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West Point (1847)

FieldValue
section1{{Infobox ship/image
section2{{Infobox ship/career
countryUnited States
name*West Point*
ownerRobert Kermit, Kermit & Carow, Charles Carow Cie.
routeNew York – Liverpool
builderWestervelt & MacKay, New York
launched1847
in_service1847–1863
refitNovember 1857
homeportNew York City
fateunknown
section3{{Infobox ship/characteristics
classA, 1½
typeFull rigged vessel
tonnage1,046 tons
length166.5 ft
beam37.1 ft
height21 ft
draft19 ft
decks3 (initially 2)
noteswooden ship (made out of southern live oak)

The West Point (sometimes Westpoint) was a full rigged vessel built in the 1840s and used for the transportation of goods, passengers and mail to and from Liverpool and New York. It was one of a few ocean-going packet-ships operated by the Robert Kermit Red Star Line company, not to be confused with the Belgian/US-American shipping company Red Star Line, whose main ports of call were New York City and Philadelphia in the United States and Antwerp in Belgium.

In 1846, Robert Kermit commissioned the shipbuilders Westervelt & MacKay from New York to build the West Point. Kermit's West Point was not the only ship to bear that name: it was overshadowed by the widely known steamship SS America, which was acquired by the US Navy on June 1, 1941, renamed to USS West Point and used as a troop transport during World War II.

Construction

West Point was built in 1847 by Westervelt and MacKay, a company that acquired renown by constructing streamlined clipper ships and fast steamships. The shipyard also produced United States Navy ships such as the screw sloop .

West Point was built of southern live oak despite the fact use of iron had started to catch on in the building of ships – especially in the United Kingdom. In the following years, the advantages of iron ships became more obvious and the value of wooden ships decreased perceptibly. The owners of wooden ships therefore began to fasten their vessels with iron and copper. In case of West Point, this happened in November 1857.

Property situation

Robert Kermit: The early years (1794–1834)

It was Robert Kermit who ordered the construction of West Point for his Red Star Line.

Captains of the vessel West Point

Based on the remaining passenger lists, it was possible to determine that, within the 16 years the full-rigged sailing vessel West Point was in service, at least seven captains were the ship's masters. Listed below is a summary of all verifiable passages from Liverpool, with the arrival dates in New York City (assigned to the relative captains):

NumberShipmasterLiverpool-New York passages made under the command of the captain
William Henry AllenOctober 25, 1847 – March 7, 1848 – July 3, 1848 – October 30, 1848 – Mai 26, 1849 – September 22, 1849 – February 13, 1850 – Mai 20, 1850 – September 2, 1850 – November 6, 1858 – August 8, 1859
Francis P. AllenMarch 29, 1851 – July 26, 1851 – November 4, 1851 – February 12, 1852 – June 19, 1852 – September 24, 1852
William R. MullinsMarch 6, 1849 – February 15, 1853 – August 15, 1853 – December 19, 1853 – Mai 19, 1854 – April 17, 1855 – August 11, 1855
William H. HardingJune 7, 1856 – October 30, 1856 – Mai 6, 1857 – December 7, 1857
J.E. RyanJuly 12, 1858
L.W. SpencerSeptember 17, 1860
J.H. ChildsMarch 16, 1861 – August 7, 1862 – September 23, 1863

References

Literature

  • MacBean, William M. (William Munro): Biographical register of Saint Andrew's society of the state of New York (1922)
  • Scoville, Joseph Alfred (Barrett, Walter = pseud.): The old merchants of New York City (1863), ,
  • Lubbock, Basil: Western Ocean Packets, ,
  • Morris, Sylvia J.: Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt: Portrait of a First Lady, , ,
  • Whipple, A. B.: The Clipper Ships, ,
  • Laakso, Seija-Riitta: Across the Oceans (academic dissertation, University of Helsinki, Finland), ,

References

  1. [http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/ShipPageImage.cfm?PageNum=3&BibID=237571859&Series=Ships&Chapter=w "American Lloyd's Register"] of American and Foreign Shipping 1859. Accessed March 16, 2009.
  2. ''Western Ocean Packets'' by [[Basil Lubbock]], p. 26
  3. link. (July 17, 2011 . Accessed 16 march 2009.)
  4. ''Genealogy of the Westervelt family'', by Walter Tallman Westervelt, page 72/73
  5. ''Steamboat Days'' by Fred Erving Dayton, chapter 19
  6. Thiesen, William H. ''Industrializing American Shipbuilding: The Transformation of Ship Design and Construction'', chapter 5, {{ISBN. 0-8130-2940-6
  7. Lists of passenger arrivals for the port of New York (1789–1957) are available on microfilm at the [https://www.archives.gov/northeast/nyc/finding-aids/immigration-microfilm.html "National Archives"] in New York. Accessed 16 march 2009.
  8. Passenger list of [http://immigrantships.net/v9/1800v9/westpoint18471025.html "October 25, 1847"]. Accessed March 16, 2009
  9. Passenger list of [http://immigrantships.net/v8/1800v8/westpoint18581106.html "November 6, 1858"]. Accessed March 16, 2009
  10. Passenger list of [http://immigrantships.net/v9/1800v9/westpoint18590808.html "August 8, 1859"]. Accessed March 16, 2009
  11. Passenger list of [http://immigrantships.net/v7/1800v7/westpoint18510329.html "March 29, 1851"]. Accessed March 16, 2009
  12. Passenger list of [http://immigrantships.net/v3/1800v3/westpoint18511104_01.html "November 4, 1851"]. Accessed March 16, 2009
  13. Passenger list of [http://immigrantships.net/v8/1800v8/westpoint18580712_02.html "July 12, 1858"]. Accessed March 16, 2009
  14. Passenger list of [http://immigrantships.net/v7/1800v7/westpoint18610316.html "March 16, 1861"]. Accessed March 16, 2009
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