Gratitude (pilot boat)

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History
United States
NameGratitude
OwnerNew York Pilots
OperatorEnah Harris
BuilderBrown & Bell
Cost$6,000
LaunchedJanuary 1825
Completed1824
In service1825
Out of serviceAugust 28, 1839
HomeportNew York
FateSank
General characteristics
Class and typeSchooner
Propulsionsails
Sail planSchooner-rigged

The Gratitude was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1824 by Brown & Bell for New York pilots. She helped transport maritime pilots between inbound or outbound ships coming into the New York Harbor. In 1839, she had a narrow escape from the slave ship La Amistad. In 1839, the Gratitude No. 3, was shipwrecked when a hurricane swept the New York coast. The New Jersey Pilot Boat John McKeon was lost in the same storm.

Construction and service[edit]

The New York pilot boat Gratitude, No. 3, was a built in 1824, by Bell & Brown and launched in January 1825. She was valued at $6,000.[1]

Baltimore schooner La Amistad.

Several New York pilot boats came across the Baltimore slave ship La Amistad with 25-30 black slaves on board that had taken control of the ship. The pilot boat Blossom discovered the ship on August 21, 1839, but fled when the captives attempted to board her. Two days later, the pilot-boat Gratitude came across the La Amistad when she was twenty-five miles east of Fire Island. Captain Seaman of the Gratitude said "I will bring your schooner in safely," with the intention of putting a pilot aboard. One of the ringleaders of the La Amistad ordered the men to fire on the Gratitude. Gun shots hit the pilot boat but the pilot boat was able to escape.[2] The pilots on the Blossom communicated what they felt was a slave ship to the Collector of the Port of New York. The La Amistad was later captured by the U.S. Navy off Montauk, New York and detained in New London, Connecticut.[3][4]

End of service[edit]

In August 1839, the pilot schooner Gratitude No. 3, went out at sea with six pilots. Two of the pilots had left to board outbound ships to sea. A few hours later, the Gratitude was caught up in a severe hurricane that swept the coast from South Carolina to Maine on August 28 and 30. The Gratitude lost four of her pilots, three apprentices and a cook. The names of the pilots that were lost were: Enah Harris, Joseph Hendarchott, Owen Wilson, and Sydney Waite. The pilots had no insurance. The New Jersey Pilot Boat John McKeon was lost in the same storm with four of her crewmen.[1][5][6]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Missing Pilot Boats". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 1 October 1839. p. 6. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  2. ^ Hunt, Bernice Kohn (1971). The Amistad mutiny. New York. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 25 October 2021. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ "Something like a Pirate". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. 27 August 1839. p. 2. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Reprduced slave ship will house black history exhibit". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. 13 March 1995. p. 9. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  5. ^ "List Of Vessels Stranded On New-York Pilot Ground Since 1839". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 28 April 1846. p. 1. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  6. ^ Russell, Charles Edward (1929). From Sandy Hook to 62°. New York: Century Co. pp. 113, 385. OCLC 3804485.
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