Herreshoff #189601ep [Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat]

"[1896-08-07] Fri 7: ... Hon. H. H. Herbert here, Sec'y of Navy [who on June 18, 1896 had asked for bids for 30-knot torpedo boats (#189601ep Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat), 22 1/2-knot torpedo boats (which would become #190p Morris) and 20-knot torpedo boats (which would become #191p Talbot and #192p Gwin)], and Capt. Sampson in Cushing [#152p].
[1896-08-18] Tue 18: Very fine. L[igh]t NW [wind in] a.m. Strong SW [wind in] p.m. with NW squall at 5. Made experiments in towing models [for #189601ep Unbuilt 30kn Torpedo Boat as per George Coverse notes in collection of DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University Collection, Box 1, Folder 10 as well as probably what eventually became #190p Morris, #191p Talbot and #192p Gwin].
[1896-09-16] Wed 16: Finished drawings & bids for torpedo boats [which will soon result in contracts for #190p Morris, #191p Talbot, #192p Gwin but not for #189601ep Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat]. ...
[1896-09-18] Fri 18: Bids opened at Washington for torpedo boats. Ours are nearly all successful [and will soon result in contracts for #190p Morris, #191p Talbot, #192p Gwin but not for #189601ep Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat]. ...
[1896-10-06] Tue 6: We are awarded to build for US Navy two 100' & one 140' torpedo boats [#190p Morris, #191p Talbot, #192p Gwin but not #189601ep Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1896. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"Washington, D. C. Sept. 18 [1896]. --- Bids for building a number of torpedo boats authorized by the last session of Congress were opened at the Navy Department today in the presence of a large number of interested parties. The act made provision for three thirty-knot boats [#189601ep] and as many smaller boats, not to exceed ten, as could be obtained for the sum of $500,000. In all eleven firms submitted proposals...
For the thirty-knot boats the bids were as follows: ...
Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, R. I., 225-ton boats, 30 knots, one for $218,000 and three for $206,000 each. ...
For the smaller boats the bids range from $40,000 for twenty-knot vessels to $120,000 for those guaranteed to make twenty-three knots per hour." (Source: Anon. "BIDS FOR FEDERAL TORPEDO BOATS. Naval Contractor Offer to Build Vessels of 30 1/2 Knots Speed for the Sum of $235,000." Chicago Daily Tribune, September 19, 1896, p. 4.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections with pinpricks titled 'Preliminary. Torpedo boat model. Nov[?] 1[?]'. With displacement calculations showing a total of 6875cuft = 443000lbs = 198 gross tons. None of the Herreshoff-built torpedo boats had displacements as large as these figures, suggesting these sections to be for a larger torpedo boat design, possibly #189601ep Unbuilt 30-knot Torpedo Boat from 1896." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE03_01130. Folder [no #]. No date.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled (in NGH's writing) cost estimates for torpedo boats (though not explicitly mentioned as such). Four groups of calculations, each multiplying what appears to be per ton cost of hull & fittings, machinery and equipment and adding these together to arrive at a final cost estimate. The first group is titled 'No 6-7 [#184p PORTER and #185p DUPONT' and shows a total cost of $158000 = $995 per ton displacement, the second group is titled '9 - 10 - 11. 30kn [#189601ep Unbuilt 30 knot torpedo boats which, built elsewhere, will become USN Torpedo Boats Nos. 9, 10 and 11] and shows a total cost of $205700 = $1010 per ton, the third group is titled '22 1/2k [22 1/2 knot torpedo boats (apparently #190p MORRIS)] and shows a total cost of $87500 = $975 per ton, and the fourth group is titled '20k [20 knot torpedo boats (apparently #191p TALBOT and 192p GWIN)] and shows a total cost of $38300 = $980 per ton." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (?) (creator). Cost Estimate. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE03_04220. Folder [no #]. No date (ca 1896).)
