Phantom (pilot boat)

The Phantom was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1867. The schooner was considered a model for her type with a reputation for being very fast. She helped rescue the passengers on the steamship SS Oregon when it sank in 1886. She was one of the pilot-boats that was lost in the Great Blizzard of 1888.

Pilot-boat Phantom rescued the sinking S.S. Oregon. Painting by Antonio Jacobsen.
History
US
Name: Phantom
Owner: R. Yates, John Handran
Builder: Dennison J. Lawlor
Cost: 4,000
Launched: 1867
Out of service: March 12, 1888
Fate: Sank
General characteristics
Class and type: schooner
Tonnage: 51-tons TM[1]
Length: 75 ft 0 in (22.86 m)
Beam: 21 ft 0 in (6.40 m)
Depth: 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)
Propulsion: Sail
Notes: Oak with iron and copper fastenings, and sheathed with yellow metal.

Construction and service

The Phantom was built in Boston, Massachusetts in 1867. On May 7, 1867, the she was purchased in Boston by the Portsmouth Association of Pilots located in New Hampshire. On arrival in New Hampshire, the pilots provided entertainment on board with prominent businessmen.[2]

She was registered with the Record of American and Foreign Shipping, from 1881-1885, to R. Yates as the owner, and from 1886-1888, to John Handran as the owner. Her hailing port was New York and Captain Hundeahn was registered as her master from 1885 to 1888. Records indicate that she was 75 feet long and weighed 51-tons.[1][3]

The sister pilot-boats, Pet and Phantom, were built on a model by the noted Boston builder and designer of pilot-boats, fishermen and yachts, Dennison J. Lawlor, at the Lawlor shipyard of East Boston, Massachusetts for the New York pilots. The schooners were considered models for their type with a reputation for being very fast.[4][5] The Phantom was later sold to the Sandy Hook pilots and operated out of the port of New York for several years.[6]

On April 28, 1874, the pilot-boat Phantom sent Captain Samuel C. Martin on board the barque Die Helmath from Germany.[7]

Rescue of SS Oregon
Pilot-Boat Phantom rescuing the SS Oregon in 1886.

On March, 14, 1886, the SS Oregon of the Cunard Line was hit by a coal schooner off Fire Island with 845 people on board. Pilot Charles Samson of the New York pilot-boat Phantom No. 11 rescued 400 passengers and crew by placing some of them in the deck room on the small pilot-boat and transporting them safely to the North German Lloyd liner Fulda.[8] The Phantom also towed into Sandy Hook eight life boats belonging to the Oregon. A lumber boat, Fannie H. Gorham, also helped in the rescue of the remaining passengers. The Oregon sank shortly after the passengers were taken off the ship. William Parker and E. E. Mitchell were also pilots on board the Phantom.[9][10][11]

The State Department received from the British Government four gold and six silver medals awarded the to the pilot and seamen of the Phantom for service rendered to the Oregon. Three of the recipients included E. E. Mitchell, Charles Samson, and William Parker.[12]

On August 7, 1887, Sandy Hook pilot boat Centennial, No. 7, was on a cruise when it picked up a yawl that was from the pilot boat Phantom, No. 11, two years ago. It was washed overboard during a storm and had been drifting at the ocean bottom. The pilots were able to refurbish the yawl and place it back on the Phantom.[13]

End of service

During the Great Blizzard of March, 1888, the Phantom, No. 11, was lost with all hands outside Sandy Hook, New Jersey. There were no report of finding the boat, which had not been seen since March 12, 1888. Secretary Nash of the Board of Pilot Commissioners, said that the boat was sunk. The Phantom had two pilots, the boatkeeper, four seamen, and a cook. She was one of fifteen vessels lost or missing in the storm. Boatkeeper Pilot James Handran, the son of Pilot John Handran, was lost on the Phantom.[14][11]

William H. Bateman, No. 11
Pilot boats Williams, Bateman, and Blunt

The pilot-boat William H. Bateman, No. 11, took the place of the ill-fated pilot-boat Phantom. She was launched on July 18, 1888, at the C. & R. Poillon shipyard in south Brooklyn. Captain John Phelan was her commander. Her sponsor was Commadore William H. Bateman. She was christened by Margie Bateman, the Commodore's 7 year daughter. She was 92 feet long, 21 feet 9 inches beam, 10 feet depth of hold, and 75 tons burden. Pilot John Handran was one of the original owners.[15][16]

On April 15, 1889, during a dense fog, the Hamburg steamship Suevia ran down the pilot-boat Commodore Bateman No. 11, and sank her. Pilot John Handran and a cook were on board the pilot boat when it went down. Others on the pilot-boat were saved.[9][17]

Earlier Phantom pilot-boats

There are several earlier dates of a Phantom pilot-boat, before the above 1867 date.

