”Designed and built by Elliot Carty in 1941 when he was only 22 years old. Anguilla’s premier shipwrights of the day Ellis Franklin and Austin Connor were employed to produce his dream boat, a classic island gaff rigged sloop, with the fine finish of a yacht, 49’ in length with 14’ beam, and fast enough to challenge his father’s famous schooner “Warspite”. On three occasions Spitfire made record breaking trips, twice from Basseterre, St. Kitts to Road Bay, Anguilla - approximately 75 miles in seven and a half hours and from Sombrero to Road Bay – 34 miles in three and a half hours. Spitfire was more a yacht cum fishing boat than a trading vessel, which she later became.
Spitfire is also remembered for arriving in Anguilla at 9.00 pm on the eve of Christmas Eve in 1943 with 20 tons of flour from St. Thomas when Anguilla and all of the surrounding islands had been out of flour for nearly three months, due to German submarine attacks on shipping in the North Atlantic. At a time when there were few cars and telephones on the island, Christmas carolers had spread the word throughout the island and by daylight next morning there was a crowd of people, bakers and shopkeepers with 23 donkeys all determined to take home 100 lb bags of flour. Later that day smoke could be seen rising out of old stone ovens all over the island. What a joyous Christmas that was!
Elliot was persuaded to sell Spitfire in 1948, a decision he later regretted for the rest of his life. Renamed ‘Malou’ and registered in Guadeloupe, she traded between Guadeloupe, St. Barths and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Last seen in 1956 as a fishing vessel equipped with cold storage and named ‘Piloquette’.
Anguilla Philatelic site.