Cerinda W. Evans

“ The pilot boat used in the Virginia Navy was a small fast-sailing craft used as "lookouts", only two of which, the Molly and the Fly, were armed. Their duties were attended with many hardships and extreme peril. They were obliged to hover along a dangerous coast in all weathers to give notice of the approach of every sail whether friend or foe. They acted as a flying sentry at the gates of the Chesapeake, but constantly exposed to the broad Atlantic outside.
Although the war virtually eliminated Virginia's trading fleet as well as her Navy, her shipbuilding capacity was at its best. ”

“ Shipwrights and Ship-carpenters
Every colonizing expedition to the New World had been deeply impressed by the wealth of shipbuilding materials to be found. The English were particularly enthusiastic, since the scarcity of timber in England was very serious. Here, in Virginia, were to be found all that was needed for building ships: "oakes there are as faire, straight and tall and as good timber as any can be found, a great store, in some places very great. Walnut trees very many, excellent faire timber above four-score foot, straight without a bough." ”

“ On one occasion the King of Rappahanna demanded the return of a canoe, which was restored. Among the first laws of the General Assembly was that for the protection of the Indians, enacted in August, 1619: "He that shall take away by violence or stealth any canoe or other things from the Indians, shall make valuable restitution to the said Indians, and shall forfeit, if he be a freeholder, five pounds; if a servant, forty shillings or endure a whipping."
A story of an Indian and his canoe was told by John Pory, Secretary of Virginia, after he had visited the Eastern Shore. ”

“ Frequently several kinds of wood were used in the construction of a boat, and the color combinations of the natural woods, with the use of turpentine and pitch, was pleasing enough to some shipbuilders. For others, however, the vessels were painted in bright colors, often a combination of several colors. The larger vessels were usually built of white oak, but due to the rapid growth of the tree, Virginia oak was not as good or lasting as the oak grown in England. Ships built from the American live oak, helped much to improve the reputation of colonial vessels. ”

“ Here an encampment was made to give the men time to refresh themselves and to build a new pinnace for the Tiger. A forge was set up to make the nails, and trees were cut and hauled to camp on a low four-wheeled truck for the boat's timber. The ship's carpenters made speedy headway, launching and rigging the pinnace in ten days. They set sail from St. John on the 29th of May, the new pinnace carrying twenty men and, on the 27th of July, anchored at Hatoraske on the way to Roanoke. ”

“ On the 30th of March, the pinnace was launched, unrigged, and towed to "a little round island" nearer the ponds and wells of fresh water, with easier access to the sea, the channel there being deep enough to float her when masts, sails and all her trim had been placed on her. "When she began to swim (upon her launching) our Governor called her The Deliverance."
Late in November, and still with no word from Virginia, Sir George Somers became convinced that the pinnace which Frobisher was building would not be sufficient to transport all the men, women, and children from Bermuda to Virginia. ”

“ The General Assembly of Virginia encouraged shipbuilding by such laws as those enacted during 1662: "Be it enacted that every one that shall build a small vessel with a deck be allowed, if above twenty and under fifty tons, fifty pounds of tobacco per ton; if above fifty and under one hundred tons, one hundred pounds of tobacco per ton; if above one hundred tons, two hundred pounds per ton. ”

“ Various types of watercraft used in Colonial Virginia have been mentioned in the records. The dugout canoe of the Indians was found by the settlers upon arrival, and was one of the chief means of transportation until the colony was firmly established. It is of great importance in the history of transportation from its use in pre-history to its use in the world today. From the dugout have come the piragua, Rose's tobacco boat, and the Chesapeake Bay canoe and bugeye as we see them today. ”

“ A list of land owners, in 1625, in the records of the Company, shows nearly two hundred persons owning plots of land varying in size from forty acres to the thirty-seven hundred acres of Sir George Yeardley's plantation at Hungar's river on the Eastern Shore.
In A Perfect Description of Virginia by an unnamed writer in 1648, it is stated that there were in the colony "pinnaces, barks, great and small boats many hundreds, for most of their plantations stand upon the rivers' sides and up little creeks and but a small way into the land." Every planter must have had a boat of some kind. ”

