HMCo #855s [S-Class]

Particulars

Construction_Record_Title.jpgName: [S-Class]
Later Name(s): Whim (1923-1928)
Type: S-Class Peconic Bay
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1920-9-11
Delivered: 1921-6-12 ?
Construction: Wood
LOA: 27' 6" (8.38m)
LWL: 20' 6" (6.25m)
Beam: 7' 2" (2.18m)
Draft: 4' 9" (1.45m)
Construction Class and Number: #852-4
Rig: Marconi Sloop
Sail Area: 425sq ft (39.5sq m)
Displ.: 6,030 lbs (2,735 kg)
Keel: yes
Ballast: Lead (3350 lbs)
Built for: Grior, J. P. [Grier?]
Amount: $3,500.00
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: S class

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 #718Model number: 718
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room North Wall Right

Vessels from this model:
93 built, modeled by NGH
#828s Gob (1920, Extant)
#830s Spinster (1920)
#831s Papoose (1920, Extant)
#832s Woodchuck (1920)
#833s Cheerio (1920)
#834s Widgeon (1920, Extant)
#835s Kajee (1920, Extant)
#836s Daphnia [Daphina] (1920)
#837s Doodah (1920)
#838s Teaticket (1920, Extant)
#844s Vant (1920, Extant)
#845s Swallow (1920, Extant)
#846s Fano (1920, Extant)
#849s Cima [Cimi] (1920, Extant)
#850s Ellen (1920)
#851s Monsoon (1920)
#852s [S-Class for W. R. Potter] (1920, Extant)
#853s [S-Class for T. A. Howell] (1921)
#854s Aminta (1920)
#855s [S-Class] (1921)
#856s S-Class for A. L. Lindley (1921, Extant)
#857s [S-Class for T. A. Howell] (1921)
#858s Meg (1921, Extant)
#859s [S-Class for M. J. O'Brian] (1921, Extant)
#864s Shona (1921, Extant)
#870s Surinam (1922)
#871s Perneb [Pernab] (1922, Extant)
#872s [Unbuilt. Cancelled] (1922)
#873s Pandora (1922, Extant)
#876s [S-Class] (1922)
#909s Mab (1925)
#910s Albatross (1925, Extant)
#911s Elinor (1925)
#912s Emily II (1925, Extant)
#913s Spray (1925, Extant)
#914s Skip (1925)
#915s Lulworth (1926)
#956s Firefly (1926, Extant)
#957s Seafarer (1926, Extant)
#958s Beze B [Bizi Bo] (1926)
#959s Periwinkle (1926, Extant)
#960s Artemis (1926, Extant)
#963s Koshare (1926, Extant)
#964s Bridget (1926, Extant)
#965s Avocet (1926, Extant)
#967s Stella II (1926, Extant)
#970s Naut (1926)
#971s Rocket (1926, Extant)
#980s Vixen II (1926)
#996s Ellen O. [Ellen A.] (1926)
#1013s Sonnet [Seafarer Crossed out] (1926)
#1014s Pronto (1926, Extant)
#1015s Rowena (1926, Extant)
#1018s Kotic [Kotick] (1926, Extant)
#1019s Fandec II (1926, Extant)
#1020s Vanessa (1926)
#1021s Iroquois II (1926, Extant)
#1022s Dilemma (1926, Extant)
#1023s Jacks (1926)
#1034s Barracuda (1927, Extant)
#1035s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1927)
#1036s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1927)
#1037s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1927)
#1051s Danae (1927, Extant)
#1052s Spindrift (1927)
#1056s Vindex (1929, Extant)
#1075s Elva (1928)
#1076s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1928)
#1077s [S-Class for A. W. T. Bottomley] (1928)
#1080s Priscilla (1927, Extant)
#1119s Sea Dog (1929, Extant)
#1120s Anita (1929, Extant)
#1121s Pirate (1929, Extant)
#1122s Antares [with Bobbie, Barbara crossed out] (1936, Extant)
#1123s Nightmare (1929, Extant)
#1124s Whoopee (1929)
#1125s Barracuda V (1929, Extant)
#1126s Alpha (1929)
#1127s Iris (1929)
#1128s Olive (1930, Extant)
#1129s Surprise (1930, Extant)
#1130s Aeolus [?] (1932, Extant)
#1151s Pluckermin II (1930, Extant)
#1152s The Fair American (1931)
#1179s Osprey (1930, Extant)
#1180s Penguin (1932)
#1181s [S-Class] (1930)
#1182s [S-Class] (1930)
#1183s [S-Class] (1930)
#1184s [S-Class] (1930)
#1385s Tinker Too (1936, Extant)
#1414s Wawis (1937, Extant)
#1415s Stormalong (1937)
#1416s Estelle Dunbar III (1941, Extant)
#1417s [Unbuilt S-Class] (1937)
#1418s [Unbuilt S-Class] (1937)
#1419s [Unbuilt S-Class] (1937)

