The Victory Chimes, a historic Chesapeake Bay Ram schooner and a U.S. National Historic Landmark, has mysteriously sunk in Brooklyn's Henry Street Basin, just days after another vessel owned by the same company, the Pilot, met a similar fate. Both ships were moored next to each other. The 126-year-old Victory Chimes was discovered on the basin floor Sunday, with its masts still visible above the water. The Pilot had sunk in the middle of the night on July 1.
Both vessels are owned by Crew, a company that converts historic ships into floating restaurants and bars. A company spokesperson stated that the vessels were moored in the basin awaiting restoration and that their wooden hulls had shown signs of deterioration. Pictures from May showed visible rusting and decaying planks on both ships, which were being kept upright by yellow floats.
"It really felt like something had gone wrong here. One vessel sinking, maybe it’s a fluke. A second vessel sinking — I don’t know," said Brad Vogel of the Gowanus Dredgers, who reported the sinkings. He noted that the ships appeared to be in rough condition after the winter.
The Victory Chimes began taking on water and ultimately sank alongside the Pilot during a squall that passed through the area on Friday, according to the company. "It’s been a tough few days at Crew," the spokesperson said. "In response to both incidents, our team called in maritime salvage experts to make a plan to safely raise the vessels, determine the cause of the sinking, and assess any damage to the hulls."
Crew, founded by brothers Alex and Miles Pincus, acquired the Victory Chimes at auction in Maine in 2023. The ship, built in 1900, served as a cargo vessel before becoming a cruise liner and was later designated the "Official Windjammer of Maine." It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
The Pilot, a 102-year-old former racing schooner, had been transformed into a floating bar and oyster restaurant and had previously been located at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 7. It was replaced for the current season by the Fireboat, a retired FDNY ship.
Questions have been raised about the maintenance and preservation efforts for these historic vessels. Paddlers like Vogel expressed concern that insufficient work may have been done in the months leading up to the sinkings. "Even if there were fluke incidents that led to both sinkings directly, there was a lot of indirect negligence in the lead-up," Vogel stated, questioning the care given to Crew's other floating vessels. He acknowledged the significant effort and cost involved in maintaining historic wooden ships but emphasized the company's obligation to uphold its public image of historic preservation.