View source for John McKeon (pilot boat)

{{short description|New Jersey Pilot boat}}
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|Ship image=John McKeon pilot boat.jpg
|Ship caption=Pilot Boat ''John McKeon,'' Built in 1838.
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1844}}
|Ship name=John McKeon
|Ship namesake=[[John McKeon]], New York lawyer and politician
|Ship owner= New Jersey Pilots Association
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|Ship builder=[[Isaac Webb (shipbuilder)#Webb & Allen|Webb & Allen]]
|Ship original cost=$9,000
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|Ship launched= November 24, 1838
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|Ship out of service= August 28, 1839
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|Ship homeport=New York
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|Ship fate=Sank in a hurricane
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|Ship class=Schooner
|Ship displacement=104-tons<!--using Custom House not tons burden-->
|Ship length={{convert|78|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|21|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}<!--breadth, measure of the width of the ship-->
|Ship draft=<!--or draught, vertical distance from the bottom of the keel to the waterline-->
|Ship depth={{convert|7|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}<!--top of keel to the top of deck beam -->
|Ship propulsion=sails
|Ship sail plan=[[Schooner]]-rigged
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The '''''John McKeon''''' was a 19th-century [[New Jersey]] [[pilot boat]] built in 1838 by [[Isaac Webb (shipbuilder)#Webb & Allen|Webb & Allen]] for the New Jersey Pilots Association. She helped transport [[maritime pilot]]s between inbound or outbound ships coming into the [[New York Harbor]]. Her short career ended in 1839, when the ''John McKeon'' was [[shipwreck]]ed in a hurricane that swept the New York coast. The pilot boat [[Gratitude (pilot boat)|''Gratitude'']] was lost in the same storm.

== Construction and service ==
[[File:John McKeon Design.jpg|thumb|left|Pilot-boat ''John McKeon'' built by [[Isaac Webb (shipbuilder)|Isaac Webb]], New York, November 1838, half-breadth plan from the Arthur H. Clark Collection.]]

''John McKeon'' or ''John McKean'' was a two-masted New Jersey Pilot Boat, launched on November 24, 1838, for a company of New Jersey pilots who were licensed with the New Jersey Pilots' Association. She was valued at $9,000 and had no insurance. Her builders were the [[Isaac Webb (shipbuilder)#Webb & Allen|Webb & Allen]] [[shipyard]] located at the foot of 6th Street, New York ([[East River]]).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520American%2520For%2520the%2520Country%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520American%2520For%2520the%2520Country%25201837-1838%2520Grayscale%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520American%2520For%2520the%2520Country%25201837-1838%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200586.pdf%23xml%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.fultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3D65bfb60a%26DocId%3D1714389%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D4%26hits%3D282a%2B282b%2B282c%2B282d%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252011%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520American%2520For%2520the%2520Country%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520American%2520For%2520the%2520Country%25201837-1838%2520Grayscale%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520American%2520For%2520the%2520Country%25201837-1838%2520Grayscale%2520-%25200586.pdf&xml=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fultonhistory.com%2FdtSearch%2Fdtisapi6.dll%3Fcmd%3Dgetpdfhits%26u%3D65bfb60a%26DocId%3D1714389%26Index%3DZ%253a%255cDISK%2520U%26HitCount%3D4%26hits%3D282a%2B282b%2B282c%2B282d%2B%26SearchForm%3D%252fFulton%255fform%252ehtml%26.pdf&openFirstHlPage=false |title=Launch.|work=New York American.|place=New York, New York|date=24 Nov 1838|page=|access-date=2021-10-25}}</ref><ref name="Missing">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77882628/john-mckeon/ |title=The Missing Pilot Boats.|work=New York Daily Herald |place=New York, New York|date=1 Oct 1839|page=6|access-date=2021-10-25}}</ref>

The ''John McKean'''s dimensions were 78.0&nbsp;ft. in length; 21.0&nbsp;ft. breadth of beam; 7.0&nbsp;ft. depth of hold; and 104-tons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalogs.marinersmuseum.org/object/CL14066|title= John McKeon, Pilot Schooner|work=Mariners' Museum and Park |place=|date=1838|access-date=2021-10-27}}</ref><ref>{{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=McKeon
|location= Brooklin, Maine|publisher= WoodenBoat|pages=71–72|isbn= |author-link=}}</ref>

==End of service==

On August 28, 1839, the ''John McKeon'' was lost in a severe storm with four crewmen; the rest of the pilots were put on board ships. The four were: Lawrence Jackson, boatkeeper, age 20; Lawrence Keech, boatkeeper, age 20; John Rogers, [[Perth Amboy, New Jersey]], age 28; Enon Russell, New York, cook, age 23. The ''John McKeon'' was last seen on the 20th off [[Montauk Point Light]]. Captain John B. H. Ward was last the pilot that left the ''John McKeon'' to board the outgoing brig ''Aladdin''.<ref name="Missing"/>
 
The New York pilot boat [[Gratitude (pilot boat)|''Gratitude,'']] No. 3, was lost in the same storm.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87733694/john-mckean/ |title=Leonard Walling.|work=Monmouth Democrat|place=Freehold, New Jersey|date=29 Jun 1854|page=1|access-date=2021-10-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/77510831/gratitude/ |title=List Of Vessels Stranded On New-York Pilot Ground Since 1839.|work=New York Daily Herald |place=New York, New York|date=28 Apr 1846|page=1|access-date=2021-10-25}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats]]

== References ==
<references />

{{commons category-inline|John McKeon|John McKeon}}
{{List of Northeastern U. S. Pilot Boats}}
{{1839 shipwrecks}}   
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[[Category:Service vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:1938 ships]]
[[Category:Schooners of the United States]]
[[Category:Pilot boats]]