Richard Brown (captain)

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Captain Richard Brown (* 1813 in Mystic , Connecticut , † June 18, 1885 in Brooklyn ), called Dick Brown , was a pilot with a captain's license in the waters between the Sandy Hook peninsula ( New Jersey ) and New York and achieved international fame through the Winning the One Hundred Sovereigns Cup as skipper of the American schooner yacht America in August 1851 off the Isle of Wight in the Solent in England . The America's Cup was founded with the trophy and the new foundation by the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) .

Captain Richard "Dick" Brown came from an old seafaring family. As a young lad he was hired in the lobster fishery off the coast of New England . When he grew up, he went to the US Coast Survey and worked for a long time as a buoy laying ship on the brig Washington , which served the New Jersey coastal region from New York to the Delaware River . In 1848 he left the civil service and became a pilot in the Sandy Hook pilot association . He quickly gained the reputation of being a very experienced captain in these difficult waters.

Pilots serving the ports of New York and Boston were of a special kind. At that time they sailed in small schooners to the larger ships, which they then safely escorted to the port in all weather conditions. Captain Richard Brown was one of the best in his craft and it was America's designer , George Steers , who suggested him to the New York Yacht Club as skipper for the regatta in Cowes . This reputation convinced the Commodore of the NYYC and co-owner of the yacht, John Cox Stevens , and Captain Richard Brown was given command of the America in the regatta of the Royal Yacht Squadron around the Isle of Wight .

Richard Brown managed the company's logistics and trained the team. The area in the English Channel is very difficult due to the changing currents and shallows . The Yacht America under Captain Brown's command was able to clearly beat the English sailors. His commitment made the difference to the other participants, so that the cup was won. George L. Schuyler, one of the owners of America , made Brown's importance clear by saying that he was one of the best men he had seen in that position. As a personal reminder of the overwhelming victory in Cowes, Captain Brown received valuable binoculars.

In 1870, at the request of James Gordon Bennett , Captain Richard Brown went to England to transfer the yacht Dauntless across the North Atlantic to New York in a race against the Cambria . This was the second transatlantic race ever to be sailed from east to west, starting at Daunt Rock (Ireland) and ending at Sandy Hook Lightship off New York. The Cambria won by a margin of 1 hr. 17 min. Before the Dauntless , but they had two hours hove been waiting to rescue a crew member, which had been washed in strong storm overboard.

In 1870 the first America's Cup took place in New York. British challenger James Ashbury fought a fleet of 14 defender yachts on his yacht Cambria . The American yacht Magic won ahead of the Dauntless under the command of Captain Richard Brown and the Cambria . James Ashbury had insisted in the course of the races not to sail against a fleet of yachts, but ship against ship.

In 1871 Richard Brown skippered the Dauntless yacht in the second America's Cup against the challenger Livonia owned by James Ashbury.

After his engagement as a yacht skipper, he resumed his work as an active pilot in the sea area off Sandy Hook. He died in his Brooklyn home on June 18, 1885 and was buried in Greenwood.

Honors

For his services to the America's Cup, he was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame as an honorary member (Inductee) in 1999 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d America’s Cup Hall of Fame - Captain Richard Brown  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 6, 2009@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.herreshoff.org  
  2. ↑ a b c d CAPT CAPT. RICHARD BROWN'S DEATH .; TO OLD SANDY HOOK PILOT, AND ONCE SAILING MASTER OF THE AMERICA. . New York Times. June 19, 1885. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
  3. ↑ a b AC CLOPAEDIA - Dauntless Retrieved on 6 February 2009
personal data
SURNAME Brown, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brown, dick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sailor
DATE OF BIRTH 1813
PLACE OF BIRTH Mystic
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 1885
Place of death Brooklyn