Enchantress (pilot boat)

Pilot Boat Enchantress, painting by Conrad Freitag.
History
United States
NameEnchantress
NamesakeThe Enchantress
Owner
  • John Maginn
  • N. Y. Pilots
Operator
  • T. H. Metcalf (1876-1884)
  • Martino (1885)
  • John Johnston
  • John Martineau
  • Frank Van Pelt
  • Daniel V. Jones
  • Henry Seguine, Jr.
  • Frederick Whitehead
BuilderWestervelt & McKay
LaunchedNovember 14, 1851
Out of serviceMarch 13, 1888
FateSank
General characteristics
Class & typeschooner
Tonnage31-tons TM
Length59 ft 0 in (17.98 m)
Beam17 ft 0 in (5.18 m)
Depth7 ft 2 in (2.18 m)
PropulsionSail
NotesHull is black with a golden stripe

The Enchantress was a 19th-century Sandy Hook pilot boat built in 1851 by John Maginn who named her after one of the cast in the opera The Enchantress. She was launched from the Westervelt & McKay shipyard. The Enchantress was one of the oldest pilot-boats in the service. She was Cornelius Vanderbilt's favorite pilot boat. The Enchantress went down with all hands in the Great Blizzard of 1888. The pilot boat James Stafford was built to replace her.