Original text on model:
"828 class 20' 1/2" w.l. to rate in S class Nov. 1919 Scale [1"]" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model Description:
"20'6" lwl S-class sloops of 1919 and beyond. One of the boats, named Coquina, is in the Herreshoff Marine Museum's collection, and The S-class Association is still very much alive." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)

Related model(s):
Model XA2-1_04 by NGH (1919?); sail
S-Class


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.6.146-4

Offset booklet contents:
S-Class (Cape Cod Shipbuilding Embargoed)


Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)

Drawings

Main drawing Dwg 076-130 (HH.5.05572) Explore all drawings relating to this boat.

List of drawings:
   Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
   HMCo #855s [S-Class] are listed in bold.
   Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
  1. Dwg 074-043 (HH.5.05328); Bronze Turnbuckles (1904-04-12)
  2. Dwg 112-072 (HH.5.09368): Winch for Boom Hanging (79-40) (1907-09-21)
  3. Dwg 096-121 (HH.5.08083); Sails > One Design S Class Yacht for Racing and Cruising (1919-10 ?)
  4. Dwg 076-130 (HH.5.05572); Construction Dwg > 828 Class Knockabouts (1919-11 ?)
  5. Dwg 076-130 (HH.5.05572.1): Construction Dwg > 828 Class Knockabouts (1919-11 ?)
  6. Dwg 096-121 (HH.5.08081): Sails > Sail Plan for One Design S Class (1919-11)
  7. Dwg 128-060 (HH.5.10179): Sails > Sails for 828 Class (1919-11-28)
  8. Dwg 065-066 (HH.5.04662): Rudder Hanging for 828 Class (1919-12-24)
  9. Dwg 084-097 (HH.5.06548): Companion-Way Details for Water Tight And (1920-01-14)
  10. Dwg 109-146 (HH.5.08913); Mast Fittings for S Class Boats, Season of 1920-21 (1920-09-15)
  11. Dwg 096-121 A (HH.5.08082); Sails > S Class Boat, 17' Rating (1924-11-01)
  12. Dwg 148-000 (HH.5.12234); Sails > S Class Boat (1924-11-07)
  13. Dwg 148-000 (HH.5.12235); Sails > S Class Boat (1924-11-07)
  14. Dwg 074-043 A (HH.5.05329); Bronze Turnbuckles (1927-03-07)
  15. Dwg 025-128 A (HH.5.01882): Standing Rigging "S" Class, 852 Class (1929-12-12)
  16. Dwg 025-128 A (HH.5.01883): Standing Rigging "S" Class, 852 Class (1929-12-12)
  17. Dwg 148-000 (HH.5.12236); Construction Dwg > Class S Boat (ca. 1931)
  18. Dwg 130-000 (HH.5.10543): Sails > S Class Boat (1935-03-26)
  19. Dwg 096-121 B (HH.5.08083.1); Data Relating to Herreshoff Class Boats [S-Class and H-23] Given to North American Yacht Racing Union (1938-01-13)
  20. Dwg 096-000 (HH.5.08123): Sails > Proposed Rig, Herreshoff "S" Class (1939-12-11)
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

"[1921-06-12] Sun 12: [Thermometer] 78 - 62 - 71 [degrees]. Very fine & warm. S [wind] early ch[anging] to W & NW in forenoon. Fresh breeze. 5 S class boats towed away to Peconic Bay. [The 5 boats must have been among the following seven S-boats for Peconic Bay: #852s, #853s, #855s, #856s, #857s, #858s and #859s.] ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1921. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

L. Francis Herreshoff

"... in some ways the most interesting product of 1919 was the one-design class of 'S' boats, which came out early that spring.
While there were few of them built the first year, perhaps twenty, the company continued building them off and on for the next eight or nine years so that eventually there were perhaps a hundred and fifty or more of them, and besides being good little cruisers they have furnished active racing up to the present time in widely separated districts. If I remember right these little yachts cost less than two thousand dollars the first few years, so they have been a good investment for some owners for they were built well enough to last for years if handled carefully. Perhaps the 'S' boats would even have been more popular if they had been a little better looking but that defect should not be wholly blamed on Captain Nat for it was the request of the original sponsors of the class that they have short overhangs and full bows and sterns. This feature has made them rather queer-looking Universal Rule boats, and consequently they are not particularly fast for their rating. But there have been few all-around better boats for afternoon sailing, cruising, and racing, and perhaps also the last one-design class that was somewhat comfortable." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. The Wizard of Bristol. The Life and Achievements of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, together with An Account of Some of the Yachts he Designed. New York, 1953, p. 306.)

