HMCo #18p Spitfire [Spit Fire]

"[1875-04-17] Sat 17: ... [Brother] John, [his wife] Sadie & [their daughter] Kate arrived home from Savannah [where they had delivered #15p Gem]. [They] had a very pleasant trip. John brings home orders for a 32 f[oot] launch [probably #18p Spit Fire], 45 f[oot] tug [#?p], and engine & boiler [#?p] for hunting[?] officer. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1875. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"The Steam Yacht [#15p Gem] recently built at the yard of the Messrs. Herreshoff for parties in Savannah, Ga., was steamed to Providence on Monday, whence she will be shipped to her port of destination by steamer via New York. The yacht is propelled by calorie pressure, and will be accompanied to Savannah by Mr. J. B. Herreshoff, one of the firm. We understand that Messrs. Herreshoff have a contract to build a yacht of longer dimensions for parties at the South, and the work will be commenced forthwith. [The 'yacht of longer dimensions for parties at the South' may be a reference to #18p Spit Fire which was built for Southern owners but only insignificantly longer than Gem.]" (Source: Anon. "Bristol." The Manufacturer's and Farmer's Journal (Providence), March 18, 1875, p. 2.)

"The Rocky Point correspondent of the Providence Journal, of Monday last [September 6, 1875], writes --- 'The novel miniature steamer of Bristol, owned and run by Mr. Herreshoff, of Bristol, passed down the river, Friday [September 3, 1875], and attracted great curiosity on the part of the excursionists. A passing steamer gave a salute, and immediately the tiny craft sent out its small, shrill response of the whistle, scarcely audible amid the noise of the steamer's motion. The great nautical curiosity is but a mere speck upon the water as seen from the opposite shore but it glided along smoothly and with comparative swiftness under the wonderful faculty of its sightless owner, accompanied by but a single companion.' [This is possibly a reference to #18p Spit Fire.]" (Source: Anon. "Locals." Bristol Phoenix, September 11, 1875, p. 2.)

"... in 1875 J[ohn] B[rown Herreshoff] personally delivered three coil boiler equipped steam launches to customers in the south, providing more opportunities to exhibit to customers beyond Bristol. The 30-foot steam launch GEM (HMCo 15) and the 32-foot SPITFIRE (HMCo 18) were delivered to Savannah, GA plantation owners. While enroute J[ohn] B[rown Herreshoff] docked SPITFIRE at the foot of Wall Street from where he hosted two days of exhibition trips before loading on the steamer for Savannah [New York World, Oct. 1875]. The 32–foot SPRAY (HMCo 16) was delivered to a customer in Portsmouth, VA for commercial hire for pleasure and fishing parties. On arrival J[ohn] B[rown Herreshoff] arranged for the owner to make SPRAY available after an extended operating period to an examining board from the Portsmouth (Norfolk) Navy Yard to demonstrate 'one of the most important advantages claimed for this boiler by its builders …freedom from incrustation when using sea water' [Navy Yard, Norfolk, VA Examining Board Report Jan. 10, 1876. Cuttings pasted into the Sadie L. Herreshoff March 1875 Newspaper Cuttings Book in the Louise DeWolf Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum archives. (Unfortunately when sufficient operating hours had elapsed the owners declined to make SPRAY available to the board.)]. ..." (Source: Palmieri, John. "Advertising the Herreshoff Way." Curator’s Log - October 2013. http://www.herreshoff.org/news/newsletter3.html, accessed October 21, 2013.)

"[Item Transcription:] [Penciled account of trip to N.Y. in #18p SPITFIRE apparently for advertising purposes:] Mr. John Herreshoff has just returned from a very successful trip to New York in the new steam yacht SPTFIRE which he took there enroute to Savannah, Ga. for a gentleman of that city. The SPITFIRE is an open boat of 32 feet keel, 6ft 3 inches beam, & drawing 34 inches.
She is propelled by one of Mr. Herreshoffs new coil boilers, which gives a large increase of power, with a decrease of weight & size, important considerations in boats built for speed. Mr. Herreshoff was accompanied by his brother & three other gentlemen of Bristol, all of whom speak very highly of the boat's performances. They left Bristol on the morning of the 6th, at 5 a.m. with a heavy N.E. wind which made the passage around Point Judith exceedingly rough, as outside, the wind was S.W. The little boat however rode the waves like a cork & rounded [p. 2] the point without shipping a pint of water, which established the credit of the SPITFIRE as a sea boat; for large schooners were putting into Stonington & New London, double reefed, unable to stand the blow. After a 9 hours run Saybrook harbor at the mouth of the Connecticut River was made where the crew found a landlord capable of providing for the appetites created by the tossing they had experienced.
Bridgeport was reached the next night after a five hours run, with a head wind; being a distance of 55 miles from Saybrook. Leaving Bridgeport at 5 a.m. on Friday morning; the run to New York was made in 6 hours against a strong head tide. The yacht attracted much attention among persons interested in such matters & made several trips around the harbor, with parties on board, all of whom, together with numbers of the press who saw the yacht, were [p. 3] very enthusiastic in their praise of the graceful proportions & extreme speed of the little craft. The whole trip was made in 20 hours & Mr. Herreshoff is justly proud of his success, & the admiration his boat has received for its many good qualities." (Source: Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Acc. 86.243. Travel Account. HMM Library Rare Books Room (Various), Folder [no #]. 1875-10.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #18p Spitfire [Spit Fire] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Spit Fire (HMCo-made index card)
• Spit Fire (MIT Museum-made index card)
• 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.

• Spit Fire
• 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.

Year: 1875
E/P/S: P
No.: 018
Name: Spit Fire
OA: 31'-8"

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.