[2][3] The original George W. Blunt was a two-masted, 85-foot long, 122-ton schooner, 20 tons larger than any other boat in the Sandy Hook fleet.

[2][3][8][9] On April 19, 1862, the 60-ton Confederate schooner Wave under Captain Ryan, was captured by the pilot-boat George W. Blunt off the coast of South Carolina.

[10][11] A replacement pilot boat, built in July 1861, was purchased from Boston builders Brown & Lovell[12] to take the place of the original George W. Blunt, which was sold to the government during the Civil War.

[16][17] In February 1875, the pilot boat George W. Blunt sprang a leak off Gay Head and was run ashore at Jones Inlet, twenty-eight miles from Sandy Hook and was reported to have become a total loss.

She had on board the following pilots: John Handran, Thomas Murphy, Robert Yates, Edward Kelly, James Heines, and Michael O'Shaughnessy.