Herreshoff #187209es Triton

"[Racing W. D. Pickman's Ianthe in 1870] was about my last yacht racing for many years in John's yachts, although I did sail TRITON, [a] sixty-five foot schooner I designed and John built for George A. Thayer." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "Some of the Boats I Have Sailed In. " Written 1934. In: Pinheiro, Carlton J. (ed.). Recollections and Other Writings by Nathanael G. Herreshoff. Bristol, 1998, p. 48.)

"August 31 1935
Dear Mr. Stephens -
... Yes, I remember AGNES very well, and also TRITON, her antagonist. TRITON was modeled jointly between John and myself. For ballast, she had cast-iron centre-board logs instead of oak. Most of the rest of her ballast, (which was all inside) was of lead, and as originally rigged by a sail-plan I made. She had a fore staysail with stay to the bow, and a good fair-sized jib tacked to near bowsprit end. In her initial trials here this rig proved most satisfactory but soon after going to Brooklyn the sailing master induced Mr. Thayer to change the headrig to the then conventional type. I think this was about the first schooner yacht in our section to be fitted with the sensible English type of head-rig. ...
Very truly yours,
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff
Sept. 15 1935." (Source: Letter 13. From N. G. Herreshoff to W. P. Stephens, dated August 31, 1935 to September 15, 1935. In: Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene and William Picard Stephens. "Their Last Letters 1930-1938." Annotated by John W. Streeter. Bristol, R. I., ca. 1999, p. 67-80.)

"July 9 1936
Dear Mr. Stephens -
... I am wondering if this Lou Tonns you mention as skipper to TRITON, had anything to do with spoiling her head-rig she had when she came out. I designed her while at the Corliss Works for my brother John to build for Mr. Thayer - who by the way was of Bristol origin. She had at first a fore staysail & jib of good properties set flying from a standing bowsprit. Her centre-board logs were cast iron and part of her ballast was lead. The yacht was very able and could have had a large rig for New York waters. ...
Sincerely yours,
Nathl. G. Herreshoff" (Source: Letter 23. From N. G. Herreshoff to W. P. Stephens, dated July 9, 1936. In: Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene and William Picard Stephens. "Their Last Letters 1930-1938." Annotated by John W. Streeter. Bristol, R. I., ca. 1999, p. 145-147.)

"The New York Herald in a lengthy and interesting account of yachting in the East says ... The Triton is the name of a centreboard schooner yacht now being built in this yard [Herreshoff] for Mr. George A. Thayer, of the Atlantic yacht club of Brooklyn. Her frame is of oak, and she is being planked with hard pine and Ohio oak. Her rails, hatch, combing[sic], companion-way and hatches are of mahogany. Her cabin is neatly panelled and contains four large staterooms. She has somewhat of a flat floor, but with very easy lines, and a beautiful projecting stem, sharp and hollowed away. Her stern is purely American, but she will be rigged forward in a manner somewhat of a compromise between the American and English style. Herreshoff is experimenting in something novel with her centreboard. If the experiment does not prove a failure, there is no reason why the Triton should not prove one of the fastest of the new boats of 1872.
The keel of the Triton was laid on the 1st of April and she will be launched on the 22d of May. It is the intention of her builders to have all ready for the regatta of the Atlantic Yacht Club on the 18th of June. ..." (Source: Anon. "Eastern Yachting. Herreshoff's Yard at Bristol." Providence Evening Press, May 27, 1872, p. 3.)

"The schooner yacht Triton, built for Mr. George A. Thayer, of New York, will be launched from the yard of Mr. John B. Herreshoff this morning at half past nine o'clock. " (Source: Anon. "Local Lines." Bristol Phoenix, June 8, 1872, p. 2.)

