NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER OF HISTO

NORTH CAROLINA REGISTER OF HISTORIC VESSELS

VESSEL DIRECTORY

VRN101 "Bonnerton Boat" (kunner)

Benjamin Franklin Sawyer built this split-log dugout kunner in Hyde County, North Carolina, in the 1870s. It worked in the Alligator River and on Albemarle Sound for well over a century, most of the time under the ownership of the Sawyer family. Luther G. Sawyer and his son, Steve, donated the boat to the North Carolina Maritime Museum in 1992, and it currently is on exhibit in the Boat Shed in Beaufort.

VRN102 Tom Dixon (Albemarle Sound shad boat)

George Washington Creef built the shad boat Tom Dixon at Wanchese on Roanoke Island circa 1887. It was converted to power 1915-1920. Earl Willis donated Tom Dixon to the North Carolina Maritime Museum in 1993. It is the most "original" of Creef's surviving shad boats, but unrepaired damage from a collision that took it out of service and its very "originality" makes it the least suitable for public exhibit, so it is in the research storage collection at the museum.

VRN103 Swift (Whitehall rowing boat)

Geoffrey Scofield built Swift at the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort in 1982-1984. Its current owner is Dr. Thomas Loftfield of Wilmington, North Carolina, who keeps it in use.

VRN104 Silver Chalice (reconstructed 1584 ship's boat)

Michael B. Alford, then the curator of maritime research at the North Carolina Maritime Museum, designed Silver Chalice to represent and interpret the type of vessel used in 1685 during Richard Grenville's exploration of coastal North Carolina and in the establishment of the Ralph Lane colony. Geoffrey Scofield, as master builder, supervise construction of Silver Chalice at the North Carolina Maritime Museum for the Elizabeth II State Historic Site (now Roanoke Island Festival Park), where it currently operates.

VRN105 C.S.S. Neuse (ironclad gunboat or ram)

Thomas Howard and Elijah Ellis, both from New Bern, laid down the Confederate ironclad Neuse at White Hall (now Seven Springs), North Carolina, in October 1862. It was intended to help regain control of coastal North Carolina from Union forces and recapture New Bern. Neuse was launched incomplete in 1863 and moved to Kinston for fitting out. It completed and was operational from April 1864 until it was scuttled by its crew in March 1865. The hull was recovered from the Neuse River 1961-1963 and is exhibited at the C.S.S. Neuse State Historic Site in Kinston.

VRN106 Alvirah Wright shad boat

Alvirah Wright built this large shad boat at Arenuse Creek in Camden County, North Carolina, in 1904. It was converted to gasoline power circa 1912. In the 1970s an attempt was made to restore it to its original sail rig. The Museum of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City acquired this shad boat for its collection in 1994. It underwent a major restoration process from 1997 to 2005 and is now exhibited in the entrance lobby of the Museum of the Albemarle.

VRN107 Elizabeth II (reconstructed 1585 50-tunne ship)

Elizabeth II is modeled after Elizabeth, one of the ships that sailed in the 1585 expedition to the New World. While the details of the original Elizabeth are not extant, careful research ensured that Elizabeth II features characteristics typical of sixteenth-century English merchant ships. Elizabeth II, therefore, is a composite representation of the original vessel and not a replica. Construction of the ship, supervised by O. Lie-Nielsen, began at the Creef-Davis Boat Shop in downtown Manteo in July 1982. It was launched on November 22, 1983, and was presented to the State of North Carolina as a Historic Site on July 13, 1984, during the ceremonies to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first English ships to the North Carolina Outer Banks. Elizabeth II now forms the centerpiece of Roanoke Island Festival Park.

VRN108 Lake Waccamaw canoe

This 19-foot long dugout canoe was carved from a yellow pine log some 36 inches in diameter. Radio-carbon dating of the log indicates it was made between 1670 and 1770. The canoe was recovered from Lake Waccamaw in the summer of 1981 and treated to ensure its preservation by the Underwater Archaeology Unit at Kure Beach, North Carolina. Detailed examination of the craft indicates that it was something of a "hybrid," either made by Native Americans using European metal tools but following an indigenous design or fabricated by European settlers in the region who copied an Indian prototype. The canoe currently is exhibited at the Lake Waccamaw Depot Museum.

VRN109 Beasley workboat

VRN110 Mother Goose (workboat)

VRN111 Crawford Fire & Rescue (workboat)

VRN112 Foul Play (Albemarle Sound shad boat)

VRN113 Ella View (Albemarle Sound shad boat)

VRN114 Borden spritsail skiff

VRN115 Hi Tide (spritsail skiff)

VRN116 Alice Bell (Core Sounder)

VRN117 Solomon T (Harkers Island workboat)