break off. She then started to leak and sank. Eleven men aboard had to escape in two small boats. The ''Williams'' was raised, repaired and served 12 more years as a pilot schooner. In 1901 she went to the West Indies as a trading vessel. On December 3, 1913, after 52 years, she was wrecked at Galveston harbor. In the summer of 1888, author and New York newspaper editor Charles Edward Russell talked about being on the pilot boat ''Edward F. Williams'' and racing with the pilot boat '' Jesse Carll'', No. 10. When they saw a streamliner that needed a pilot, they raced to see which pilot boat could reacher her first. The pilots from both boats took yawls and rowed them to the steamer to reach the ladder. As both yawls came to the ladder, pilot Moller from the ''Williams'' went up the side of the steamer to salute the captain. On September 9, 1891, the Red Star Line ''Westland'' that was hit by a cyclone three hundred miles east of Sandy Hook, was helping the pilot boat ''Washington'', No. 22, that was in tow by the pilot boat, Edward F. Williams, No. 24. The ''Westland'' threw her a hawser, which was attached to the ''Washington's'' bow. The ''Westland'' tried to tow her to port, but the strain on the chain was too great so she dropped it. The pilot Robert Sylvester of the pilot boat ''

David Carll David Carll (October 9, 1830 –December 27, 1888) was a 19th-century American shipbuilder. He was well known for building fast and seaworthy yachts and schooners. He specialized in shallow draft Centreboard schooners. The David Carll's sh ...

'', No. 4, brought in the ''Westland.'' The ''Washington'' was able to arrive safely back into port with damages to her masts.

End of service

In the age of steam, the ''E. F. Williams'' and four other pilot-boats were retained temporarily. On 1 February 1896, the New York Pilots discarded sixteen sailboats and moved them to the

Erie Basin Erie Basin may refer to: * Lake Erie Basin, the watershed of Lake Erie * Western Basin of Lake Erie The Western Basin of Lake Erie is the shallow flat basin that comprises the western third of the lake that borders the U.S. states of Michigan and ...

in Brooklyn. They were replaced with steam pilot boats. The ''Edward F. Williams'' was sold for $4,000.

References

{{List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats : : : : : Individual sailing vessels Schooners of the United States Service vessels of the United States 1863 ships Pilot boats Ships built in Brooklyn

Construction and service

End of service

See also

References