HMCo #233p Delaware Junior [Launch for St. Y. Delaware]

"July 10, 1903
Trial of 28ft Launch No. [#233p] built by C. Vanderbilt but has been transferred to Com. F.G. Bourne for S[team] Y[acht] Delaware.
Same as No 199 [#199p Steam Tender for U.S.C.S. Eagle] and others.
Wind high S, nearly high water, about usual am[oun]t of coal & water [on board], [and] full equipment and 2 men.
[Followed by tabulated trial run data with mean speed being 14.50mph]. ...
Working well except hard to keep up steam on acc[oun]t of hard coal." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten note in Trials Booklet '1898 - 1909' under date of July 10, 1903. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"The steam yacht Delaware, owned by Commodore Frederic G. Bourne of the New York Yacht Club, anchored in the harbor for several hours, Tuesday [July 28, 1903] afternoon. [Possibly to pick up her new Herreshoff-built steam launch #233p Delaware Jr.]" (Source: Anon. "Locals." Bristol Phoenix, July 31, 1903, p. 2.)

"[Item Transcription:] In a conversation with Commodore Bourne, he requested that I would ask you whether it would not better to have a blower in his launch [#233p DELAWARE Jr?] than the jet; as a matter of fact, he wishes a blower installed. Would you write me in relation to this.
Would you please to send me the outline drawing of the launch, that I may send it to Watson and have the model completed as soon as possible.
What do you think of this for a draft formula: .15 times the L plus 2.50, exclusive of centre-board; any excess as per above formula, to be multiplied by 3 and added to the rating measurement.
L is to be taken at a line parallel with the fore-and-aft vertical plane at a distance from it of 1/4 of the greatest beam at the load water line, and 1/10 of this beam above it.
This foes not strike me as a particularly good method, and, if not too much trouble, I hope you will suggest something better.
Trusting you are quite well, believe me... [Incl. NGH reply notes:] Ans[wered] Dec 2 & mailed[?] b[lue] p[rint] of draft limit, for yachts & raceabout[?] that with 20ft extra ranges[?].
Limit of draught to be taken from L." (Source: Cormack, George A. (incl NGH reply). Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_69600. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F03, formerly MRDE15. 1904-11-30.)
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"[Item Transcription:] I thank you for your letter of December 2nd.
Commodore Bourne is most anxious to have a blower installed in his launch [#233p DELAWARE Jr]. He was perversely satisfied with the arrangement of the blower in the launch that came with the Delaware, and seemed to think that it worked perfectly. Of course an engineer must shut down the blower when he opens the furnace door, but I have no doubt that the furnace doors would be blown out by the blast being blown against them. The commodore thought it would be much better to replace furnace doors than to use up a limited supply of water with a jet; therefore he requests that you will devise some system of forced draft before the opening of next season.
The curves of draft that you send are most interesting. I think the one at 20 feet superior. I will show this to the members of the Committee on Measurement at their next meeting. I will forward you a copy of the minutes of the special meeting in a few days. I hope you will have time to look over them and make such suggestions as you think proper.
Wishing you a very happy Christmas and a most prosperous New Year, believe me, ..." (Source: Cormack, George A. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_69570. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F03, formerly MRDE15. 1904-12-08.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Many thanks for your letter of the 19th. I will refer this to Commodore Bourne, and I have no doubt he will accept your suggestion as to the installation of the blower in the launch [#233p DELAWARE Jr].
I agree with your criticism of the method of measuring sail by Mr. Lawton's rule. There is really nothing the matter with the method adopted by the Club, but, as I said before, we are endeavoring to harmonize, and there seems to be a very decided prejudice without any reason against taking the actual area of the sails." (Source: Cormack, George A. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_69560. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F03, formerly MRDE15. 1904-12-21.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (mostly in pencil but also in ink) trials booklet titled '1898 - 1909'. Relevant contents:
§31: #233p DELAWARE JUNIOR [LAUNCH FOR ST. Y. DELAWARE] Trial Run mean speed 14.50mph (1903-07-10)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Trials Booklet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE09_00060. Folder [no #]. 1898-09 to 1911-04.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #233p Delaware Junior [Launch for St. Y. Delaware] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Delaware Jr (HMCo-made index card)
• Delaware Jr (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Note: The vessel index cards comprise two sets of a total of some 3200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and information regarding drawings, later or former vessel names, and owners. They were compiled from HMCo's early days until 1920 and added to in later decades, apparently by Hart Nautical curator William A. Baker and his successors. While HMCo seems to have used only one set of index cards, all sorted by name and, where no name was available, by number, later users at MIT apparently divided them into two sets of cards, one sorted by vessel name, the other by vessel number and greatly expanded the number of cards. Original HMCo cards are usually lined and almost always punched with a hole at bottom center while later cards usually have no hole, are unlined, and often carry substantially less information. All cards are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass.

Name: Delaware Jr.
Type: Steam
Length: 28'
Owner: Vanderbilt

Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. "A Partial List of Herreshoff Clients." In: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Herreshoff Yachts. Bristol, Rhode Island, ca. 1931.

• Delaware Junior
• Note: The L. Francis Herreshoff index cards comprise a set of some 1200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and / or ownership information. Apparently compiled in the early 1930s, for later HMCo-built boats like the Fishers Island 23s or the Northeast Harbor 30s are not included. Added to in later decades, apparently by L. F. Herreshoff as well as his long-time secretary Muriel Vaughn and others. Also 46 cards of L. F. Herreshoff-designed vessels. The original set of index cards is held by the Herreshoff Marine Museum and permission to display is gratefully acknowledged.

Name: Delaware, Jr.
Type: 28' steam tender
Owner: W. K. Vanderbilt
Row No.: 154

Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. "Partial List of Herreshoff-Built Boats." In: Herreshoff, L. Francis. Capt. Nat Herreshoff. The Wizard of Bristol. New York, 1953, p. 325-343.

Year: 1903
E/P/S: P
No.: 233
Name: Delaware Junior
OA: 28'
LW: 27' 9"

Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.

Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.

"Delaware was a 254' steam yacht built by Napier, Shanks & Bell of Glasgow, Scotland from designs by G. L. Watson in 1896. In 1903 she was owned by Com. F. G. Bourne of the New York Yacht Club. Note that both the 1931 HMCo-published Owner's List and the 1953 HMCo Owner's List by L. Francis Herreshoff list W. K. Vanderbilt as the owner of this launch. This appears unlikely because W. K. Vanderbilt was the owner of the 332ft LOA steam yacht Valiant between 1803 and 1910 and thus would not have had reason to order a steam launch for the steam yacht Delaware in 1903. Note also that the launch #237p, built somewhat later, was listed by the 1931 Owner's List as having been built for F. G. Bourne, suggesting that the two names had been mistakenly exchanged in that list." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 2, 2009.)

"Steam engine rating 48hp from undated (1903 or later) diagram by N. G. Herreshoff titled 'Marine Engine. Weights and Prices' in the Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 24, 2019.)

"Marine Engine of Inclosed Type. 3 1/2 & 5 & 8 x 4 1/2, 825[rpm], 48[hp]." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten List of HMCo-Made Steam Engines. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum, MRDED1_00220. Undated, between 1903 and 1918.)

Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.