HMCo #35p Estelle

"John's wonderful ability is shown by the creation of the steamer ESTELLE, which was too large for him to build himself. He took the order from a New York lawyer, I think, about [the] first of May, 1876 [sic, i.e. 1877. NGH appears to incorrectly remember the year. Estelle was contracted for in May 1877], and there was an air of mystery about it. [As] soon as I returned from starting the Centennial Engine [NGH was in charge of setting up and running the huge Corliss steam engine which powered the Centennial Exhibition. This engine was later used to provide power for the Pullman Car Works.] in Philadelphia, I had a recess from Corliss and came to Bristol to make a model and drawings for the vessel and also her machinery. This vessel was contracted for by John to be built as quickly as possible, to be one hundred and twenty feet long, sixteen feet beam. [It was] to be a seagoing vessel and have a speed of sixteen miles per hour for three hours trial and other conditions I don't recollect. Being much too large to build in his yard and not knowing of proper machinery, it was quite a job for a young man to assume, even if he had his sight. But he went at it in earnest. He contracted for the complete hull ready for the machinery. [It was] to be made from a model I made and [for which I] drew the lines. This must have been early in May. Then I went to work to design a compound condensing engine and make drawings, having a draftsman to assist. John contracted with the Rhode Island Locomotive Company of Providence to make the patterns and build the engine. As soon as tracings of [the] pencil drawings could be made, they were dispatched one at a time to the Locomotive works to get busy on. Fortunately, they were idle at the time and had plenty of men for the job. In the meantime, John got his own men at work on the boiler of James' coil type and probably carried all details in his head, so [they] worked without drawings. I think Thomas Phillips and Company built the copper condenser and I have forgotten the type, if an inboard or outboard one. Thomas Phillips and Company also made the exhaust pipe, etc.
The hull was completed in a very short time, and John towed ESTELLE to Bristol with one of the forty foot launches early in September. John put the engine and boiler on board at his dock in the following month, and then ESTELLE was hauled out at Skinner and Stanton's Marine Railway, which was just above the Railway Station [near Oliver St.], and the bronze rudder and condenser and connections were installed.
Soon after this, the machinery was given dock trials, and, early in November, run down the bay and then Newport Harbor was made by turning the south end of Goat Island. The rudder, which was a bronze casting, gave out and was completely lost. We did not stop but to anchor a few times, to get the vessel on course, then started ahead. When east of Prudence, we took in tow a Bristol sloop yacht about thirty feet long and she steered us to our home anchorage. After a fortnight's delay to get a new rudder made and shipped at the Skinner and Stanton Marine Railway, we were ready for the final trial for delivery; but just then, the Revenue Cutter DEXTER anchored close to the ESTELLE with orders not to allow her to leave [the] dock. After a week or so, during [which time], some dock trials were made, always with an officer and men on board, we made an experiment to determine the time it took to raise steam and start [the] engine from [the time] of lighting the fire. It was done in eight minutes and it so impressed the Commander of DEXTER, that instead of laying with banked fires, they laid with spread fire and steam up, ready for starting, and this would soon use up their coal. John was anxious to make the speed trial called for in the contract, so the boat could be turned over to her owners, and with [John] partying with the heads at Washington, this was arranged for. This was to take place about the end of November. The morning was favorable, with [a] light westerly and northerly wind. I had charge of the running of the boat and the machinery. I think my brother Charles did most of the steering. I do not recollect the engineer, but William Torry and assistant were firemen. Raymond Perry and Dr. Neylan were guests. The owners were represented by their attorney and a regular cutthroat looking Spaniard, who was supposed to take charge of the craft when turned over. The Captain and several armed men from the DEXTER were also with us. [The] start was made in the forenoon, and we ran moderately with natural draft up Sound as far as Faulkner's Island, then turned and ran full speed, using the blower (or jet in stack) [Method of inducing a draft by expelling a stream of steam up through the center of the stack], into the Bay, and made over the contract speed of sixteen miles per hour. The boat was accepted by the agent and paid for, and immediately was seized by U.S. Treasury. Part of the engine was taken and tied up [impounded] at [the] wharf in Bristol in charge of a keeper." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. "The Old Tannery and My Brother John." Written July 28, 1933. In: Pinheiro, Carlton J. (ed.). Recollections and Other Writings by Nathanael G. Herreshoff. Bristol, 1998, p. 25-27.)