"The schooner yacht Triton, built for Mr. George A. Thayer, of Brooklyn, N. Y., was launched from Mr. J. B. Herreshoff's yard about noon on Tuesday [June 11, 1872] last. The Triton is seventy feet in length, and eighteen feet and four inches in width. A large number of spectators were present to witness the successful launching of this fine looking and well built vessel." (Source: Anon. "Local Tintypes." Bristol Phoenix, June 15, 1872, p. 2.)

"The Triton is the name of a centre-board schooner yacht lately built in this yard [Herreshoff] for G. A. Thayer, Esq., of the Atlantic Yacht Club of Brooklyn. Her frame is of oak, she is being planked with hard pine and Ohio oak. Her rails, hatch combings, companion-way and hatches are of mahogany. Her cabin is neatly panelled and contains four large staterooms. She has somewhat of a flat floor, but with very easy lines, and a beautiful projecting stem, sharp and hollowed away. Her stem is purely American, but she will be rigged forward in a manner somewhat of a compromise between the American and English style; Herreschoff is experimenting in something novel connected with her centre-board. If the experiment does not prove a failure there is no reason why the Triton should not prove one of the fastest of the new boats of 1872. Her dimensions are: --- Length on water line 61ft., beam 19ft., depth of hold 7ft., draught without board 5ft. 6in., draught with board 14ft., length of centre-board case 17ft., length of main-mast 60ft., length of fore-mast 58ft., length of top-masts 25ft., length of main-boom 45ft., length of fore-boom 19ft. 6in., length of main-gaff 25ft., length of foregaff 19ft. 6in., length of bowsprit 45ft., length of bowsprit outboard 34ft." (Source: Anon. "Intercommunication." Hunt's Yachting Magazine, September 1872, p. 499.)

"THE schooner yacht Triton, ex-Commodore Thayer, A. Y. C , is having a new foremast stepped, and Sawyer is making for her an entire new suit of sails from canvas especially manufactured for her. The Triton was built by J. B. Herreshoff, at Bristol, R. I., in 1872, and is one of the most pronounced of that gentleman's many successes. From the first she took rank as 'fastest of her inches,' and that designation she has retained ever since. She is just as good to-day as when first launched." (Source: Anon. "Yachting Notes." Spirit of the Times, April 22, 1882, p. 316.)

"EX-COMMODORE THAYER, of the Atlantic Yacht Club, has sold his schooner yacht Triton to Mr. S. C. Griggs, Jr., of the Chicago Yacht Club. The Triton was built by Mr. J. B. Herreshoff, at Bristol, R. I., in 1872. She is 70 ft. over all, 61 ft. on water-line, 19 ft. beam, 7 ft. deep, and draws, with board up, 6 feet of water. She is an extremely fast schooner, and has been a very successful yacht. She has been for the past week on the ways at Port Richmond. S. I., fitting out for New Orleans, where her owner intends to spend the winter. In the spring the Triton will return here, and be given a full racing outfit, and wiil then be taken to Chicago, where she will take part in all the events of the next season." Source: Anon. "Yachting." Spirit of the Times, January 6, 1883, p. 640.)

"TRITON. --- Mr. Duryea has sold his schooner to Mr. H. E. Dodge, formerly of the Christine sloop. Triton is a Herreshoff model, 61ft. waterline, 19ft. beam, 7ft. hold and 6ft. draft without board. Mr. Duryea has become owner of the schooner Republic." (Source. Anon. "Triton." Forest and Stream, November 15, 1883, p. 317.)

"The following changes in ownership are reported for the month: ... Center-board schooner Triton, H. E. Dodge, to Edward Pomeroy of New York; 1872, J. B. Herreshoff, Bristol, R.I.; 61 feet water-line, 19 feet beam." (Source: Anon. "Yachting. Our Monthly Record." Outing, December 1885, p. 361.)

"Triton, schooner, recently sold to Rufus King, is having a new stern put on at Sotheim & Abramson's yard, South Brooklyn. The present stern was put on some three years since." (Source. Anon. "Yachts News Notes." Forest and Stream, December 22, 1892, p. 545.)

