The historic fleet

The largest fleet of historic vessels in private hands in the United States, tied up at Pier 16 in the middle of the financial district.

The South Street Seaport Museum was founded in the 1960s around the idea that a port museum should have ships in the water rather than models in cases. The fleet is the result, and it is the district's most underrated attraction.

Wavertree

A full-rigged iron sailing ship built in 1885 at Southampton, and the largest of her kind afloat. She carried cargo — jute, and later general freight — until she was dismasted off Cape Horn and finished her working life as a floating warehouse in Argentina.

She underwent a major restoration and returned to Pier 16, and she is the vessel that best conveys the scale of the sailing trade this waterfront was built for.

Ambrose

A lightship from 1908 — effectively a floating lighthouse, anchored at the entrance to New York Harbor to mark the Ambrose Channel for incoming ships. Small, red, and much more interesting inside than the exterior suggests.

Lettie G. Howard

An 1893 fishing schooner of the Fredonia type, built in Essex, Massachusetts. She is a rare survivor of the sailing fishing fleet that supplied the Fulton Fish Market a few yards away, and she sails.

Pioneer

An 1885 schooner, originally iron-hulled and built to carry sand. She is the museum's sail-training and public-sailing vessel, and in season she takes passengers out into the harbour under sail. This is the single best thing available at the Seaport and comparatively few visitors know about it.

Peking

For decades the fleet included Peking, a four-masted steel barque built in 1911. She was returned to Germany in 2017 and is now preserved in Hamburg, where she was built. She is not at the Seaport and has not been for years, which catches out anyone working from an old guidebook.

Visiting

Access to the vessels, and the sailing season for Pioneer and Lettie G. Howard, are set by the museum and vary through the year. Restoration work can take a ship out of public access without much notice. Check the South Street Seaport Museum directly before making the trip for a specific vessel.