Columbia (pilot boat)

The Columbia was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1879 for the Sandy Hook New York pilots. She was run down by the Guion Line steamer SS Alaska in 1883. A second pilot-boat, also named Columbia, was built in East Boston in 1894 that had a unique bow and was extremely fast. She was thrown ashore in the great Portland Gale, and remained on the Sand Hills beach in Scituate, Massachusetts for over thirty years as a marine curiosity.[6]:p163[7]

For the yacht, see Columbia (1871 yacht).
Pilot Boat Columbia
History
US
Name: Columbia
Owner: N. Y. Pilots
Builder: C. & R. Poillon, Brooklyn, New York
Cost: $16,000[1]
Launched: November 15, 1879
Out of service: December 3, 1883
Fate: Sank
General characteristics 1st Columbia
Class and type: schooner
Tonnage: 90 TM[2]
Length: 87 ft 0 in (26.52 m)[3]
Beam: 21 ft 4 in (6.50 m)[2]
Draft: 82 ft 0 in (24.99 m)[3]
Depth: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)[3]
Propulsion: Sail
Sail plan: 75 ft 0 in (22.86 m)[3]
Notes: Maryland oak with Locust Stanchions[3]
History
US
Name: Columbia
Owner: Captain Thomas Cooper
Builder: Ambrose A. Martin's East Boston
Cost: $16,000
Launched: May 17, 1894
Out of service: November 26, 1898
Fate: Sank
General characteristics 2nd Columbia
Class and type: schooner
Tonnage: 89 TM[4]
Length: 95 ft 0 in (28.96 m)[5]
Beam: 21 ft 4 in (6.50 m)[5]
Depth: 12 ft 0 in (3.66 m)[5]
Propulsion: Sail
Notes: Painted black, Spars by Henry Pigeon

First Columbia pilot boat

Construction and service

The original Columbia, was launched on November 15, 1879 by the C. & R. Poillon shipyard at the foot of Bridge Street, Brooklyn, New York. The boat was built for Captain Augustus Van Pelt and other New York pilots, to take the place of the Isaac Webb, pilot-boat No. 8. The Web, went ashore in a dense fog off Point Judith, Rhode Island in July 1879.[8] At the launch, the christening was performed by Augustus Van Pelt's daughter, Mary Louis Van Pelt, who broke the customary bottle of champagne over the bow of the vessel. The company of captains that owned the Columbia were: Augustus Van Pelt, Benjamin Simonson, Henry E. Sequine, Stephen H. Jones, Christopher M. Wolf, and Daniel V. Jones.[2][3]

The Columbia was in several accidents. On February 3, 1880, during a winter storm, the Columbia No. 8 placed a pilot on board the inbound Guion Line steamship Arizona, twenty-five miles from Sandy Hook. Several pilots from the Columbia were thrown into the sea. The Arizona was able to rescue the pilots and bring them onboard. The Columbia managed to make it to Newport, Rhode Island with her flags flying half mast.[7][9][10]

Guion Line ocean liner SS Alaska (1881).

On March 27, 1883, the Columbia was struck 45 miles southeast of Sandy Hook, by the Holland America Line Rotterdam of the Netherlands Mall Line. She was able to be towed into New York City for repairs.[11][10]

On December 2, 1883, the Columbia, No. 8, was run down and sank off Fire Island to the south shore of Long Island, New York, by the Guion Line steamer SS Alaska. The Alaska smashed into the Columbia and split her in two. the All hands were lost in this disaster. The report of the loss of the Columbia showed the danger that pilots encountered when trying to board a steamship in rough weather. The names of the six pilots that perished were: Christian Wolf, Thomas H. Metcalf, Ralph Noble, Charles Arnold, William White, and Abraham Jones.[7][12][10]

Second Columbia pilot boat

In May 17, 1894, a new, bigger 95-feet pilot-boat Columbia, was launched from the Ambrose A. Martin's East Boston Massachusetts shipyard. She was built for pilot service for Captain Thomas Cooper and his colleagues, to replace the pilot-boat Friend, No. 7. They wanted a more up-to-date vessel to challenge the Hesper, Varuna, and other faster boats of the Boston fleet.[13][6] She was registered as Number 2, for the Boston Pilots under command of Captain Cooper. After her launch she was towed to Battery Wharf, where she took on ballast. She was rigged by Francis Lowe & Sons.[5]