"... about two weeks in Philadelphia about [the] first of May to start up the great Corliss engine at [the] beginning of the Centennial Exhibition, I obtained a furlough and came to Bristol ... During this home interval, I designed for John and helped make the drawings for the engine and boiler for the monstrous one hundred and twenty-five foot steamer John had an order for. [ESTELLE, 1877 - Engine built by R.I. Locomotive Works]. It is interesting that this engine was about the first compound engine in this country, although they had become common in Europe." (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. 50.)

"In 1877 J. B. got the order for a larger steamboat that was later named 'Estelle.' Captain Nat's written description of her is as follows:
Estelle. Steamer building number 39. [The Herreshoffs had separate building numbers for sail boats and steam boats.] 120' long, 16' beam with coil boiler and compound engine. High pressure cylinder, 12' bore; low pressure cylinder 24'. Stroke 21'. The vessel was contracted for by a New York lawyer who turned out to be an agent for Cuban Insurgents. She was to be built as soon as possible with a bonus for quick delivery. J. B. made contract for her about the last of May. I got leave from the Corliss Co. for the summer and went to Bristol; made the model and general drawings for laying down the lines, but as she was too large a vessel for J. B. to build, her hull was built by Job Terry who had a ship yard in Fall River. Then with the assistance of a draftsman I designed and made drawings for the engine which was built by the Rhode Island Locomotive Works very quickly and well. The hull, engine, and boiler (the latter built by J. B. Herreshoff) were ready in October and we had preliminary trials the last of November.
A few days after this the revenue cutter 'Dexter' arrived at Bristol and anchored close to the Herreshoff boat shop with orders from Washington not to allow 'Estelle' to leave the dock. After some time arrangements were made for the official trial trip, taking the 'Dexter' 's officers and armed guard along. The trials were successfully completed, making a six-hour run at 16 m.p.h., and the craft was paid for. The U.S. officers immediately seized her and put her in charge of U.S. keepers. Some time later 'Estelle' was sold and released; she became a successful tow boat at the mouth of the Mississippi, being able to tow two or three ships at a time from the Gulf up to New Orleans faster than any other tug. She was, after some years service, burned and lost in the Gulf of Mexico.
The 'Estelle' was certainly an extremely fast steamer for her time, 1877, and it seems most remarkable that she could maintain a speed of sixteen miles per hour for six hours for she was partly designed to carry cargo in rough water. The most remarkable thing about 'Estelle' was that she was designed and built, including a new model of boiler and engine, in about one hundred and eighty days, and while they talk today of assembling ships quickly you will find that from the commencement of the first drawing to the trial trip it takes much longer, except where the vessel is made up of parts previously designed, tried out, and made. 'Estelle' must have had very sweet lines under water, and a perfect propeller to accomplish this speed for her engine was quite small. However, a new coil boiler is a remarkably good steam producer and no doubt 'Estelle' ran with much higher pressure than was customary in those times, which was safe to do with a boiler that had no large drums or parts that could be stressed at high temperatures." (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. 73-74.)

" 'G', a writer in the Providence Evening Press, says he spent a very pleasant afternoon lately among the boats and boatmen of this town. In speaking of the work at the Messrs. Herreshoff's yard he writes: ... The largest vessel into which they have yet put or propose putting a Safety Coil boiler, is the steam yacht [#35p Estelle] which they have just contracted to build for a New York gentleman. She will be 120 feet-long, schooner-rigged, and carry a compound surface condensing engine with the Herreshoff boiler. Her hull will be built under Mr. Herreshoff's superintendence and from his model, at the yard of J. G. Terry, at Fall River, and her machinery will be put in at Herreshoff's yard at Bristol. She is to be finished about September 1st [1877], next, and to fulfill the terms of the contract, will be required to show a very high rate of speed.'
'G' concludes his interesting article as follows: 'Altogether, there is more yachting and building carried on in this old town than the casual observer would be inclined to suppose, and it seems to be on the increase. A more convenient or more pleasant location for the sport could hardly be found, than Bristol harbor, with the broad bay beyond it, and it is small wonder that summer visitors should be coming to the conclusion that yachting is not the least of the pleasures of a season in this quiet watering place.' " (Source: Anon. "Locals." Bristol Phoenix, June 2, 1877, p. 2.)

"Estelle, steam yacht, of New York.
Built at Fall River. Mass., by Joseph le Pery[?].
84.78 tons; 113.9 ft. x 16.8 ft. x 7.7 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
One deck, two masts, plain head, round stern.
Surveyed and measured, [no date (1877)]." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. Estelle.)

