William Frederick "Bill" McCoy (August 17, 1877 – December 30, 1948), was an American sea captain and rum-runner during the Prohibition in the United States.

His father, also William McCoy, was a brick mason who had been in the Union Navy during the American Civil War, serving on the blockade of Southern coasts.

[4] Bill McCoy attended the Pennsylvania Nautical School on board the then USS Saratoga in Philadelphia, graduating in 1895 first in his class.

By 1918, having constructed vessels for millionaire customers that included Andrew Carnegie and the Vanderbilts among others, McCoy earned a reputation for being a skilled yacht builder.

After a few successful trips smuggling liquor off the coast of the United States, Bill McCoy had enough money to buy the schooner Arethusa.

Placing the schooner under British registry to avoid being US jurisdiction, Bill renamed the vessel Tomoka (after the river that runs through his hometown Holly Hill).

McCoy made a number of successful trips aboard the Tomoka, and – along with the Henry L. Marshall and up to five other vessels – became a household name through his smuggling activities.

The machine gunners ran to cover when the shells of the Seneca began to fall so close to their mark that they kicked the spray over the Tomaka's deck.

[10]When asked what defense he planned to make at the hearing before the trial, McCoy introduced the details of his operations by replying: I have no tale of woe to tell you.