James Funk#Charlotte Webb
{{short description|New York Pilot boat}}
| {{Infobox ship begin|infobox caption=}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=James Funk, No. 22.jpg |Ship caption=New York pilot boat James Funk No. 22. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship owner=New York Pilots |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1862}} |Ship name= James Funk |Ship christened= |Ship builder=Greenpoint, Brooklyn |Ship operator=A. C. Malcolm; Robert Yates, William Smith |Ship original cost=$15,000 |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 1862 |Ship out of service=1864 |Ship captured=1864 |Ship renamed= |Ship reinstated= |Ship honors= |Ship fate=Sank at sea |Ship struck= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Header caption= |Ship class=schooner |Ship tonnage=122-tons TM |Ship length={{convert|81|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= |Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth={{convert|21|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship sail plan= |Ship propulsion=Sail |Ship complement= |Ship armament= |Ship notes= }} |
James Funk was a 19th-century New York City pilot boat built in 1862 at Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a company of New York Pilots. She was built for speed. She was assigned the "Number 22," which was displayed on her mainsail. The James Funk was captured and burned by the Confederate raiding steamer {{ship|CSS|Tallahassee}} during the American Civil War. The Charlotte Webb was built in 1865 to take the place of the James Funk that was destroyed.
Construction and service
The James Funk No. 22, was launched in 1862 from Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She was registered with the Record of American and Foreign Shipping from 1883–1984 as James Funk. Her master was Captain A. C. Malcolm; her owners were a company of New York Pilots, belonging to the port of New York. She was 81 feet in length, her draft was 9 feet, she weighed 122-tons, and built for speed.{{cite web |url=https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l0237571864/504/|title=Record of American and Foreign Shipping 1864|work=Mystic Seaport Museum|place=New York|access-date=2020-11-20}}
On October 16, 1863, when the weather was dark and thick, the pilot-boat James Funk collided with the United States supply steamer Union, near Sandy Hook. The pilot-boat was in tow and no ship light was on. She started to sink and her crew escaped in yawls. It was estimated that she was worth between $12,000 and $15,000. She was raised and then return to port.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/202181772/?terms=%22pilot%2Bboat%2BMoses%2BH.%2BGrinnell%22 |title=Sinking of One Pilot Boat and Serious Damage to Another |work=The Times-Democrat |place=New Orleans, Louisiana |date=27 Oct 1863|page=1|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=limited}}
Civil War
=End of service=
On August 11, 1864, during the American Civil War, the pilot-boat James Funk, No. 22, was 60 miles southeast of Sandy Hook, when the Confederate raiding cruiser the Tallahassee approached disguised with an American ensign flying at the masthead. Pilot William Smith, of the pilot-boat took a yawl to board the Tallahassee thinking she was in need of a pilot. Instead, she was captured by the Confederate colonel, John Taylor Wood, who took control of the James Funk. His objective was to secure a pilot who could take the Tallahassee into Long Island Sound. Twenty of the Tallahassee's crew came onboard the pilot-boat and the crew of the James Funk were transferred to the Tallahassee.{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/50410847/?clipping_id=2841155 |title=The privateer Tallahassee. Capture of the Pilot Boat Jas. Funk |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |place=Brooklyn, New York |date=13 Aug 1864|page=3|access-date=2020-11-19}}
The James Funk was turned into a tender and a decoy for the Tallahassee. Captain Wood used the pilot-boat to capture and burn other schooners and brigs, including the A. M. Lee. He then burned the James Funk, which he later regretted.
{{cite book |last=John |first=Bell |date=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S--g6L74BoMC&q=%20Funk |title=Confederate Seadog John Taylor Wood in War and Exile |location=New York |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated |page=35}}
The same day, the Tallahassee captured and burned the pilot-boat William Bell, No. 24, Adriatic and several other boats. The Confederates then sailed the Tallahassee to Fire Island, where the crew and passengers went ashore. Robert Yates, captain of the pilot-boat provided his account of the capture of the James Funk, after he arrived safely back to his home in New York City.
{{cite book|last=Allen|first=Edward L.|date=1922|title=Pilot Lore From sail to Steam |url=https://archive.org/details/pilotlorefromsai00unit/page/14/mode/2up?q=James+Funck|location=New York |publisher=The United New York and New Jersey Sandy Hook Pilots Benevolent Associations |pages=12–25}}
{{cite book|last=Cunliffe|first=Tom|date= 2001|title= Pilots, The World Of Pilotage Under Sail and Oar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VNsGi3nmuaQC&q=James%20Funck
|location=Brooklin, Maine|publisher=WoodenBoat|isbn=9780937822692|page=99}}
File:Charlotte Web pilot boat.jpg
In the book, "From Sandy Hook to 62", Charles Edward Russell, describes the chase of the Tallahassee cruiser against the James Funk and William Bell.{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Charles Edward|date=1929|title=From Sandy Hook to 62°|location=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TAxgwgEACAAJ&q=James%20Funk|publisher=Century Co.|page=137|oclc=3804485}}
The pilot boat Charlotte Webb was built by Eckford Webb in May 1865 at the Webb & Bell shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to take the place of the James Funk, No. 22, that was captured and burned by the Confederate raiding steamer Tallahassee.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/73566709/launch/|title=Webb & Bell's Yard |work=Brooklyn Union |place=Brooklyn, New York |date=25 May 1865|page=1|access-date=2020-11-21}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{commons category}}
{{List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats|state=collapsed}}
{{1864 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:James Funk}}
Category:Individual sailing vessels
Category:Schooners of the United States