"The Steamer Estelle, built in Fall River, and propelled by Herreshoff's safety coil boiler and engine, made a very successful trial trip in our bay on Wednesday last [October 10, 1877]." (Source: Anon. "Locals." Bristol Phoenix, October 13, 1877, p. 2.)

"Wanted --- A wet nurse, with a full breast of milk, to travel with my baby Estelle [#35p] in the West Indies. Call on Mrs. Sanguilli, 313 West 22d St. [Julio Sanguily had been a general in the insurgent army in the Cuban insurrection of 1868-1878 and acquired U.S. citizenship on August 6, 1878. See also: Julio Sanguily, Revolucion de Cuba. Discursos del Mayor General Julio Sanguily y el Coronel Manuel Sanguily. A la emigracion cubana. (New York, 1877).]" (Source: Anon. [Classified Ad.] New York Herald, November 13, 1877, p. 12.)

"NEWPORT, R. I., Nov. 22 [1877]. --- The vessel suspected of being for the Cubans is the steamer Estelle, built at Bristol this Summer. She lies in the stream off Bristol, and near by is the Samuel Dexter, with guns mounted. The Estelle has not got her clearance papers, and the Collector at this place, by order of the Treasury Department, refuses to give them to her unless she presents an inspector's certificate. The local Board of Inspectors of steam boilers have refused a certificate, on the grounds that her boiler (Herreshoff's patent coil), is larger than allowed by law. This, of course, is not the real reason. The Government, until satisfied she is not intended for the Cuban insurgents, will refuse to let her get up steam, and the cutter will remain at Bristol until further orders. She was built for Herman Kobbe, of New-York. No doubt exists that she is for the Cuban officials. Her builder states she recently ran fifty miles in three hours, and can be made to go faster. She is 120 feet long, and will carry 100 tons.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY.
PROVIDENCE, R. I. Nov. 22. --- The revenue cutter Samuel Dexter is in Bristol harbor, under orders to watch the new steam yacht Estelle, now nearly completed by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. The Estelle is 120 feet long, with 17 feet beam, and measures 74 tons. She made a trial trip October 30, running fifty miles in three hours. Her builder's say there is nothing unusual or suspicious about her, and that, when ready for delivery to her owner, she will leave port with all the requirements of the law complied with. They say the inspector's have not refused a certificate for her boilers, and application has not yet been made at the Custom House for her papers. No one in Bristol seems to understand the ground of suspicion which caused the cutter to be ordered there.
Mr Kobbe, the owner, has been in town several times, and has stated that he would command her, but recently a German, named Walshman, has been about the vessel, and seems to be intended for the command.
STATEMENT OFF THE ESTELLE'S OWNERS.
The report that the Cuban agents in this city were about organizing a filibustering expedition to Cuba, has created considerable excitement, in Spanish circles, as among the friends of the Cuban cause. A new steamer, the Estella, has lately been built at Bristol, R. I., by J. B. Herreshoff, the famous 'blind boatbuilder.' Her rakish build, which gives her the appearance of a steam yacht, excited the suspicions, of the Spanish officials in this country, who, about a month ago, applied to Secretary Evarts to have her movements watched, any action unless there was evidence that the vessel had arms or contraband of war on board. Herman Kobbe, of the law firm of Sullivan, Kobbe & Fowler, stated to a reporter of THE TRIBUNE yesterday, that he represented the owners of the Estella, that the yacht was built on a speculation, and that she would arrive here either on Saturday or Monday. She would be put in readiness immediately for a trip to South America, but to what port had not yet been decided. She would take from here a few passengers, but no munitions of war of any character whatever, and if the suspicions of the Government were at all aroused he would make application to United States Marshal Fisk, for an officer to be detailed to see that nothing illegitimate was done in the clearing of the vessel from this port. He could not tell what would be done with the vessel after her arrival at South America, but thought she would probably be sold. As to the vessel being a privateer, he said that she was of very light build, and would not withstand the shock caused by firing off a twelve-pound howitzer. The Estella would probably leave this port some time during next week. The Cubans ridicule the idea of such an expedition, and say that 'it is one of those periodical movements of the Spanish agents, want to make their Government believe that they are very skillful.' " Source: Anon. "Spanish Vigilance. Guarding Against Aid For Cuba. The Steamer Estelle Detained Under Suspicion of Being Intended for the Cuban Insurgents." New York Tribune, November 23, 1877, p. 5.)

