E. C. Knight

The Edward C. Knight or E. C. Knight, was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1875 for the Delaware River Pilots. She was the finest and fastest pilot-boat belonging to the Philadelphia port.[2] The sail number "2" was painted on her mainsail.

Pilot Boat E. C. Knight, No. 2, off Cape May, New Jersey
History
US
Name: Edward C. Knight
Owner: Delaware River Pilots
Builder: C. & R. Poillon
Cost: $17,000
Launched: August 12, 1875
Fate: Sold
General characteristics
Class and type: schooner
Tonnage: 72-tons TM[1]
Length: 85 ft 2 in (25.96 m)
Depth: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Propulsion: Sail

Construction and service

On August 12, 1875, the pilot-boat Edward C. Knight was launched from the C. & R. Poillon shipyard at the foot of Bridge Street, Brooklyn, New York.[3] She was built for the Delaware fleet at a cost of $17,000.[4]

She was registered with the Record of American and Foreign Shipping from 1876-1900 as the E. C. Knight. The owners were the Delaware River Pilots, belonging to the port of Philadelphia. She was 85.2 feet long and weighed 72-tons.[5] The sail number "2" was painted in black on her mainsail to distinquish her from other pilot-boats.

Captain Ellis Eldridge was commander of the pilot-boat E. C. Knight, of the Delaware Breakwater Squadron.[6]

On January 3, 1877, the pilot-boat E. C. Knight, No. 2, of Philadelphia, came to New York port for repairs to a main boom and steering gear. She was caught in a heavy gale and unable to proceed to Philadelphia because of ice in the Delaware river.[7] Later that year, in early October, she helped rescue the passengers and crew of the steamer Magnolia, that was sinking off Cape Hatteras.

On December 27, 1879, off Cape May, New Jersey on a freezing morning, apprentice 16 year old Joseph Gregory was knocked overboard and drowned by the boom of the pilot-boat E. C. Night. Every effort to rescue him was unsuccessful[8] On Gregory's tombstone is the inscription: “Lost off Pilot Boat E.C. Knight.”[9]

In 1882, the pilot-boats Knight of the Pennsylvania pilots and Bayard of the Delaware service raced for the steamship Indiana. The Knight, with pilot Ellis Eldridge, got there first and put Eldridge on board the Indiana. She was the finest pilot-boat belonging to the Pennsylvania pilots.[10]

In October, 1886, the pilot boat Edward C. Knight and the John G. Whildin were in a collision at the Delaware Breakwater east of Lewes, Delaware on Cape Henlopen.[11]

On August 26, 1893, the Knight rescued two members of the crew of the sinking Relief Ship No. 37 near the Five Fathom Bank Lightship in New Jersey.[12]

End of Delaware service

On September 11, 1898, the pilot boat E. C. Knight, one of the fastest pilot-boats in the North Atalantic coast, was sold to the Brunswick Pilots' Association of Georgia for $2,800 by her current owners Pilots' Association for Delaware.[2] The E. C. Knight continued her Brunswick pilot-boat service until 1919, when it was sold to a private party in Key West, Florida for transporting from the Islands south of Florida to Key West.[13]

See also

References
  1. "Record of American and Foreign Shipping 1881". Mystic Seaport Museum. New York. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  2. "Local and General News Of Ships and Shipping". The Morning News. Savannah, Georgia. 1898-09-11. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  3. "Launch". The New York Herald. 1875-08-12. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
  4. "Pilot Boats". The daily gazette. Wilmington, Del. 1875-07-26. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  5. "Record of American and Foreign Shipping 1876". Mystic Seaport Museum. New York. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  6. "The Resolute's Run". The New York herald. New York, N.Y. 1875-10-15. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  7. "Maritime Miscellany". The New York herald. New York, N.Y. 1877-01-06. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  8. "How The Year Dies In Jersey, Joseph Gregory". The Times. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 30 Dec 1879. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  9. Marvil, James E. (1965). Pilots of the Bay and River Delaware and Lewes lore. Laurel, Del. : Sussex Press. OCLC 7811368. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  10. "Pilots Boats Racing. An Exciting Chase for the Steamship Indiana". Cherryvale Globe and Torch. Cherryvale, Kansas. 1882-10-20. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
  11. "Maritime Notes". The Times. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 31 Oct 1886. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  12. "Notes of the Storm at Lewes". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. 26 Aug 1893. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  13. "Local Items Of Local Interest". The Brunswick news. Brunswick, Ga. 8 May 1919. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
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