In 1840, there were only eight New York pilot boats. They were the Phantom, No. 1; Washington, No. 2; New York, No. 3; Jacob Bell, No. 4; Blossom, No. 5; T. H. Smith, No. 6; John E. Davidson, No. 7; and the Virginia, No. 8.[18]

On 14 December 1840, James H. Smith and John Thompson, of the pilot boat Phantom, along with other pilots from the port of New York, stated that they had never been employed by J. D. Stevenson and no compensation has been offered or demanded.[19]

In 1843, the Hampton, Virginia association purchased an older Boston schooner, Phantom.[8]:p35 Erastus B. Badger mentions the pilot-boat Phantom in his 1843 memoirs about learning the piloting business in the Boston Harbor.

In 1846, Warren Simpson did pilot service on the Phantom, under Captain J. K. Lunt.

In 1853, a three-masted schooner Phantom of 210-tons was built in New York by George Steers.[20]

On January 15, 1856, it was reported that the pilot-boat Phantom, No. 11, was owned by James Berger, George Berger, and J. J. Bennet. She was built in Smithtown in Suffolk County, New York.[21]

On January 21, 1856, the pilot-boat Phantom, went ashore near the south end of the Woodlands, New Jersey. She was badly damaged. She had been in service for fourteen years.[22]

In January 18, 1857, the Phantom, during a snowstorm, was dragged ashore on the south side of Georges Island, Massachusetts, but was able to safely return to the Boston Harbor.[23]

On February 7, 1857, James Bradley was the boatkeeper of the pilot-boat Phantom in East Boston. It was moored in Deer Island in Massachusetts.[24]

See also

References
  1. "Record of American and Foreign Shipping 1887". Mystic Seaport Museum. New York. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  2. "From Fortress monroe. Doings of the Firemen, The Pilot Boat Phantom". New York Evening Express. New York, N.Y. 9 May 1867. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  3. "Missing Pilot boats". New York Times. New York, N.Y. 23 Mar 1888. p. 8. ProQuest 94657040. Retrieved 2020-10-19 – via ProQuest.
  4. Chapelle, Howard I. (1960). "The National Watercraft Collection". United States National Museum, Bulletin 219. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. p. 90.
  5. Chapelle, Howard Irving (1892). The History of American Sailing. Bonanza Books. p. 249.
  6. "The San Diego Ship Modelers Guide, Pilot Boat Phantom (1868)" (PDF). www.sdshipmodelersguild.org. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  7. "Port of Boston". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 28 Apr 1874. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  8. Cunliffe, Tom (2001). Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar. Brooklin, Maine: WoodenBoat. p. 100. ISBN 9780937822692.
  9. 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. 35.
  10. "On Board The Phantom. 850 Persons Taken on Pilot Boat No. 11". The Sun. New York, N.Y. 16 Mar 1886. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  11. Russell, Charles Edward (1929). From Sandy Hook to 62°. New York: Century Co. p. 127. OCLC 3804485.
  12. "Medals For Bravery". The Coronado Star. Coronado, Kansas. 23 Sep 1886. p. 6. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  13. "A Yawl Drifts Two Years on the Ocean". The Sun. New York, New York. 7 Aug 1887. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-02-01.
  14. "The Missing Pilot Boats. Giving Up Hope Of The Safety Of The Enchantress and Phantom". The New York Times. New York, New York. 23 Mar 1888. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
  15. "Commodore Bateman No. 11. Launching of the New Pilot Boat to Take the Phantom's Place". The Standard Union. Brooklyn, New Yor. 19 Jul 1888. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-01-09 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "A Pilot Boat Sunk. The Suevia Runs Down The Bateman, Two Men Drowned". The New York Times. New York, New York. 15 Apr 1889. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-09-19 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Hit by a Falling Mast. Pilot Handran Killed On The Commodore Bateman". Times Union. Brooklyn, New York. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
  18. "A New Pilot Schooner". The New York City Herald. New York New York. 22 Jan 1840. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  19. "To the Public". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 16 Dec 1840. p. 2.
  20. MacGregor, David R. (1997). The schooner: its design and development from 1600 to the present. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. p. 106.
  21. "Vessels Ashore On The Jersey Coast". The New York herald. New York N.Y. 15 Jan 1856. p. 1. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
  22. "Marine Disasters". New York Daily Times. New York, N.Y. 21 Jan 1856. ProQuest 95896958. Retrieved 2020-10-19 – via ProQuest.
  23. Eastman, Ralph M. (1956). Pilots and pilot boats of Boston Harbor. Boston, Massachusetts: Second Bank-State Street Trust Company. p. 33-35.
  24. "Miscellaneous Items". New England Farmer. Boston, Massachusetts. 7 Feb 1857. p. 3. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
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