Ellwood Walter, No. 7
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The Ellwood Walter, No. 7 was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1853 by Edward F. Williams at
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†...
to replace the pilot boat ''Yankee'', which was lost in December 1852. The schooner was used to pilot vessels to and from the Port of New York. She was replaced by the ''Edmund Driggs,'' No. 7, in 1864.


Construction and service

In January 1853, the pilot boat ''Ellwood Walter'' was built by Edward F. Williams at
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†...
. On May 16, 1853, The pilot boat ''Elwood Walter,'' No. 7, belonging to the Merchant Pilot Association, went down the bay with a large party of guests on board. She went out as far as the Sandy Hook light and returned to the city. The
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 ...
was named after Ellwood Walter, the President of the Mercantile Mutual Insurance Company. Walter had extensive experience and knowledge as an insurance underwriter. Her dimensions were 71.6 ft. in length on deck; 19.10 ft. breadth of beam; 7.6 ft. depth of hold; and 90-tons Tonnage. She was built to replace the pilot boat ''Yankee,'' which was lost in December 1852. She was owned by the following pilots: Captain John McRee, William J. Murphy, Augustus H. Murphy, Charles W. Hawthorne, Thomas Orr, and Joseph Henderson. Several Sandy Hook pilots received their pilot license sailing on the ''Elwood Walter''. Captain Joseph Henderson received his license as a ''Branch Pilot'' on the Elwood Walter on September 13, 1853, from the Board of Commissioners of Pilots. He was a commander of the ''Elwood Walter'' throughout his training. On January 21, 1857, the ''Elwood Walter, No. 7'' was reported "AT STATEN ISLAND IN THE ICE." The report describes the bad weather conditions a day after a major storm. It lists the owners of the ''Elwood Walter'', and says "this boat is also hard and fast at
Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
." On August 3, 1855, a pilot from the ''Elwood Walter,'' No. 7, boarded the steamship ''J. Jones'', from Cardiff, Wales and was headed for New York. The ''Elwood Walter'', No. 7 was listed as one of only twenty-one New York and New Jersey pilot-boats in 1860. She was listed as one of these early
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
pilot boats. On March 15, 1860, the ''Ellwood Walter,'' No. 7, helped take the officers and crew off the ship ''Wabamo'', in the New York harbor, when it caught fire while going down the bay outside Sandy Hook. The ''New York Daily Tribune'' ran a story that read: "BURNING OF THE SHIP WABAMO IN NEW YORK HARBOR – In New York, this day, the ship Wabamo, Captain Doty bound from New York for
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
caught fire about noon, while going down the bay, and burned to the water's edge. The flumes spread with such rapidity as to defy every effort to subdue them. The officers and crew were taken off by the pilot boat ''Elwood Walter'', saving little more than the clothing on their backs. The ship was built in Wiscasset, Maine, in 1854, and owned by Messrs. ''Layton & Hurlbut Co.,'' and was valued at $32,000. Her loss is covered by insurance. She had an assorted cargo of merchandise valued at $70,000 which was insured for $54,457." On October 10, 1860, New York Sandy Hook Pilot Augustus H. Murphy, of the pilot boat ''Ellwood Walter,'' No. 7, signed a statement along with other pilots, that they were satisfied with the representation they have received from the
New York Board of Commissioners of Pilots The Board of Commissioners of Pilots of The State Of New York is the New York state agency responsible for licensing and regulating maritime pilot, pilots within one of the largest harbors in the world. It licenses and regulates up to 75 pilots of ...
. Other reports of the ''Ellwood Walter'' were reported from 1861 to 1863 by the ''New York Times''.


End of service

New York pilot-boat ''Edmund Driggs,'' No. 7, was launched from the
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 ...
of E. F. Williams, at
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†...
on 27 February 1864, as a replacement for the ''Elwood Walter No. 7''.


See also

* List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats


References

{{Authority control Schooners Pilot boats Service vessels of the United States 1853 ships Ships built in Brooklyn