Tyger (ship)

The "Tyger" (tiger) was the ship used by Dutch captain Adriaen Block during his 1613 voyage to explore the East Coast of North America and the present day Hudson River.

In late summer of 1613, the Tyger had moored in lower Manhattan on the Hudson to trade with the Lenape Indians. By November, the vessel had been filled with pelts of beaver, otter, and other skins obtained in barter for rifles. In November, an accidental fire broke out and the "Tyger" rapidly burned to the waterline. The charred hull was beached and all but a small section of prow and keel that was salvaged in 1916 (see below) remain in that location, buried beneath what is now the intersection of Greenwich and Dey Streets in Lower Manhattan. During the fire, the crew salvaged some sails, rope, tools and fittings and, over the winter, Block and his men, with help from the Indians, built the "Onrust" ("Restless"), which they used to explore the East River and Long Island Sound before returning to Europe in 1614.

In 1916, workmen led by James A. Kelly uncovered the prow and keel of the "Tyger" while excavating an extension for the New York City subway near the intersection of Greenwich and Dey Streets. The ship and some related artifacts were discovered by Mr. Kelly's crew at a depth of about 20 feet below the street - right where it had been beached on the shoreline of Manahttan Island at the time of the ship's burning. Over a period of 150 years after the vessel had been beached, approximately 11 feet of silt accumulated and, in 1763, a waterfront fill-in project added another 8 to 9 feet. Although the excavation crew was under great pressure to keep the pace of work on schedule, Mr. Kelly persuaded his supervisors to allow sufficient excavation to remove about 8 1/2 feet of prow and keel with three of the hull's ribs. [as told by James A. Kelly to his grandson John L. Kelly] The timbers were placed in the seal tank of the New York Aquarium in Battery Park. In 1943, they were presented to the Museum of the City of New York for exhibition in the Marine Gallery. [see monograph by W.M. Williamson, Marine Curator, Marine Museum of The City of New York, Museum of the City of New York, Adrian Block: Navigator, Fur Trader, Explorer, New York's First Shipbuilder, 1611-14, copyright 1959 by W.M. Williamson] The remainder of the ship still rests approximately 20 feet (6 m) below ground, due east of the former site of the North Tower of the World Trade Center..

ee also

* New Netherland

References