''Minerva'' was a 19th-century

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

pilot boat 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 ...

built in 1896 by Ambrose A. Martin of

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. She was owned by Franklin B. Wellock who was a Boston pilot for more than 55 years. The pilot-boat was named for his daughter, Minerva Hill. She was sold to

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

parties in 1901 to be used as a fishing vessel.

Construction and service

''Minerva No. 7,'' was built in

in 1896 for Franklin B. Wellock. The ''Minerva'', was named for his daughter. She was designed and built by Ambrose A. Martin, who built the ''Columbia'', ''Eben D. Jordan'', and ''Friend''. She was launched on February 4, 1896 from the Ambrose Martin

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

at Jeffries Point. ''Minerva'' took her trial trip on March 14, 1896 from the National dock at East Boston. Captain Franklin B. Wellock was in command. On her way out of

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, located adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the Northeastern United States. History 17th century Since its dis ...

she sailed past Fort Warren,

Fort Winthrop Fort Winthrop, built in 1808 and named Fort Warren until 1834, was a defensive fortification in Boston Harbor named after John Winthrop, an early governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. History The fort was built on Governors Island, which was ...

and then the Brewsters. The crew of the new boat consisted of Captain Franklin B. Wellock, pilots McField, Watson Shields Dolliver, and Bruce B. McLean, boatkeeper Samuel Wellock, three sailors, and the steward. On March 29, 1899, the pilot-boat ''Minerva, No. 7,'' helped rescue passengers on the Warren Line steamship ''Norseman'', that went ashore off

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsu ...

when it was headed for Boston. In November 1899, many transatlantic liners were used as supply ships during the South African wars, which caused some of the Boston pilot-boats to be placed out of commission. Captain Colby of the pilot-boat ''Sylph,'' and the pilot-boat ''Minerva'' were moved to

. In 1900, Boston had seven pilots boats in commission. The ''Minerva'' was Boston's pilot schooner number seven. The other Boston boats included, the ''America,'' No. 1; ''Liberty,'' No. 3; ''Adams,'' No. 4; ''Hesper,'' No. 5; ''Varuna,'' No. 6; and

Sylph A sylph (also called sylphid) is an air spirit stemming from the 16th-century works of Paracelsus, who describes sylphs as (invisible) beings of the air, his elementals of air. A significant number of subsequent literary and occult works have be ...

, No 8.

End of service

In 1901, pilot-boat ''Minerva'' was sold to

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...

parties to be used as a fishing vessel. On October 12, 1901, on her first trip as a fishing boat, Captain Al Watson landed 20,000 pounds of

haddock The haddock (''Melanogrammus aeglefinus'') is a saltwater ray-finned fish from the Family (biology), family Gadidae, the true cods. It is the only species in the Monotypy, monotypic genus ''Melanogrammus''. It is found in the North Atlantic Oce ...

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

, and

hake Hake is the common name for fish in the Merlucciidae family of the northern and southern oceans and the Phycidae family of the northern oceans. Hake is a commercially important fish in the same taxonomic order, Gadiformes, as cod and haddo ...

References

{{List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats, state=autocollapse Individual sailing vessels Schooners of the United States Service vessels of the United States Ships built in Boston 1896 ships Pilot boats

Construction and service

End of service

See also

References