Joseph Pulitzer (pilot boat)

The Joseph Pulitzer was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat, built in 1894 for New York Pilots. She was one of the finest and best equipped boats in the service. She was named in honor of Joseph Pulitzer, a New York newspaper publisher. In 1896, when pilot boats were moving to steamboats, she was discarded and sold to the Oregon Pilots Association.

New York pilot boat Joseph Pulitzer, No. 20 (painting by Antonio Jacobsen.
History
US
Name: Joseph Pulitzer
Namesake: Joseph Pulitzer, newspaper publisher
Owner: Jacob M. Heath, John Ronayne, Thomas Marks, Frederick Ryerson, Martin Ryerson, and Jacob P. Lockman
Operator: Jacob M. Heath
Launched: 21 February 1894
Out of service: 1 February 1896
Fate: Sold
General characteristics
Class and type: schooner
Tonnage: 73-tons TM[1]
Length: 78 ft 0 in (23.77 m)
Beam: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
Draft: 77 ft 0 in (23.47 m)
Depth: 9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Propulsion: Sail

Construction and service

The pilot schooner Joseph Pulitzer, was built by Moses Adams in early 1894 at Essex, Massachusetts for the New York Captain Jacob M. Heath. She was a replacement for the Pilot Boat Edward Cooper, No. 20, that sank off Sandy Hook in December of 1892. She was launched on 21 February 1894. The boat number "20" was painted as a large number on her mainsail, that identified the boat as belonging to the Sandy Hook Pilots. The Pulitzer was one of the finest and best equipped boats in the service. Her furnishings were of hard wood and had a water tank that could carry 16,000 gallons of water.[2][3]

The Joseph Pulitzer was registered with the Record of American and Foreign Shipping, from 1895 to 1900. Captain Jacob M. Heath was listed as Master of the boat. From 1899 to 1900 her hailing port changed from New York to Astoria, Oregon, her Master was Captain H. A. Harvey, and her owner was P. C. Cordine.[1]

She was named in honor of Joseph Pulitzer (1847–1911), a newspaper publisher, and owner of the yacht Liberty.[4][5]

In July 1897, the pilot-boat Joseph Pulitzer rescued part of the crew and passengers from the schooner Georgiana Young. The ship was stranded in an easterly storm on Roamer Shoal.[6]

End of service

On 1 February 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 Joseph Pulitzer was sold for $7,000.[7]

In January 1898, Captain P. C. Cordiner sailed the Joseph Pulitzer around the Horn of Africa to Astoria, Oregon. She was purchased by the Oregon Pilots Association. Captain W. A. Harvey and a crew of six Norwegian sailors sailed her from Hoboken, New Jersey to Oregon.[8]

In 1903, the Oregon bar pilots paid $13,000 for the Joseph Pulitzer.[9] In March 1909, the Port of Portland purchased the pilot schooner Joseph Pulitzer from the Columbia River bar pilot Association for $12,000.[10]

On 18 December 1920, the Joseph Pulitzer was in Alaska, as a mail carrier between Seward and the Aleutians and sank in Aniakchak Bay, Alaska. There were no casualties.[4]

Edward Cooper
Sinking of Pilot Boat Edward Cooper, 25 Dec 1892.

The New York pilot-boat Edward Cooper, No. 20, was built in 1879 for New York Pilots at Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Captain Heath was master of the boat from 1884–1892.[11] John Taylor was attached to the Edward Cooper, in 1889.[12]

On February 27, 1892, Pilot James Smith was drowned while boarding the steamer Van Dyk from the pilot-boat Edward Cooper, No. 20. On December 25, 1892, the Cooper sank in a snowstorm. The crew were resuced by the Wilson Line S. S. Marengo. Thomas Marks and John Hammer were pilots on the Cooper.[6]:p18,51

The Edward Cooper was replaced by the Joseph Pulitzer in 1894.

See also

References
  1. "Index to Ship Registers". research.mysticseaport.org. Mystic seaport. Retrieved 6 Dec 2020.
  2. "This Is Her Maiden Cruise. The Handsome New Pilot-Boat Joseph Pulitzer". The Evening World. New York, New York. 26 Mar 1894. p. 1. Retrieved 4 Dec 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Cunliffe, Tom (2001). Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar. Brooklin, Maine: Wooden Boat Publications. p. 86. ISBN 9780937822692.
  4. Good, Warren (2016). Alaska Shipwrecks: 1750 – 2010. San Francisco: San Francisco. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  5. Topping, Seymour. "Pulitzer biography". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  6. 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. 60.
  7. "Not Up To Date. Why New York Pilots Are Discarding Sailboats". The Standard Union. Brooklyn, New York. 1 February 1896. p. 7. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  8. "Sailed For Oregon". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 7 Feb 1898. p. 14. Retrieved 5 Dec 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. The Journal of the House of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Oregon. Salem, Oregon: Oregon. Legislative Assembly. House of Representatives. 1903. p. 1157.
  10. Pacific merchant marine. San Francisco: San Francisco. 20 Mar 1909. p. 14. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  11. "Index to Ship Registers". research.mysticseaport.org. Mystic seaport. Retrieved 6 Dec 2020.
  12. "Talk Of The Capitol". Camden Daily Telegram. Camden, New Jersey. 20 Sep 1889. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
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