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"[Item Description:] Printed empty bidding form titled 'Proposal For The Construction Of Three Thirty-Knot Torpedo Boats. Torpedo Boats Nos. 9, 10 and 11'. [This bidding form led to HMCo's unsuccessful bidding for #189601ep Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat and its successful bids for one 22 1/2-knot torpedo boat (#190p MORRIS) and two 20-knot torpedo boats (#191p TALBOT and #192p GWIN)]." (Source: U.S. Navy Department (creator). Specifications. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_05100. Folder [no #]. 1896-06-18.)
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"[Item Description:] Typewritten (carbon copy) circular titled 'C. & R. Ho. 1540/96. Circular Defining the Chief Characteristics of three 30-knot Torpedo Boats and other Torpedo Boats for the U. S. Navy' and beginning with In the appropriation for the Naval Service for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1897, approved June 10th, 1896, provision is made under Increase of the Navy for three torpedo boats to cost in all not exceeding eight hundred thousand dollars: and not to exceed ten torpedo boats to cost in all not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars. The boats are to be built under the provisions of the Act of August 3rd, 1886, entitled An Act to Increase the Naval Establishment as to materials for said boats, their engines, boilers, etc., except as to premiums, which are not to be offered, save that in all their parts said boats shall be of domestic manufacture.' 9 pages. With 2-page appendix titled 'Increase of the Navy'. With 2-page appendix about armament weights and dimensions and costs of ordnance. With 2 letters from U.S. Navy Bureau of Construction and Repair to HMCo dated June 24, 1896 and July 16, 1896 with additions and corrections to above circular. With 1-page printed sheet titled 'General Requirements For the Machinery of Torpedo Boats'. Undated (between June 10, 1896 and July 16, 1896). [This circular led to HMCo's unsuccessful bidding for #189601ep Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat and its successful bids for one 22 1/2-knot torpedo boat (#190p MORRIS) and two 20-knot torpedo boats (#191p TALBOT and #192p GWIN)]." (Source: U.S. Navy (creator). Specifications. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_05920. Folder [no #]. No date (1896-06 to 1896-07).)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections and displacement curve titled 'New model. Prelim. for 30 knot Torpedo boat [#189601ep]. … July 2, 1896'. With weight calculations arriving at a total of 8110cuft = 5222500lbs sea water = 233 tons gross. A second set of penciled pantograph hull sections on the same page is titled 'Model B. Preliminary made in 1890. Measured at scale 3/16 per ft to compare[?] for 30 knot boat. Length 192. Beam 19.7ft. Draft of hull 5ft 4 1/2in. With weight calculations arriving at a total of 7636cuft = 40910[sic] sea water = 219 tons gross." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_00560. Folder [no #]. 1896-07-02.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled annotated construction section titled 'Preliminary for 30 knot Torpedo Boat [#189601ep]'. Scale 3/4. July 28 [1896]'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Construction Section. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0266. WRDT04, Folder 24, formerly MRDE08. 1896-07-28.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled sketch of a steam boiler. On verso a penciled sketch of a triple condensing steam engine, a crankshaft, and a boiler. With annotation '18 25 28 28' suggesting this to be a sketch for the intended 18" & 25" & 2x28" bore x 17" stroke engine for #189601ep [Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat]. Untitled, undated (filed with other 1890s material, #189601ep was contemplated in August 1896.)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Sketch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE03_04090. Folder [no #]. No date (1896?).)
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"[Item Description:] Mimeographed specifications titled 'Specifications for a Twin-Screw Torpedo Boat for the U.S. Navy' for what can be identified as #189601ep Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat with Length on deck 197/8ft, Length water-line 192ft, Breadth on deck 18 1/2ft, Breadth water-line, about 18ft, and Displacement (trial draft), about 225 tons. With penciled (in red) additions throughout the entire document making this also draft specifications for a 22 1/2-knot torpedo boat (which eventually became #190p MORRIS in the case of HMCo) with Length on deck 147ft, Length water-line 139ft, Breadth on deck 15 1/2ft, Breadth water-line, about 15ft, and Displacement (trial draft), about 103 tons. With penciled (in black) additions throughout the entire document making this also draft specifications for a 20-knot torpedo boat (which eventually became #191p TALBOT AND #192p GWIN in the case of HMCo) with Length on deck 100ft, Length water-line 99 1/2ft, Breadth on deck 12 1/2ft, Breadth water-line, about 12ft, and Displacement (trial draft), about 48 tons. Undated (mid-August 1896 as per NGH diary)." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.. (creator). Specifications. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_05700. Folder [no #]. No date (1896-08).)
