The ''Ezra Nye'' was a 19th-century

pilot boat A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship ...

, built in 1859 by the Wells & Webb

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 Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...

Pilots. She was one of the pilot-boats that was in the Great Blizzard of 1888, that was one of the most severe blizzards in American history. In 1896, in the age of steam, the ''Ezra Nye'' along with other pilot boats, were replaced with

steamboats A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

Construction and service

The new pilot boat ''Ezra Nye'' was launched on 8 March 1859 from Wells & Webb

. Ezra Nye, was the name of a steamship captain of the

Collins Line The Collins Line was the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins, formally called the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company. Under Edward Col ...

SS Pacific (1849) SS ''Pacific'' was a wooden-hulled, sidewheel steamer built in 1849 for transatlantic service with the American Collins Line. Designed to outclass their chief rivals from the British-owned Cunard Line, ''Pacific'' and her three sister ships (''At ...

, who died in 1866 of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. She was known as pilot-boat ''Ezra Nye'' No, 2, for the New Jersey Pilots' Association. The ''Ezra Nye'' was registered as a New Jersey 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 ''Record of American and Foreign Shipping'', from 1861 to 1885. She was 70.5 ft. in length, 19.5 ft. breadth of beam, 7.5 ft. depth, 9 ft. draft, and 44-tons. J. T. Watson and Benjamin J. Guinness were the ship masters. She was registered as owned by the New Jersey Pilots. Ezra Nye

On March 12, 1888, in 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 ...

, the New Jersey pilot-boat ''Ezra Nye,'' along with other pilot-bats, was caught up in one of the most severe blizzards in American history. She left

Tompkinsville Tompkinsville may refer to: *Tompkinsville, Kentucky * Tompkinsville, Maryland *Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York ** Tompkinsville (Staten Island Railway station) The Tompkinsville station is a Staten Island Railway station in the neighborh ...

bound for a cruise. She stayed close to Sandy Hook, but when the storm hit the pilots decided to sail through

the Narrows __NOTOC__ The Narrows is the tidal strait separating the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It connects the Upper New York Bay and Lower New York Bay and forms the principal channel by which the Hudson Riv ...

to the

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base and ...

, where they thought she would be safe. However, the storm turned into a hurricane and she drifted and struck near the southern end of the Manhattan Beach Railroad pier. All her crew were able to escape to land. The pilot boat ''Elbridge T. Gerry'' was launched on August 24, 1888, to take the place of the ''Ezra Nye'' that was wrecked in the blizzard. She was salvaged and sold to the New York Sandy Hook Pilots. The boat number "11" was painted as a large number on her

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot ...

, that identified the boat as belonging to the New New York and Sandy Hook Pilots.

End of service

On 1 February 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 ''Ezra Nye,'' was sold for $1,500. On May 29, 1896, the ''Ezra Nye,'' was made into a cruising yacht and sailed to the

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

Southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

on the

Bay of Naples A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

for the American novelist,

Francis Marion Crawford Francis Marion Crawford (August 2, 1854 – April 9, 1909) was an American writer noted for his many novels, especially those set in Italy, and for his classic weird and fantastical stories. Early life Crawford was born in Bagni di Lucca, in th ...

. She was renamed the ''Alda, '' which is

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic for Ocean Wave.

References

{{List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats, state=collapsed Individual sailing vessels Schooners of the United States Service vessels of the United States 1859 ships Pilot boats Ships built in Brooklyn

Construction and service

End of service

See also

References