Pilgrim II (Screw Tug)
1865-1889
(ScTug: t. 170; dr. 6'; s. 12 k.)
One who journeys in foreign lands, especially to visit a shrine or holy place. The English colonists who founded the first permanent settlement in New England at Plymouth in 1620 were called pilgrims.
II
Pilgrim, an iron hulled, screw tug built by Pusey, Jones & Co., Wilmington, Del., was launched 1 November 1864; and, after a successful trial run, was delivered to the Navy at the Philadelphia Navy Yard 2 March 1865.
Acquired by the Navy too late for service in the Civil War, Pilgrim has left little record of her service other than logs covering slightly more than a year in 1870 and 1871. She commissioned at Key West, Fla., 4 May 1870 and operated primarily in the Florida Keys until steaming to New Orleans in the spring of 1871. In July she proceeded to Philadelphia where she decommissioned 29 July.
However, the tug may have served at other times in a non-commissioned status. Dropped from the Naval Register 1 January 1889, Pilgrim was sold 25 March 1891.
