Isaac Webb (pilot boat)

The Isaac Webb was a 19th-century pilot boat built in 1860 for the New York and Sandy Hook pilots. She received a reward by the Board of Pilot Commissioners of New York for saving three sailors from the wreck of the bark Sarah, that was caught up in a hurricane.[2]

Pilot Boat, No. 8
History
US
Name: Isaac Webb
Owner: N. Y. Pilots
Operator: Augustus Van Pelt
Builder: Webb & Bell shipyard, Brooklyn, New York
Cost: $8,500
Launched: October 31, 1860
Out of service: July 27, 1879
Fate: Sank
General characteristics
Class and type: schooner
Tonnage: 96 TM
Length: 70 ft 0 in (21.34 m)[1]
Beam: 20 ft 0 in (6.10 m)
Depth: 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Propulsion: Sail

Construction and service

Eckford Webb, son of Isaac Webb teamed up with George W. Bell, and created the Webb & Bell shipyard at Milton Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The shipyard launched the 96-ton pilot-boat Isaac Webb, for the New York and Sandy Hook pilots on October 31, 1860. Captain Augustus Van Pelt was in command of the boat.[3][4]

In 1860, the Isaac Webb, No. 8, was one of only twenty-one New York pilot boats in the Sandy Hook fleet.[5]:159 On October 10, 1860, New York Sandy Hook Pilot Augustus Van Pelt, of the pilot boat Isaac Webb, No. 1, signed a statement along with other pilots, that he was satisfied with the representation he had received from the New York Board of Commissioners of Pilots.[6]

The Isaac Webb is listed in the Index to Ship Registers from 1861-1879 with Captain Augustus Van Pelt and Captain Freeman as masters of the boat. The N. Y. Pilots were listed as the owner.[7]

On August 5, 1867, Henry Seguine from the pilot-boat Isaac Webb, No. 8, wrote a letter of thanks to the American Seamen's Friend Society, for use of a library that was placed on board the vessel for the benefit of the crew.[8]

Rescues

On October 14, 1871, the pilot-boat Isaac Webb, while cruising discovered the British brig Wexford in distress. She towed the brig for nine days and brought her into the New York harbor. She was promised $2,500 for the services for towing the brig to port safely. The amount was contested and a settlement was reached for $1,000.[9][10]

The Webb rescued the crew of the whaling bark Sarah, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, on October 16, 1878, forty miles south of Block Island with three survivors. Twenty-two of the crew perished. The Sarah had been caught up in a hurricane and was laying on its side, a floating wreck. The Web transferred the survivors to the F. S. Negus, No. 1 that carried them to Stonington, Connecticut.[5]:272[11] The Board of Pilot Commissioners of New York, voted to give a reward of $150.00 to the pilot-boat Isaac Webb for saving the three sailors from the wreck of the bark Sarah.[2]

Last voyage

On July 23, 1879, the pilot-boat Isaac Webb, No. 8 was reported as being on a cruise with Captain Van Pelt on board. In late July 27, the Webb went ashore in a dense fog at Quonochontaug Beach, Long Island. The Coast Wrecking Company was sent to assist her. She was shipwrecked and was a total loss. She was valued at $8,000 and was covered by insurance.[12][13] The Pilot Boat Columbia, was built to replace the Webb.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Messrs. Webb And Bell, Foot Of G Street". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 1860-08-12. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  2. "The Board of Pilot Commissioners". Fall River Daily Evening News. Fall River, Massachusetts. 1878-11-01. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  3. "Eckford Webb, later Webb & Bell, Greenpoint NY". Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  4. "Greenpoint Ship Yards". Brooklyn Evening Star. Brooklyn, New York. 1860-11-13. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  5. Russell, Charles Edward (1929). From Sandy Hook to 62°. New York: Century Co. OCLC 3804485.
  6. "The New York Pilots. To The Editor Of The Herald". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 10 Oct 1860. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  7. "Index to Ship Registers, 1861". research.mysticseaport.org. Mystic seaport. Retrieved 2020-02-23.
  8. Annual Report Of the American Seamen's Friend Society, Issues 33-42. 1861. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  9. Benedict, Robert Dewey; Benedict, Benjamin Lincoln (1875). Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the District Courts of the United States Within the Second Circuit. p. 119.
  10. "Providence, R. I." The New York Times. New York, New York. 1871-10-24. p. 9.
  11. "Lost In A Hurricane. The Bark Sarah, of New Bedford, Capsized When One Day Out". New York Herald. New York, New York. 1875-10-18. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  12. Suburban Notes.
  13. Allen, Edward L. (1922). Pilot Lore From sail to Steam. The United New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Benevolent Associations. p. 41.
  14. "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.
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