HMCo #478s [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel]

S00478_Half-Rater_for_AJ_Drexel_Stebbins_8022.jpg

Particulars

Construction_Record_Title.jpgName: [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel]
Type: Half-Rater Fin Keel
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1896-6-24
Launch: 1896-7-21
Construction: Wood
LOA: 22' (6.71m)
LWL: 15' 7.5" (4.76m)
Beam: 4' 7.5" (1.41m)
Draft: 3' 9" (1.14m)
Rig: Gaff Sloop
Sail Area: 218sq ft (20.2sq m)
Displ.: 1,225 lbs (556 kg)
Keel: FK
Ballast: Lead
Built for: Drexel, Anthony J. [John R. Fell]
Amount: $1,100.00
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: Moulds of #419

Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.


Model

Model #6Model number: 6
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room East Wall

Vessels from this model:
12 built, modeled by NGH
#442s Houri (1894)
#443s Adelaide (1894)
#444s Vaquero I (1894)
#445s Dorothy (1894)
#446s Alerion II (1894)
#447s Celia (1894)
#453s Vaquero II (1895)
#454s Lagopa [Lagofa] (1895)
#457s Osprey (1895)
#458s Mist (1895)
#478s [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel] (1896)
#496s Spook (1898)

Original text on model:
"21' WL of 1894 (No. 442, 443, 444, 445, 447 28' 446 ALERION 2 scale)
1895 (28' WL 453 VAQUERO 15" scale ________ 12" scale, 454 LAGODA 19' 6", No. 457 OSPREY 15' 7" WL,
1896 458 27' WL, 478 15'7" WL 1/2 RATER" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model Description:
"#442 Houri, 21' lwl fin-keel sloop of 1894. Also used for #443 Adelaide, #444 Vaquero, #445 Dorothy, #447 Ceila, and with scale change for #446 Alerion, 28' lwl of 1894, #453 Vaquero II, 26' lwl of 1895, #495 Lagofa, 19'6" lwl of 1895, #457 Osprey, 14'5" lwl of 1895, #458 Mist, 27' lwl of 1895, and #478, 14'5" lwl half-rater of 1896." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)

Related model(s):
Model 1109 by NGH? (1897?); sail, not built
{?}: Fin Keel???


Note: Vessels that appear in the records as not built, a cancelled contract, a study model, or as a model sailboat are listed but not counted in the list of vessels built from a model.


Offsets

Offset booklet number(s): HH.4.090

Offset booklet contents:
#442 [21' w.l. finkeel sloop Houri].


Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)
Note: "Reference to offset booklet HH.4.090 was added by CvdL because this boat was built from the same construction plan as #457s Osprey that was specifically mentioned in it." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 24, 2021.)

Drawings

Main drawing Dwg 075-060 (HH.5.05452) Explore all drawings relating to this boat.

List of drawings:
   Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
   HMCo #478s [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel] are listed in bold.
   Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
  1. Dwg 130-024 (HH.5.10326): Sails > Olita (1895 ?)
  2. Dwg 080-047 (HH.5.05958): No. 455 and 457 [Spars] (1895-07-17)
  3. Dwg 060-031 (HH.5.04254): Fin Keel (1895-07-20)
  4. Dwg 075-060 (HH.5.05452): Construction Dwg > Fin Keel Boat (478) (1895-07-25)
Source: Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Together with: Hasselbalch, Kurt with Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin. Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997. Together with: Numerous additions and corrections by Claas van der Linde.
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.

Documents

Nathanael G. Herreshoff

"[1896-06-24] Wed 24: Have order for 15-footer, (#478) [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel].
[1896-06-27] Sat 27: Set up frames of #478 [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel].
[1896-07-21] Tue 21: Delivered 1/2-rater to Mr. Drexel [#478s]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1896. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

Other Contemporary Text Source(s)

"A new fin keel sloop, built for John R. Fell of Philadelphia at Herreshoff's, was launched Tuesday [July 21, 1896], and was given a satisfactory trial in the harbor. Her dimensions are 18 foot waterline, 23 feet overall, 5 foot beam and 4 feet 6 inches draught, including fin. Mr. Fell came to Bristol in steam yacht Barracouta of Philadelphia and towed the new fin keel boat down to Newport astern of the steam yacht. [Barracouta was a brigantine-rigged steam yacht, 134.7ft LOA, built in 1869 by Nillus & Son in Havre, France and owned by Mrs. Sarah Drexel Fell, as per the 1896 American Yacht List. Sarah Drexel (1860-1929) was Anthony J. Drexel's daughter and the wife of John R. Fell.]" (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, July 24, 1896, p. 2.)

"... A Herreshoff half-rater owned by Colonel A. J. Drexel has been added to the fleet of the Corinthian Yacht Club. ..." (Source: Anon. "The Margarita Has Sailed." New York Herald, August 27, 1896, p. 13.)

Archival Documents

"N/A"

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #478s [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.


Images

Supplement

From the 1920 and earlier HMCo Index Cards at the MIT Museum
  • 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.
From the 1931 HMCo-published Owner's List

Type: J & M
Length: 14'5"
Owner: Drexel, A. J.

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

From the 1930s L. Francis Herreshoff Index Cards at the Herreshoff Marine Museum
  • 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.
From the 1953 HMCo Owner's List by L. Francis Herreshoff

Name: N/A
Type: 14' 5" J & M
Owner: A. J. Drexel
Row No.: 799

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.

From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray

Month: June
Day: 24
Year: 1896
E/P/S: S
No.: 0478
Name: 1/2 rater?
LW: 14' 5'
B: 4' 7"
D: 3' 9"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead
Amount: $1100.00
Notes Constr. Record: Moulds of 419
Last Name: Dupel?
First Name: A. J.

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.

Research Note(s)

"Osprey was apparently ordered by the Cuban American banker Fernando Yznaga (October 16, 1850 – March 6, 1901) for William Kissam Vanderbilt Jr. (26 October 1878 – 8 January 1944) who would have been sixteen when she was launched. Yznaga was a well known New York society man as per his New York Times obituary of May 1, 1905 and a very close friend of W. K. Jr.'s father William Kissam Vanderbilt (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920). Just why the Construction Record lists 'T. Yznaga' as having ordered this boat is not clear. Was the name in the Construction Record mispelled and meant to read 'F. Yznaga'?
W. K. Vanderbilt Jr. would subsequently own the sloop Carmita from 1898 to 1900, followed by the Herreshoff-built New York 70 Virginia, named for his wife and launched in 1900 which he owned until 1908. Unlike his younger brother Harold Stirling (Mike) Vanderbilt who owned and successfully campaigned numerous Herreshoff boats, it appears W. K. Vanderbilt Jr. was not a happy Herreshoff customer. He was reported to have been disgusted at his half-rater Osprey after she had lost a well-publicised match race against the W. P. Stephens-designed half-rater Ideal and he refused to have the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company repair and strengthen his New York 70 Virginia, after all boats of the class had proven to be too lightly built and were to be strengthened at HMCo at the owner's expense to which he objected." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 25, 2021.)

"Built in 27 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $41/day, 45 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

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

Note

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Citation: HMCo #478s [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel]. Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné. https://herreshoff.info/Docs/S00478_Half_rater.htm.