“ While waiting for help from Virginia, Sir George Somers and Sir Thomas Gates decided to build a pinnace, in case of need. The work was put in charge of Richard Frobisher, an experienced shipwright. The only wood on the island that could be used for timber was cedar and that was rather poor, being too brittle for making good planks. The pinnace's beams were all of oak from the wrecked ship, as were some planks in her bow, all the rest was of cedar. The keel was laid on the 28th of August, 1609, and on the 26th of February, calking had begun. ”

“ Many of the shipwrights, who came to Virginia and became land owners, settled in Norfolk. That port was especially known for this kind of citizen, ranking next to the merchant in wealth and influence. Among house owners were some ship-carpenters who carried on their trade, receiving for a day's work four shillings and a pint of rum, more wages than the salary of some clergymen. Several shipwrights listed in Lower Norfolk were large property owners. Abraham Elliott owned land both in Virginia and England. ”

“ Neighborly communication had to be maintained, religious services attended, fishing and oystering to be done, crops of tobacco transferred to the ships anchored out in the channel, and cargoes of goods taken from the ships to the warehouses. The planter navigated the boat himself unless he could provide a slave or an indentured servant.
Most of the shipbuilding done on the plantations was done by ship carpenters or men trained by them. ”

“ Safety against the enemy is a very necessary object, proper water for launching, and convenience for getting timber you will consider.... A master builder with four or six workmen will soon go hence to Virginia for this business, and I have no doubt other workmen will be had in that State to carry on the work briskly.... The builder desires that trees be felled immediately whilst the sap is down, that a quantity of locust trunnels be split one and one-half inches and from 18 to 30 inches in length; that sawyers be employed to get out white oak plank of 31⁄2 inches. ”

“ The building of ships, barkentines and sloops in Virginia, during the early years of the eighteenth century, had so increased that the Master Shipbuilders of the River Thames addressed a petition to the King in 1724, stating that by the great number of ships and other vessels lately built, then building, and likely to be built in the colonies, the trade of the petitioners was very much decayed, and great numbers of them for want of work to maintain their families, had of necessity left their native country and gone to America. ”

“ Norfolk became one of the busiest ports in Virginia, both in shipbuilding and ship repair work. A shipyard had been established on the Elizabeth River in 1621 by John Wood and work had been almost continuous, though at times very slow, throughout the seventeenth century. An inventory in 1723, listed one brigantine, three sloops, and three flats owned by Robert Tucker. One of the sloops was forty feet in length and valued at 230 pounds sterling. Captain Samuel Tatum owned the ship Caesar, which was said to be worth 625 pounds sterling, and the sloop Indian Creek valued at twenty-five pounds. ”

“ Quantities of tar were found in the warehouses, and in Suffolk, 8,000 barrels of pitch, tar, and turpentine were seized. Much was carried away but great quantities were set on fire and left behind.
Early in 1780, it was learned that the enemy intended another invasion of the coast of Virginia, and the General Assembly took measures for defense. In addition to land forces, the Navy was ordered to assemble a small fleet consisting of the ships Thetis, Tempest, and Dragon, the brig Jefferson and the galley Henry for the purpose of defending Hampton Roads and adjacent waters. ”

“ There were numerous places in Virginia where shipbuilding was carried on during 1776 and 1779. Vessels were built and equipped on the Eastern Shore, the Potomac, the Rappahannock, Chickahominy and James Rivers; at Hampton, Gosport in Norfolk County, South Quay on the Blackwater near the Carolina line, Frazier's Ferry on the Mattaponi, and Cumberland on the Pamunkey. This last shipyard was discontinued at the suggestion of Thomas Jefferson in 1779 because of the enormous expense attending its support. There was also a shipyard in Gloucester County owned by John Hudgens. ”