After being in service for only three months, the Columbia, was struck by the John B. Manning, of New York, a four-masted schooner on September 26, 1894. The schooner struck the Columbia on the port bow. She was damaged but made it back into port at East Boston. Captain Thomas Cooper was the pilot on the Columbia.[14]

On December 5, 1897, the Columbia, No. 2, was struck by the ocean liner City of Macon, when she was preparing to leave port. Captain Cooper was onboard at the time of the accident.[15]

On November 26, 1898, while returning to Boston, the Columbia, was driven ashore at the notorious Sand Hills beach in Scituate in the great Portland Gale with the loss of all five men aboard. She was designed for rough weather and was only four years old. Other vessels were wrecked and homes were smashed in the winter storm. The giant seas tossed the Columbia on a seaside cottage. She remained on the beach at Sand Hills for over thirty years as a marine curiosity. For two days, patrolmen of the North Scituate Station picked their way through the wreckage during a snowstorm.[16] Captain Cooper, who was not onboard the Columbia, was transferred to the pilot-boat Varuna, No. 6, that he had ownership with. The Louise No. 2 replaced the ill-fated Columbia.[6][4]

Pilot Boat Friend
Pilot Boat Friend No. 7; photograph by Nathaniel Stebbins, c. 1888.

Boston pilot-boat Friend No. 7 was built in 1848 by Kelley & Holmes East Boston shipyard. She was 65-tons.[17] One of the captains was Captain Thomas Cooper, who sold the Friend to the New York Pilots on October 21, 1893,[18] when she was 40 years old.

On May 15, 1893, pilot-boat Friend with pilot Joe Fossett, picked up the two-masted schooner Modesty of Bangor, Maine, that was full of water. They were able to bring the vessel into East Boston with the help of the tugboat Piscataqua.[19]

In 1894, the pilot-boat Friend was replaced by the pilot-boat Columbia, built by Ambrose D. Martin at East Boston for Thomas Cooper.[6]:p163 In November, 1896, the pilot-boat Friend was altered to be a pleasure boat.[20]

See also

References
  1. "Eastern States". Daily Colonist. 1883-12-08. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  2. "Launch Of The Columbia". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 1879-11-16. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  3. "Launched. The New Pilot Boat Columbia, No. 8. A Description of the Vessel, The Event Witnessed by a Large Assemblage". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 1879-11-15. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  4. United States Life Saving Service. 1900. p. 26. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  5. "A New Pilot Boat. Captain Tom Cooper Launches a Fine Vessel for Bay Service". Boston Post. 1894-05-18. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  6. Cunliffe, Tom (2001). Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar. Brooklin, Maine: WoodenBoat. ISBN 9780937822692.
  7. Allen, Edward L. (1922). Pilot Lore From sail to Steam. The United New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Benevolent Associations.
  8. "Suburban Notes". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 1879-07-31. p. 7. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
  9. "The Disaster To The Arizona". The Sun. New York, New York. 1880-02-05. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  10. Russell, Charles Edward (1929). From Sandy Hook to 62°. New York: Century Co. p. 122. OCLC 3804485.
  11. "City And Suburban News, New York". The New York Times. New York, New York. 1883-03-27. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  12. "Lost Hope Regarding Pilot Boat No. 8, of the New York Fleet". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 1883-12-05. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  13. "Eastern Yachting News". The New York Times. New York, New York. 1894-05-20. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  14. "Struck Hard On Port Bow. New Pilot Boat Columbia Badly Damaged in Collision with a Four-Masted Schooner". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachussetts. 1894-09-26. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  15. "Pilot Boat Columbia is Run Into, Off Her Dock. Liner City of Macon Does About $400 Damage to Little Vessel". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachussetts. 1887-12-06. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
  16. "All Are Lost. Big Pilot Boat Columbia Dismantled and Thrown Up on a Wrecked Cottage". Buffalo Evening News. Buffalo, New York. 1898-11-29. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-09-16.
  17. "Ship Building at East Boston". The Vermont Union Whig. Rutland, Vermont. 6 Jan 1848. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-12-25 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Boston Pilot Boat Sold". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 23 Oct 1893. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  19. "Modesty Abandoned". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 15 May 1893. p. 4. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  20. "Yachts and Tachtsmen". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 15 Nov 1896. p. 29. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
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