Other Contemporary Text Source(s)

"Herreshoff has turned out one good sized power cruiser this year, the Helianthus [#378p], for the personal use of N. G. Herreshoff, besides a fleet of nine S class boats [#852s S-Class for W. R. Potter, #853s S-Class for T. A. Howell, #854s Aminta, #855s S-Class, #856s S-Class for A. L. Londley, #857s S-Class for T. A. Howell, #858s S-Class for J. F. Byers, #859s S-Class for M. J. O'Brian, #864s Shona] that were distributed from Cape Ann to New York, and the six-metre Shiela [#861s] for the races on the other side, and it is reported that the firm is about to resume work on the 105-foot power cruiser [#377p Ara] for Alexander Winton of Cleveland. Work on her was stopped in December last year, and nothing has been done on her since that time, when a lot of the Herreshoff hands were laid off." (Source: Davis, Jeff. "Narragansett Bay Yachtsmen Planning for Next Season." October 1921, p. 43.)

Other Modern Text Source(s)

"1921. ... Herreshoff Busy.
Building had boomed during the Winter and Spring. The Herreshoff Company turned out nine S boats [#852s, #853s, #854s, #855s, #856s, #857s, #858s, #859s, #864s] that went to Marblehead, Oyster Bay and Peconic Bay and the 62-foot power cruiser Helianthus [#378p] for Nathaniel G Herreshoff's personal use, and a 6-metre sloop, the Sheila B. [#861s], to sail in the international 6-metre races at Cowes, England. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 10.)

Archival Documents

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'Lead for 828 Class [#828s, #830s, #831s, #832s, #833s, #834s, #835s, #836s, #837s, #838s, #844s, #845s, #846s, #849s, #850s, #851s] 20 1/2 wl. Leg-o-mutton Knockabouts for S class. 1/4 size. Nov[ember] 13 1919'. With calculations and 'Note --- boats trimmed by the stern and 2nd year lot [#852s, #853s, #855s, #856s, #857s, #858s, #859s, #864s] lead to be moved forward 3in. N.G.H. Sept[ember] 12, 1920'. " (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_08090. Folder [no #]. 1919-11-13.)


Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #855s [S-Class] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

Further Reading
  • Benfield, James W. "Reviving the 'S' Class." Yachting, May 1945, p. 56-57, 104. (3,516 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes. How the Western Long Island Sound S-class fleet was built with a deliberate strategy.
  • Upham, Kenneth B. History and Register of the S-Boat. Privately printed, no place, 1994. (13,553 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. The definitive source of info on the S-class, but unfortunately current only up to its date of publication in 1994. History of the class and its various fleets, technical comments, detailed vessel-by-vessel provenance, owner and name indices.
  • Bray, Maynard and Claas van der Linde. "The Origins of the S-Boat. A Remarkable Herreshoff One-Design." Wooden Boat #267, March/April 2019, p. 74-79. (1,201 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes. A short history of how the S-Class came about, including new insights from recent research of original Herreshoff documents. With photos and reproductions of the original construction and sail plans.
  • Silken, Alan (text). Silken, Cory (photos). "Setting Sail in America. The Remarkable Story of Herreshoff S Class Sailboats." Seapoint Books, Brooklin, ME.
    Appreciation of the S-Class, history of the design and local fleets, portraits of surviving S-boats and a catalogue of all S-boats
  • Silken, Alan (text). Silken, Cory (photos). "A Century of S-Boats. The Enduring Appeal of a Classic Herreshoff One-Design." Wooden Boat #267, March/April 2019, p. 80-85. (1,510 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes. Appreciation of the S-Class and a history of the fleets in Narragansett Bay, Quisset and Long Island and a summary of the leading S-boat restorers.
  • van der Linde, Claas. [No title. Note about S-Class Weight Discrepancies.] March 11, 2022. (11 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Claas van der Linde. Note about discrepancies in published and unpublished sources of displacement of S-class boats and why 6030lbs is currently assumed to be the correct weight.

Supplement

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

Month: Sep
Day: 11
Year: 1920
E/P/S: S
No.: 0855
LW: 20' 6"
B: 7' 2"
D: 4' 9"
Rig: Marconi
K: y
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 3500.00
Notes Constr. Record: S. Class
Last Name: Grier (?)
First Name: J. P.

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)

"Windows left out [for] 852 class." (Source: Annotation on S-class construction plan 76-130, Hart Nautical Coll. acc. no. HH.5.5572, dated November 1919.)

"Built in 274 days (contract to delivered; equivalent to $13/day, 22 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area approximately 425 square feet, measured." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Yachts by Herreshoff. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company: Designers and Builders of Sailing and Power Craft since 1861. Bristol, Rhode Island, 1937.)

"See note about about weight discrepancies in published and unpublished sources under 'Further Reading' heading." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 11, 2022.)

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 #855s [S-Class]. Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné. https://herreshoff.info/Docs/S00855_S-Class.htm.