Overview
The Caprice was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1871 by Brown & Lovell in East Boston, Massachusetts for Peter McEnany and other New York pilots. In 1876, she was run down and sank, off Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, by the steamship New Orleans. She was raised and was one of the pilot boats that survived the Great Blizzard of 1888. The Caprice was last reported sailing off the coast of New York in 1891.
Construction and service
The pilot boat Caprice was built in 1871 by Brown & Lovell shipyard at East Boston, Massachusetts, originally as a Boston schooner yacht. She was later made into a New York pilot boat in 1877 for Pilot McEnany and other New York Sandy Hook pilots. She was registered with the Record of American and Foreign Shipping from 1874 to 1885. From 1874 to 1875, the ship master was George H. Sisco; her owners were Eugene Sullivan and Peter McEnry; and she belonged to the Port of New York. From 1876 to 1885 the ship master changed to pilot E. H. Sullivan and her owner changed to the New York Pilots. On February 28, 1876, the pilot boat Caprice, No. 15 was run down and sank, off Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, by the Cromwell line steamship New Orleans. The crew were able to escape onto the New Orleans, and there were no deaths.
Captain Derborn, the captain of the New Orleans provided his account of the collision. The Caprice was later raised and towed to the city to be refurbished and put back to service. On February 3, 1878, the pilot boat Caprice, No. 15 was in heavy icy storm off Barnegat Light and was completely wrecked. Seaman Charles Walburg of the Caprice was washed overboard and drowned. Six of the other crew were taken safely off the pilot boat by a passing bark and returned to the city. In the Blizzard of 1888 Pilot Sullivan was in the Caprice when the blizzard struck. The boat was fifteen miles south of the Sandy Hook Lightship and was driven seventy-five miles south. The Caprice weathered out the blizzard and was only slightly damaged as her steering gear was disabled. On February 8, 1890, during a dense fog, the pilot boat Caprice, No.
15, on station duty, when she struck the shoal at the end of the West Bank Light in the Lower New York Bay and then sank. The pilot and crew escaped in life boats and went to Staten Island. A wrecking company was able to raise the boat and tow it to back to Brooklyn.
See also
*Pilot boat *List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats