^ 



MiKcHAM >Shii' hd-'-iar, Iruiii a French prim in the Watt-rcrait (^.ullcLUDn i^L i'5.\M 7b4C)i)i. A good example 

 of an American h'eighting ship of the period 1825-45, she was built at Medford, Massachusetts, in 1834 and 

 employed in the European trade. Her register tonnage was 490, old measurement. (Smithsonian photo 

 44638-g.) 



again developed. In the meantime the coastal trade 

 had declined tmtil, by 1940, it was almost non- 

 existent. At the present time the American merchant 

 marine represents an unusual condition — a seagoing 

 trade development unsupported by any coastal trade 

 of consequence. The modern merchant marine is 

 referred to in more detail under steamships (p. 114). 



Special Types 



The 1 9th century saw the rise of a number of special 

 types of sailing craft. Perhaps the most important or 

 best known were the pilot boats. The first American 

 pilots, active in the colonial period, were self-appointed 

 and without legal responsibilities. At some ports the 

 pilots cruised at sea in search of vessels needing their 

 services, at others the pilots remained ashore imtil 

 vessels came within sight of their lookout positions. 

 Pilots were at work in some ports at least as early as 

 1650, employing any suitable type of small boat. 



After the Revolution pilotage became a well estab- 

 lished profession and each of the important ports 

 had groups of pilots who used sloops or schooners of 

 some size. The pilots at Norfolk appear to have 



established the initial standards of the profession; 

 they developed a suitaiale model of small vessel, sloop 

 or schooner rigged, for their service and as the geo- 

 graphic conditions at the mouth of the Chespeake 

 required them to cruise they also established the basic 

 practice of operation. 



These pilot boats carried a seaworthy dinghy or 

 "canoe" that could be carried on deck (in early 

 times, probably a dugout boat-canoe, hence the name, 

 but later usually a ship's yawl boat). This boat was 

 used to transfer pilots to and from the ships at sea 

 and was rowed by apprentices, who also brought the 

 pilot boat back to port after the pilots were all dis- 

 charged. The small Norfolk pilot boats did not 

 remain at sea long; and most were operated by a single 

 pilot, hence accommodations aboard them were very 

 limited and somewhat primitive. 



Other ports, such as Charleston, Philadelphia, New 

 York, and Boston developed somewhat larger and 

 more comfortable boats, as their pilots ranged farther 

 at sea; the common size of these pilot schooners up to 

 1825 was about 60 feet on deck. During the remain- 

 ing century the schooners grew in size until boats 



50 



