Vessel History

Hesper – Pilot Schooner

Built as: Hesper Class: Pilot schooner Hull: Wood Rig: Schooner Designed by: Lawlor: Dennison Josiah Lawlor (1824-1892) Build date: 1884 Launch date: 1884 Built by: Montgomery & Howard Built at: Chelsea, Massachusetts Built for: Lawler – George William Lawler (1850-1913) Named for: Alternative name of Hesperus, the evening star. Power: Sail Net tons: 93.99 Length: 104’ LOA: 95’ LWL Beam: 22’ Depth: 12’ Crew: Capt. George W. Lawler was her master from 1884 until she was sold in 1901. Number: 95380: Signal Letters: KCTM

1901: "When the pilots adopted their new form of organization in 1901, requiring five instead of eight boats, the Varuna, the America, the Louise, the Liberty and the Adams were continued in the service while the Hesper, the Minerva and the Sylph were sold.": "Pilots and Pilot Boats of Boston Harbor" by Ralph M. Eastman, privately printed for the Second Bank-State Street Trust Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1956, p. 61.

1901: Andrew Wheelwright bought Hesper and converted her to a yacht. Wheelwright: Andrew Cunningham Wheelwright (1827-1908)

"Hesper was a Boston pilot schooner, designed for speed in order to be the first to reach offshore merchant vessels and escort them through the treacherous harbor islands into the port. The fastest boat got to the client first, and Hesper had the reputation of being the fastest of the fast throughout her working career.": “Half Model of the Pilot Schooner Hesper,” Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center, Accessed online 10/12/14; http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_892421

""Hesper" and the Boston Scene - In the mid 1880s… Dennison Lawlor designed a number of successful pilot schooners with increasingly modern shapes, but his trial was the "Hesper" of 1884. It should be remembered that this phenomenally fast and Weatherly vessel, who's lines became a watchword for unbeatable performance, was built four years later than the Delaware schooner "Thomas S. Bayard."

This Mighty schooner ran out at 102 feet on deck with a draught of 12 feet and relatively modest extreme beam of 23 feet. She is not universally agreed to be strikingly beautiful, and carried a little outside ballast which did not initially impress the pilots, but when they saw how fast she sailed, they forgave her everything." - "Pilot Schooners of North America and Great Britain," editor and principal author, Tom Cunliffe; consultant editor, Adrian Osler. Published by Abri du Marin, France: Le Chasse-Marée/Maritime Life and Traditions; Brooklin, Maine: WoodenBoat, 2001, p. 124-133. "Hesper" took part in famous pilot boat races in the Boston area. The complete story is described in this book.

"Dennison Lawlor’s masterpiece pilot boat design was generally considered to be the Hesper, 93.99 tons, the largest in the fleet at the time, which he also designed for Captain George Lawler. Built Howard & Montgomery [Sic] of Chelsea, she aroused much favorable comment at New York when Captain Lawler sailed her over there, with some friends aboard, to watch the Puritan and Genesta race in 1885." - "Pilots and Pilot Boats of Boston Harbor" by Ralph M. Eastman, privately printed for the Second Bank-State Street Trust Company, Boston, Massachusetts, 1956, p. 47.

Subsequent Owners - Last owned by Wheelwright - Andrew Cunningham Wheelwright (1827- 1908) of Northeast Harbor who purchased her in 1901 to replace his lost schooner, Fannie Earl. Spurling - Francis G. Spurling (1853-1944) was her master when she was owned by the Wheelwrights.

Disposition - The "Hesper" lay on a mooring in Northeast Harbor during World War I. She was covered with insufficient ventilation and rotted." - Ralph Stanley - 2007.

Hesper’s beautiful cabin door with etched glass windows are installed in the Maine Studies Room on the second floor of the Northeast Harbor Library.

See Hesper – Bos Glo – 05-13-1901.pdf