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"[Item Description:] Two sets of penciled pantograph hull sections titled '30 knot torpedo boat [#189601ep] Model. Aug[ust] 21, 1896. Scale 1/4in'. One set marked 'Preliminary (1st trial)' and with calculations arriving at a total displacement of 8150[0]cuft = 5240000lbs in sea water = 234 tons. The other set marked 'Final' and with calculations arriving at a total displacement of 78600cuft = 5060000lbs in sea water = 225.7 tons gross." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_05720. Folder [no #]. 1896-08-21.)
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"[Item Description:] Mimeographed specifications titled 'Specifications for the Construction of Three Thirty-Knot Torpedo Boats. Torpedo Boats Nos. 9, 10 and 11. Hull, Machinery, Including Engines, Boilers and Appurtenances, and Equipment, Complete in all Respects, in accordance with the Plans and Specifications Provided by the Bidder, and Installation of Ordnance and Ordnance Outfit in Accordance with the Requirements of the Department.' Stamped on outer cover 'Enclosure. Judge Advocate general. 1896' and marked in red pencil on verso of outer cover 'Herreshoff 30 knots. 224 tons [#189601ep Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat]'. Undated (September 16, 1896 as per NGH's diary)." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.. (creator). Specifications. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_06090. Folder [no #]. No date (1896-09-16).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #189601ep [Unbuilt 30-Knot Torpedo Boat] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Simpson, Richard V. Building the Mosquito Fleet: The U.S. Navy's First Torpedo Boats. Charleston, S.C., 2001.
  Description of the first American torpedo boats, with strong emphasis on Herreshoff-built vessels. Unfortunately, numerous small factual inaccuracies.

"Note: Additional photos and information about 1890s Herreshoff Torpedo Boats can be found in Mss 0068 and Mss 0068x which comprise the George Albert Converse papers and photographs, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University (as per http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00106/00106-P.html, retrieved November 3, 2010). Converse instructed at the Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, R.I., from 1875 to 1878, was an inspector of torpedo boats at Bristol, R.I., from 1889 to 1890, Commander of the USS Enterprise from 1890-1891, and assigned to the Bureau of Ordnance from 1891 to 1892." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 3, 2010.)

"Note: Anon (apparently George Albert Converse). [Dates of Model Towing Experiments.] DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University Collection, George Albert Converse Papers and Photographs, 1861-1897, Box 1, Folder 10, http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/gcp/id/650/rec/22, retrieved June 6, 2018. Undated (ca. 1896) shows a list of 'Dates of Model towing Experiments' that can only refer to experiments conducted by NGH: '1876, before designing Lightning [#20p] - Oct. and Nov. 1880, before designing Stiletto [#118p] and others - Nov. 1895, before designing # 6 and 7 [#184p Porter and #185p Dupont] - August 1896, before making designs for 30 knot torpedo boat [#189601ep Unbuilt Torpedo Boat]. These towing experiments, some of which were conducted together with G. A. Converse, are also described in Converse, George Albert (General Inspector of Torpedo Boats Numbers 6 and 7). [Letter to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt reporting on the Torpedo Boat Porter.] DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University Collection, George Albert Converse Papers and Photographs, 1861-1897, Box 1, Folder 4, http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/gcp/id/122/rec/16, retrieved June 6, 2018. May 23, 1897." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 6, 2018.)

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