"PROVIDENCE, R. I., Dec. 10 [1877]. --- In reply to Mr. Herreshoff's request for permission to take the suspected steamer Estelle to New York, the Collector at Bristol has received a dispatch from the Treasurey Department which says the Department considers it inexpedient to comply with Mr. Herreshoff's request. The cutter has dropped in nearer the Estelle, whether under orders or not is not known." (Source: Anon. "The Suspected Steamer Estelle." Washington Post, December 11, 1877, p. 4.)

"PROVIDENCE, R. I., Dec. 12 [1877]. --- Inspectors from New York and New London visited the 'Estelle' at Bristol to-day, making a thorough inspection. It is now reported that Mr. Herreshoff will be furnished with necessary papers from the State Department at Washington to steam her to New York, thus throwing the whole matter over to the State Department of Rhode Island to act upon." (Source: Anon. "The Suspected Steamer Estelle." Washington Post, December 13, 1877, p. 1.)

"[Abstract of register or enrollment. Pos. 290:]
Estelle, steamer, of New York.
Built at Fall River. Mass., 1877.
84.78 tons; 113.9 ft. x 16.8 ft. x 7.7 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
One deck, two masts, plain head.
Enr[olled] and Lic[ensed] (temporary) (CT [Coastal Trade]) June 10, 1878. Owner: Albiquree II. Brown of Washington, D. C. Master: Albiquree H. Brown.
Surrendered [license] June 18, 1878 at New York. ([Record at:] C[ustom] H[ouse, Providence])." (Source: Survey of Federal Archives, Work Projects Administration. Ships Documents of Rhode Island. Bristol. Ship Registers and Enrollments of the Port of Bristol - Warren Rhode Island, 1941, s.v. Estelle.)

"... November 13, 1877, the attention of a United States inspector was caught by an advertisement in the New York 'Herald' for a nurse for a baby, Estella, to travel in the West Indies. 'Call on Mrs. Sangelli, 313 West Thirty-second Street.'
On investigation, the clue seemed to lead to Bristol harbor, where lay the new steam yacht 'Estelle,' No. 35 of the Herreshoff series, which had been built for Herman Kobbe, of New York, or Newburg, and was about ready for delivery. It was known that Cuban insurgents were trying to purchase steamers for an invasion of their island, and report had it that they had contracted for three, one said to be the 'Estella.' Ofcials [sic] became very suspicious. The revenue cutter 'Dexter' was sent to Bristol, where she lay for months close to the bows of the 'Estelle,' with guns ready for instant use, with two boats always lowered for action, with fires up constantly, and cable buoyed, ready to be slipped at a moment's notice. Sailing papers were refused the yacht, on the ground that her boilers were too powerful for her hull, but really for purposes of detention only. The affair attracted international interest. One day, smoke was seen issuing from the smokestack of the suspect. In less than five minutes, a boat's crew from the 'Dexter' was on her deck. It proved, however, that the cook's stovepipe had an outlet in the smokestack, and that he had been kindling a fire with pitchy wood. But the 'attempt to escape' was published far and wide, together with a statement that her engineer had been offered a bribe of five hundred dollars to run her out ten miles to sea, some dark night. For seven months, the surveillance was maintained, when she was permitted to go, with papers for United States waters only...." (Source: Wellesley, Walter. "The Wizards of the Water Witches." Success, August 19, 1899, p. 629-630.)

"Throughout the first floor of the Mary Robinson Research Center, we have several Hull models of different ships and boats, one of these Hull models is of the “Estelle No.1“, a steam-powered yacht. The Hull model is made out of wood and it was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff in 1877. There is an inscription on the back by Herreshoff himself, it has built-in lifts, has a keel and is mounted on a plaque. The Hull model was gifted to us by Mr. and Mrs. Carl W. Haffenreffer along with several other Hull models in 1981. ... [With photos. This appears to be the original model of Estelle, made by NGH in May 1876 right after his setting up in Philadelphia of the great Corliss steam engine for the Centennial Exhibition]." (Source: de Alfonseca, Collection and Research Intern of the Rhode Island Historical Society. "Estelle." Blog entry posted on August 7, 2018. https://rihs.wordpress.com/2018/08/07/estelle/, accessed November 9, 2019.)

