J.W. Westcott II is a boat known for its delivery of mail to ships while they are underway. It operates out of Detroit, Michigan, and is the only floating zip code in the United States.
The Westcott company was established in 1874 by Captain J. W. Westcott, who ferried supplies (and by 1895 the mail) to passing ships via rowboat. The company was originally formed in 1874 by Captain J.W. Westcott to inform passing vessels of changes in orders.
By 1949 the company commissioned Paasch Marine Service of Erie, Pennsylvania to build J.W. Westcott II, named in honor of the Westcott company's founder. The ship is 45 feet (14 m) in length and has a beam of 13 feet (4.0 m). A single screw is powered by a 305 horsepower (227 kW) marine diesel engine. The boat's speed is rated at 15 knots.
Any mail addressed to members of ships' crews on vessels transiting the Detroit River can be delivered to them via J. W. Westcott II by being addressed "Vessel Name, Marine Post Office, Detroit, Michigan, 48222." The US postal zip code 48222 is exclusive to the floating post office and its ship addressees; as of 2016, the boat has a contract with the US Postal Service through 2021. The mail will be delivered to the appropriate ships (mainly lake freighters) as they transit the Detroit River, utilizing ropes and buckets.
On the morning of 23 October 2001, the Westcott set out from its berth to deliver a Canadian pilot to the tanker Knutsen. It was then scheduled to deliver another pilot to a freighter nearby afterwards. It was still dark when Westcott arrived alongside the Knutsen, its starboard (right as you're facing the front/bow of the ship) side to the tanker's (left) port side.
The tanker was partially filled with 12,000 tons of gasoline and was scheduled to steam upriver to Lake St. Clair and then up the St. Clair River to the Canadian port of Sarnia on Lake Huron. Ships must travel up the Detroit River to make their way from Lake Erie to Lake Huron.
As usual, a ladder for the pilot to climb up was hanging over the side of Knutsen when Westcott pulled up alongside an estimated 100 feet forward of the stern. Hall said the boat typically pulls up about one-quarter of the way from the stern of visiting ships - or about 130 to 140 feet forward in this case.
Normally, the Westcott would take on some water as it would pull aside these large ships, the suction of the two boats together churning the water rapidly between their hulls. The water typically comes on deck and escapes through the holes or frame ports that have been added for this sort of issue.
This time, however, the boat took on more water than usual and it began flowing into the pilothouse and the vessel started listing (leaning) to the port side.
Witnesses described it where within seconds the pilothouse had almost completely filled with water and one pilot opened the doorway to escape. The other pilot made it out that same door as well. The pilots told investigators they swam to safety in the 55°F waters and watched the boat go down in about 20 seconds.
After the Westcott went down, the first pilot popped out of the water with the second shortly thereafter. The vessel was seen near the surface of the water, upside down and her engine was still running with the propeller was turning at a "furious rate".
The pilots said they watched the stern rise out of the water as Westcott's bow dug into the river bottom, and then sinking in a mere few minutes. It hit the bottom of the river and apparently turned around to point the opposite direction as it was later found facing downriver - opposite to which direction it was headed at the time of the accident.
The pilots were rescued by the tug Stormont, which raced to the scene from Windsor after it heard a distress call from Knutsen. The pilots were treated and released.
Six days after the accident, a nearby marine salvage company raised the Westcott from the bottom of the river. One of the missing pilots was found as they'd gone down with the ship. Divers could not locate the other and he was presumed perished.
The accident affected the entire maritime community. The Westcott employees directed and did much of the work to refurbish and restore the J.W. Westcott II and put it back in operation in time for the next shipping season.
The service that this "little ship" provides, is an invaluable link to the outside world for many of the folks that serve on these massive ships that sail in the Great Lakes and around the world.