Fannie (pilot boat)

The Fannie was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1860 for the New York City and Sandy Hook Pilots. Author, Charles Edward Russell talked about the Fannie that helped rescue the schooner Franklin, which had been in bad weather for twenty four days at sea.[2]:p276 She was one of the oldest pilot-boats still in service in a time when they were being replaced by steam pilot boats.

New York Pilot Boat Fannie, No. 17 in the collection at The Mariners' Museum.
History
US
Name: Fannie
Owner: N. Y. Pilots
Builder: Edward F. Williams
Cost: $4,000
Launched: 1860
Out of service: 1896
Fate: Sold
General characteristics
Class and type: schooner
Tonnage: 51-tons TM[1]
Length: 76 ft 1 in (23.19 m)
Beam: 19 ft 0 in (5.79 m)
Draft: 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m)
Depth: 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m)
Propulsion: Sail

Construction and service

The pilot-boat Fannie, No. 17, was built in July, 1860 by the Edward F. Williams shipyard, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, for the New York and Sandy Hook Pilots. She was owned by Captain Edward Mersenne on New York.[3]

On August 11, 1864, during the American Civil War, the pilot-boat Fannie, No. 17 reported that they saw a vessel burning off Montauk, New York. The pilots believed that the CSS Tallahassee was working her way toward the Nantucket Shoals in the Atlantic Ocean.[4]

The Fannie was registered with the Record of American and Foreign Shipping from 1877 to 1885 to Captain C. H. Wolsey as Master and to the New York Pilots as owners. She belonged to the port of New York.[1] John Hobbs was captain and half owner of the pilot-boat Fannie, No. 17.[5] She was one of only twenty-one New York pilot-boats in 1860.[2]:p159

On October 13, 1869, the pilot-boat Fannie, No. 17, was out at sea and reported a sunken brig laying south of the Highlands, New Jersey. Captain Wolsey was in command and reported that the brig is in the path of inward and outward bound vessels.[6]

On March 27, 1872, pilot-boat Fannie, No. 17 came across the schooner Franklin, which had been in bad weather for twenty four days, coming from Boston. Captain C. H. Wolsey of the Fannie was able to tow her safely into the New York harbor.[2]:p276[7]

On November 25, 1881, the pilot-boat Fannie, No. 17, picked up the Barque Aberdeen, out at sea and had the tugboat Walcott tow her to Staten Island. The tugboat got $250 for efforts and the pilots got $4,000.[8]

On July 26, 1893, the pilot-boat Fannie, ran into the side of the fruit steamship Banan, causing the pilot-boat's main rigging to be torn and twisted. The Fannie asked for $100 in damages.[9]

On April 13, 1894, Pilot Henry A. DeVere was lost while boarding the Norwegian steamer Banan from the pilot-boat Fannie, No. 17., while off Cape May. The weather was bad with gales and high seas, which capsized a yawl with DeVere and two other men. DeVere had been a pilot for ten years. His father had been a pilot for thirty years.[10][11]

End of service

On February 1, 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 Fannie, was sold for $4,000.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Record of American and Foreign Shipping 1877". Mystic Seaport Museum. New York. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  2. Russell, Charles Edward (1929). From Sandy Hook to 62°. New York: Century Co. OCLC 3804485.
  3. "Launch". The New York Times. New York, New York. 13 Jul 1860. p. 8. Retrieved 11 October 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "The Tallahassee A Brig and a Schooner Burned off Montauk". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. 17 Aug 1864. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-10-11.
  5. "Pilot Hobbs' Funeral". The Daily Standard Union. Brooklyn, New York. 1896-09-21. p. 3. Retrieved 11 October 2020 – via Old Fulton NY Postcards .
  6. "Sunken Brig Discoverd". Fall River Daily Evening News. Fall River, Massachusetts. 14 Oct 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 11 October 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Twenty-Four Days' Buffeting on the Billows, The Coasting Schooner Franklin, of Wiscasset, Maine, Driven to Sea, Severe Gales, The Vessel and Cargo Saved, but the Captain Badly Frozen, Towed Into Port by Pilot Boat Fanny". The New York Herald. New York, N.Y. 30 March 1872. Retrieved 11 October 2020 – via Library of Congress .
  8. "A Slice of Luck". Passaic Daily News. Passaic, New Jersey. 25 Nov 1881. p. 3. Retrieved 11 October 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Ran Into A Pilot-Boat. The Steamship Banan Seriously Injures the Fannie, of New York". The World. New York, New York. p. 8. Retrieved 11 October 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Allen, Edward L. (1922). Pilot Lore From sail to Steam. New York: The United New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Benevolent Associations. p. 18.
  11. "Waves Wrested Life Away. Pilot De Vere Died After Being Picked Up at Sea. Capsized While Trying to Board the Steamer Banan". The New York Herald. New York, N.Y. 30 March 1872. Retrieved 11 October 2020 – via Library of Congress .
  12. "Not Up To Date. Why New York Pilots Are Discarding Sailboats". The Standard Union. Brooklyn, New York. 1896-02-01. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
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