"The schooner yacht Triton has been sold by Major William A. Wilkins, of Savannah, Ga, through the agency of Mr. Frank Bowne Jones, to Mr. J. Willis Martin, of the Corinthian Y.C., of Philadelphia.
The Triton was built in 1878 by Mr. J. B. Herreshoff, Bristol, R. I., for the late George A. Thayer. In 1889 the Triton was lengthened by the Poillons, of Brooklyn, and six years later given a new stern. The yacht is now at McGowan's, foot of Fifty-fifth street, South Brooklyn, where she will be overhauled and fitted with new sails throughout." Source: Anon. "Yacht Triton Changes Hands." New York Herald, May 19, 1899, p. 12.)

"... The schooner yacht Triton as been sold through [Manning's] agency, and is to be used as a pilot boat at Apalachicola, Fla. She is 77 feet 2 inches over all, 63 feet 3 inches on the water line, 18 feet 6 inches beam, 6 feet 5 inches deep and 6 feet 9 inches draught. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachts Change Hands." New York Herald, February 28, 1904, p. ?.)

"No. 1564 ---For Sale --- 60-foot water line schooner for sale; designed and built by Herreshoff; sound and tight; large cabin; two staterooms and toilet room aft; large well-equipped galley; stateroom for captain and accommodations for four men forward; thoroughly fitted out with new china and glassware; bedding, linen, blankets; carpets, hangings and cushion coverings nearly new; new spars; new deck; whole new suit of sails, (two years old); fine 18-foot cedar gig and new 16-foot dingey; good type of the cruising schooner, and some speed withal. A bargain for somebody who wants to take yachting easy, at a comparatively small expense. Apply to E. A. Boardman, Naval Architect and Yacht Broker, 20 Central St., Boston, Mass. [The advertisement apparently describes Triton. Only Triton, or possibly Latona with her 55' LWL, fits the description of a Herreshoff-built, 60' LWL schooner. Note that Triton was still listed in the 1903/04 Lloyds Register of American Yachts. Note also that according to a note accompanying the NYYC model of Triton, she was sold to Apalachicola as a pilot boat in 1904.]" (Source: Rudder, March 1904, p. 181.)

"... the schooner yacht Triton has been sold, and will be used as a pilot boat at Apalachicola, ..." (Source: Anon. [Title?] Forest and Stream, March 14, 1904, vol. 62, p. 220.)

"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan HH.5.02630 (035). Faint and barely readable blueprint showing elevation and perspective views of a cast iron box-section keelson. Marked in lower right corner 'Sketch from memory, showing construction of schooner yacht TRITON [#187209es], built in 1872, by J.B. Herreshoff for G.A. Thayer of New York. This construction was very successful and well known, as the yacht was a successful prize winner. Yacht was in existence a few years ago & may be now. Patterns of keelson were broken up last May. Nath'l G. Herreshoff March 2d, 1899[?, almost unreadable; the original inked drawing at MIT does not show the NGH signature and date but, instead, in the lower left corner, a note 'Blueprint - Nov. 3, 1899]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Blueprint. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE08_03210. Folder [no #]. 1899-11-03.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #187209es Triton even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Taglang, Jacques. Mariette and the Herreshoff Schooners. Two vols. Eynesse, 2010.
  Vessel biographies, large-scale sail and lines plans reproduced from original HMCo plans. The definitive book on Herreshoff schooners.

• Triton
• 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: Triton
Type: 61' schooner
Owner: Edward Pomeroy [sic, i.e. George A. Thayer]
Year: 1872
Row No.: 691

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.

"In the absence of better available data displacement was estimated by using the figure for New Measurement Tons (26.6) from the 1875 Manning's Yachting Annual (Old Measurement Tons were reported as 69 by the 1872 Fox Yachting Annual) and converting to lbs by dividing through 2000 (short tons). Note that this figure can only be a rough estimate because register tons as reported in Yacht Registers correlate only loosely with actual displacement figures." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 17, 2015.)

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