William H. Starbuck (pilot boat)
William H. Starbuck was a 19th-century New York pilot boat built to take the place of the Mary and Catherine, that sank in 1885. She was launched from the J. S. Ellis & Son shipyard, at Tottenville, Staten Island in 1886. The Starbuck was one of the few pilot-boats to take the offensive in the Great Blizzard of 1888, when she ran into the steamship Japanese and survived one of the most severe recorded blizzards in American history. She was one of the last pilot boats that were sold in an age of steam and electricity.
Pilot Boat William Starbuck
A pilot boat is a type of boat used to transport maritime pilots between land and the inbound or outbound ships that they are piloting. Pilot boats were once sailing boats that had to be fast because the first pilot to reach the incoming ship got the business. Today, pilot boats are scheduled by telephoning the ship agents/representatives prior to arrival.
Wooden pilot cutter Lizzie May under sail in Brest, France
New York Sandy Hook pilot boat Pet, No. 9.
New York Pilot Schooner No. 17 Fannie, by Conrad Freitag
Pilot boat rounding lighthouse at Victoria, Canada and heading out to guide in a ship