TORREY

Schooner, length 70 feet, beam 20 feet, draft 2.8 feet. Built in 1857 for the Coast Survey by Fardy Bros., Baltimore, Maryland. This vessel was in Atlantic service from 1857-1875. Named for John Torrey (1796-1873), famous American botanist who had served as a professor at West Point during the period Alexander Dallas Bache was both a cadet and Professor of Mechanical Engineering following his graduation.

TRANSIT

Schooner, length 60 feet, beam 15 feet, draft 1.7 feet. Built in 1888 at A.C. Brown, Tottenville, Staten Island, New York. In service 1888-1909, the second to last operational schooner in the Coast Survey fleet. Used on Atlantic coast.

TWILIGHT

Schooner, length 85 feet, beam 17 feet, draft, 4.5 feet. Built in 1856. In service 1856-1861 in Atlantic. May 7 1861 seized at Aransas, Texas, by the state of Texas.

VANDERBILT

Schooner, length 47.6 feet, beam 15.4 feet, draft 3.6 feet. Built in 1842, in service 1842-1855. Used for Atlantic service.

VARINA

Schooner, length 91.5 feet, beam 23.5 feet, draft 4 feet. Built in 1854 by Fardy Brothers in Baltimore, Maryland. In service 1854-1875 on Atlantic. Probably named for Varina Davis, wife of Senator, Secretary of War, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who had been a good friend of Alexander Dallas Bache, Second Superintendent of the Coast Survey, since their West Point days together. Davis was a staunch defender of the Coast Survey in the Senate and remained an ally of Bache’s until the coming of the Civil War.