Model No. 103: Gloriana

Model by: NGH
Made when: February 1891 (ca.)
Stated model scale: 1/24
Model length (ca.): 36.4" (92.4cm)
Implied vessel LOA at 1/24 (ca.): 72' 9" (22.2m)
Power/Sail: S
Vessel Type: Cutter
Hull Configuration: Keel
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room South Wall Left

Vessels from this model:
1 built, modeled by NGH

Original text on model:
"1891 NGH GLORIANA scale 1/2" " (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model description:
"45'3" lwl Gloriana, 46-foot class cutter of 1891." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)

Model discussion:
"About the first of February [1891] Mr. Morgan called at Bristol to see his steamer 'Javelin,' then under construction, and looked at the model and design of the forty-six-footer which had been started for Mr. Carroll. Mr. Morgan liked the design so much that he decided to take it over, so the forty-six-footer was built in the south shop and when launched early in June was christened 'Gloriana.' So 'Gloriana' was built for Mr. E. D. Morgan even if she had not been designed for him, and it is very possible that if Mr. Morgan had not managed her she might not have made a clean sweep the first year.
While the 'Gloriana' model was certainly radical, or different from preceding yachts, it is my opinion that scientific construction, which allowed a large amount of ballast, together with very special fittings aloft and alow, had more effect than the model in her success. Perhaps 'Gloriana' was the first sizable racing sailboat that was built in a plant that could make all of her special parts (and I must note that the stock marine hardware of those days was as crude and bad as it is today). Other designers had to depend on stock fittings which in most cases had originally been designed for a different type and size of craft. The sharp and deep forefoot of the prevailing model is entirely cut away which much shortened the water line. Under a rule that combined LWL and SA she was allowed more SA than others in her class, but on account of her full ends she not only had longer diagonals (better sailing lines), but the full ends with their buoyancy contributed much to stability when the yacht was heeled. When the cutter and compromise cutter heeled, the center of flotation did not move to leeward or as far from the center of weight as on the 'Gloriana.' Most of the others in 'Gloriana' 's class were models similar to 'Minerva,' a model that is notorious for pitching. As a sailor man would say, some of them would even start to pitch if they saw a sea coming, but the 'Gloriana' 's bow seemed to lift over a sea instead of bunting at it a couple of times and finally going through it. So the 'Gloriana' 's bow was copied throughout the world and in the next ten years it was to be seen on everything from catboats to three-masted schooners." (P. 162-164; 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.)

Model identification:
"Compare models 103 and 1318. The 2004 Guide to the Collection notes model 103 may be a preliminary model leading to #411s Gloriana." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. 2008.)

"Compare also model 103 for Gloriana with model 112 for Pelican and Gannett. Model 112 was a precursor to Gloriana." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 30, 2009.)

Related model(s):
Model 1317 by NGH (1891?); sail, not built Model 0112 by NGH (1890?); sail, 2 built from Model 1318 by NGH (1890?); sail Model 0103 by NGH (1891?); #411s Gloriana