“ Some sloops were made large enough to hold as many as fifty hogsheads of tobacco, and could sail outside the coast. The sloop Amy, with fourteen hogsheads of tobacco, sailed from Virginia to London in 1690.
Dr. Lyon G. Tyler in The Cradle of the Republic wrote that as early as 1690, ships of 300 tons were built in Virginia, and trade in the West Indies was conducted in small sloops. Lieutenant John West of the Eastern Shore, stating that he had built a vessel of forty-five tons, decked and fitted for sea, petitioned the court for a certificate to the Assembly as encouragement for so doing. ”

“ Latest shipbuilding in Virginia, to compare with Seventeenth-Century Craft
Trading Towns and Ports
In the early days of the colony after tobacco had become a commodity for export, ships moored at the wharves of the plantations along the James, York and Rappahannock rivers and their estuaries. As trade increased, larger ships were used which anchored in the channels of the rivers, and the tobacco and other exports were carried to them by small boats—shallops, sloops, and barges. ”

“ In the English News Letter of March 12, 1666, was carried an encouraging news item: "A frigate of between thirty and forty [tuns?] , built in Virginia, looks so fair, it is believed that in a short time, they will get the art of building as good frigates as there are in England." At that time, a new fort was being erected at Point Comfort, and it was ordered that every ship riding in the James River should send one carpenter with provisions and tools to work on this fort. ”

“ By February 1743, the ferries across the Chesapeake Bay had been expanded, and were described as follows: "From York, Hampton and Norfolk towns, across the Bay to the land of Littleton Eyre on Hungar's river in Northampton County; from the land of Littleton Eyre on Hungar's river in Northampton County, across the Bay to York, Hampton and Norfolk." The rate for a man was twenty shillings, for a man and horse, fifteen shillings each. ”

“ The ship Cormorant and the brig Liberty were prepared, and plans made for building two galleys and two barges or whale boats. The Commissioners managed to keep a small naval force together during 1782 and 1783, until the war came to an end. When peace was declared in 1783, the Commissioners had in different stages of construction the schooners Harrison and Patriot, the barges York and Richmond, and the pilot boat Fly. Virginia dispensed with all her fleet except the Liberty and Patriot which were retained, with the approval of Congress, as revenue cutters. ”

“ Their trade is chiefly to the West Indies whither they export abundance of beef, pork, flour and lumber.
In the Journal of Lord Adam Gordon, Colonel of the 66th Regiment of Foot, stationed at the West Indies from 1763 to 1775, is extracted the following: "Norfolk hath a depth of water for a 40-gun ship or more, and conveniences of every kind for heaving down and fitting out large vessels; also a very fine ropewalk. There is a passage boat from Hampton to Norfolk and from York to Gloucester." In the third quarter of the 18th century, Norfolk became the principal seaport of Virginia. ”

“ Should the ferryman exceed the legal rates, he was penalized by having to pay to the party aggrieved, the ferriage demanded and ten shillings. In February 1752, a free ferry for any persons and their commodities was established from the town of Port Royal over the Rappahannock river to the land of John Moore in King George County. In 1757, there were five ferries from Norfolk over her various bodies of water, one of which was established as a free ferry supported by the county to enable the poor people of the community to have free passage to market. ”

“ Caleb Herbert was retained as the master builder of a shipyard on the Rappahannock River, and Reuben Herbert for such a yard on York River. Each of them was desired as soon as possible to engage a proper number of workmen for building two row-galleys to be employed in the two rivers to transport troops. It was recommended that a committee at Norfolk engage a proper person to take direction and employ a number of ship-carpenters for at least a year, to build vessels for the Colony. ”

“ After the sloop was finished, she received a cargo of tobacco, and vessel and tobacco were sold together. Because of the danger from pirates and Spanish interference, the sloops for the West Indies trade were designed especially for speed and maneuverability. The pilot boat evolved in the colony quite early. An advertisement appeared in the Virginia Gazette, on July 22, 1737, for a pilot boat stolen or gone adrift from York River. The boat was twenty-four feet keel, nine feet beam, with two masts and sails, and was painted red. ”