Daniel Webster (pilot boat)

The Daniel Webster was a 19th-century pilot boat, built in 1851 at Chelsea, Massachusetts. She was sold to the San Francisco Pilots' Opposition Line in October 1853. In 1864 she sailed for Shanghai, China to be in the pilot service. She operated in Shanghai until 1892 when she was lost in a storm.

Oil painting of the pilot boat Daniel Webster.
History
US
Name: Daniel Webster
Namesake: Daniel Webster, American lawyer and statesman
Launched: 1851
Out of service: 1892
Fate: Sank
General characteristics
Class and type: schooner
Tonnage: 77-tons TM
Propulsion: Sail

Construction and service

The Boston pilot-boat Daniel Webster, was built in 1851 at Chelsea, Massachusetts. Captain William R. Lampee as a pilot and Thomas Cooper as an apprentice served on the Webster in the Boston pilot service. She was named for Daniel Webster, an American lawyer and statesman. When Webster died on 24 October 1852, the pilots of the Daniel Webster, wanted to attend his funeral. However, when they sailed to Marshfield, Massachusetts, they could not come ashore because there was not enough wind to pilot the boat near the shore.[1]

After losing the Dennison J. Lawlor Boston built pilot-boat Dancing Feather, in 1853 to the Merchant Line, the Daniel Webster, was purchased by the San Francisco Pilots' Opposition Line in October 1853. The Daniel Webster sailed from Boston to Cape Horn to get to San Francisco. The company was composed of W. W. Neal, C. L. Abbot, D. Murphy, W. E. Dornette, and O. E. Sampson.[2] The Daniel Webster, served the San Francisco fleet until 1862 when she was replaced by the Boston pilot-boat Caleb Curtis.[3][1]

The Daniel Webster, left San Francisco in February 1863 and sailed for Shanghai, China to become a pilot-boat. Her owners were Shelby, Palmer, Reddish, and C. L. Abbott, all San Francisco pilots, who went with her to be used a pilot-boat there.[4] Captain N. L. Rogers took the Daniel Webster to Shanghai as the sailing master.[5] She operated in Shanghai until 1892.[1]

End of service

Pilot-boat Daniel Webster, operated until 1892 in Shanghai, when she was lost in a storm. All pilots were rescued.[1]

Dancing Feather

The pilot-boat Dancing Feather, was built in 1853, from a model by the noted Boston builder and designer, Dennison J. Lawlor, at the Lawlor shipyard of East Boston, in Boston, Massachusetts. She was a schooner-rigged vessel with a sharp bow and round stern. She 68 feet in length, 20 foot beam, and 8 foot depth.[6]

She went to San Francisco in 1854 with Captain James L. Fowler, his son Franklin Fowler, and pilot Warren Simpson.[1]:p35 In December 1854, she went to the wreck of the three-masted steamship SS Yankee Blade and was able to raise four boxes of treasure from the sunken vessel, which amounted to $70,000.[7]

She went ashore on the beach north of Point Bonita in May 1857.[3]:p210[1]:p35 She was insured and worth about 10,000.[8]

Caleb Curtis

The Boston pilot-boat Caleb Curtis, was built in 1859. She was 80-tons and well known for her speed. She served two years before sailing from Boston around Cape Horn and then to San Francisco. She was wrecked inside the Bonita Channel on 11 April 1867. She was towed into San Francisco, repaired, and was able to continue, not as a pilot-boat but in commercial trade. The 1867 Boston built pilot-boat Geroge F. Peabody, replaced th lost Caleb Curtis.[3]:pp210–211[9]

See also

References
  1. Eastman, Ralph M. (1956). Pilots and pilot boats of Boston Harbor. Boston, Massachusetts: Second Bank-State Street Trust Company. pp. 56–57.
  2. "Colville's San Francisco directory for the year commencing". San Francisco: Commercial Steam Presses: Monson, Valentine, & Co. 1857. p. 306. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  3. Cunliffe, Tom (2001). Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar. Brooklin, Maine: Wooden Boat Publications. pp. 121, 210–211. ISBN 9780937822692.
  4. "Going To China". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. 28 Feb 1863. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Capt. N. L. Rogers". Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  6. Chapelle, Howard I. (1960). "The National Watercraft Collection". United States National Museum, Bulletin 219. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. p. 90.
  7. "Interesting News From California". The Washington Sentinel. Washington, District of Columbia. 28 Dec 1854. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-12-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "San Francisco News Items". The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California. 14 May 1857. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-12-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "From California". New England Farmer. Boston, Massachusetts. 20 Apr 1867. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-12-21 – via Newspapers.com.
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