"Estelle was built for Cuban insurgents; immediately after sea trials, however, she was seized and tied up by the United States government. She was eventually sold to other owners. Estelle could raise steam in her Herreshoff-patented coil boiler so fast that the revenue cutter Dexter had to keep up a head of steam even while anchored, in case Estelle made a break and Dexter had to give chase.
Estelle's building and subsequent trials were truly remarkable achievements --- the result of youthful exuberance, a flair for organization and business, the ability to orchestrate a big job, sound design and engineering, and good basic seamanship. Estelle was a bigger vessel, by far, than any JBH had ever built. He, nevertheless, convinced the New York lawyer who represented the owners that he could do it and was awarded the contract, which contained a bonus for early delivery. The little family boatyard was not equipped to build Estelle's hull, and JBH therefore farmed out the entire hull construction to Job Terry in nearby Fall River, Massachusetts, after getting NGH (who was working full-time at the Corliss Steam Engine Co.) to build the half model and prepare the plans. To make the schedule, NGH hired a draftsman to prepare the finished drawings for the engine. That engine was, of course, steam driven, having two cylinders (or a so-called compound engine) with bores of 12 and 21 inches and a stroke of 24 inches. It was built well and fast by the Rhode Island Locomotive Works in Providence. The boiler was built by the crew in JBH's boatyard, and its tapering, circular coils of steam piping required some very sophisticated hand forging.
With work going on simultaneously in several locations, with business arrangements to be made, with deliveries and inhouse work to supervise, JBH must have been busy indeed. How long did it take to build Estelle? Only a few months. JBH got the job in early May, and the hull was ready in early September. The machinery was installed in October (after the hull was towed to Bristol), and trials took place in November.
With a bit of imagination, one can see JBH in his mid-thirties, NGH still in his twenties, with a pick-up crew, probably of family members and yard workers, conducting sea trials on this 120-foot-long vessel. Her contract speed was to be 16 m.p.h. (over a three-hour full-speed trial); she made the speed and ran continuously for twice that time. ...
The Spanish government heard about Estelle and was sufficiently impressed to order a gunboat, Clara (HMCo #39), with an identical power plant, the very next year.
The magnitude of the Estelle project, and the awareness that there could be others like it, precipitated the brothers' forming of the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. in 1878. All subsequent boatbuilding was carried out under the new organization's auspices. " (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 11.)

"[Item Description:] Mimeographed 50-page trial report titled 'Wilson[?] on[?] Steam Boiler. Herreshoff Boiler' in envelope from 'The Electric Cable Co.' in New York to NGH in Bristol marked in pencil 'Report on ESTELLE's [#35p] Boiler and of trial of vessel by Com. B.F. Isherwood, etc. in 1877'." (Source: Isherwood, B.F. (creator). Trial Report. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_00130. Folder [no #]. 1877.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled dimensions, weight estimates, calculations and sketch for [#35p] 'ESTELLE'" (Source: Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_48340. Note / Calculations. Subject Files, Folder [no #]. No date (1877).)
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"[Item Description:] Photograph, framed and matted, of #35p ESTELLE. (Also, a number of tiny paper cutouts of Herreshoff-built boats that were possibly made by A.S. deW. when planning the first Herreshoff model room exhibit. See MRDE15 for more of these cutouts.)" (Source: Prior Bros. Correspondence (photograph) to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item WRDT01_00040. Folder [no #]. 1877.)
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"[Item Description:] Handwritten notes about #35p ESTELLE Trial Oct. 24, 1877 and Trial of Steam Yacht ESTELLE October, 30st, 1877." (Source: Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_48210. Trial Note. Subject Files, Folder [no #]. 1877-10-30.)
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"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Photocopy of a photograph of four photographs tacked to a wall as part of NGH's collection in 1931, showing 1. Engines of the Late 70's, 2 1/2in x 5in and 5in x 10in, 2. Auxiliary air and feed pump, 1879, 3. LEILA #40p, 100ft o.a., 15ft beam, 1878, 4. ESTELLE #35p 120ft x 16ft, 1877." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.160. Photograph (photocopy). Box HAFH.6.7B, Folder Photographs. No date (1931 ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #35p Estelle even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Estelle (HMCo-made index card)
• Estelle (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.

Name: Estelle
Type: Steam
Length: 120'
Owner: Cuban Insurgents Government

Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. "A Partial List of Herreshoff Clients." In: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Herreshoff Yachts. Bristol, Rhode Island, ca. 1931.

• Estelle
• 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: Estelle
Type: 120' steam
Owner: Cuban Insurgents Government
Year: 1877
Row No.: 206

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.

Year: 1877
E/P/S: P
No.: 035
Name: Estelle
OA: 120'

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.

"For export to Cuba." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"Estelle's steam engine was designed by N. G. Herreshoff, but built by the Rhode Island Locomotive Company of Providence." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 16, 2015.)

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