HMCo #44p Herreshoff

"[1878-12-11] Wed 11: Left New York in St[eame]r Denmark [of the] National Line. With [brother] John & W. N. Newman[?]. No 44 steamer [#44p Herreshoff] on deck. Draft aft 24f 7in., forward 23f 8in. Left Pier at 7 a.m., wind strong W. Sandy Hook 9-30. Distance sailed at noon 30 miles East.
[1878-12-12] Thu 12: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] Lat 40deg 27' Long 73deg 21'. N 88deg E, 244 miles, total 274. Fresh to moderate [wind] & fair. W [wind] & cloudy.
[1878-12-13] Fri 13: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 80deg E, 244 miles, total 578. Lat 41deg 17' Long 62deg 42'. Fresh[?] to mod[erate] [wind] & fair W-st & cloudy.
[1878-12-14] Sat 14: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 87deg E, 230 miles, total 758. Lat 41deg 34' Long 57deg 33'. Fresh [wind] from W[e]st, squally at times, cloudy N[?].
[1878-12-15] Sun 15: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 84deg E, 123 m[iles], total 881. Lat 41deg 44' Long 54deg 52'. Hld[?] wind & sea, cloudy N[?], considerable sea.
[1878-12-16] Mon 16: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 85deg E, 200 m[iles], total 1081. Lat 42deg 00' Long 50deg 24'. Beam w[in]d, cloudy N[?].
[1878-12-17] Tue 17: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 86deg E, 186 m[iles], total 1267. Lat 43deg 10' Long 46deg 30'. Greater p[ar]t fair, w[in]d, part head, cloudy[?] N[?], head sea.
[1878-12-18] Wed 18: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 70deg E, 181 m[iles], total 1448. Lat 44deg 13' Long 42deg 34'. Greater p[ar]t fair w[in]d, yld[?] seas, sonuly[?] N[?].
[1878-12-19] Thu 19: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 60deg E, 182 m[iles], total 1630. Lat 45deg 45' Long 38deg 52'. First p[ar]t h[ea]d w[in]d, latter part beam w[in]d.
[1878-12-20] Fri 20: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 68deg E, 166 m[iles], 1796 total. Lat 46deg 47' Long 35deg 11'. Fresh fair w[in]d for 23 hours, 1 hour head w[in]d. Part moderate, fair w[in]d & cloudy.
[1878-12-21] Sat 21: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 70deg E, 118 m[iles], 1975[sic, i.e. 1904] total. Lat 47deg 23' Long 32deg 42'. Part Easterly gale. High h[ea]d seas.
[1878-12-22] Sun 22: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] Heavy Easterly gale. N 62deg E, 71 m[iles], 1975 total. Lat 47deg 56' Long 31deg 09' W. High dangerous seas, cloudy weather.
[1878-12-23] Mon 23: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 78deg E, 105 m[iles], 2080 total. Lat 48deg 17' Long 28deg 36' W. Easterly gale. Head seas, cloudy N[?].
[1878-12-25] Wed 25: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] Easterly gale. N 82deg E, 104 m[iles], 2266 total. Lat 48deg 34' Long 24deg 0 W'. Heavy head sea. Cloudy w[eather?] throughout.
[1878-12-26] Thu 26: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 76deg E, 150 [miles], 2416 [total]. Lat 49deg 09' Long 24deg 0 W'. L[igh]t fair w[in]d. Heavy E sea, cloudy w[eather].
[1878-12-27] Fri 27: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] N 83deg E, 212 m[iles], 2628 [total]. Lat 49deg 35' Long 15deg 07 W'. Fresh fair w[in]d and fine w[eather].
[1878-12-28] Sat 28: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] East. 225 m[iles], 2853 [total]. Lat 49[deg] 35['] Long 9deg 21'. Moderate fair w[in]d and cloudy w[eather].
[1878-12-29] Sun 29: [Position of steamship Denmark on voyage from New York to England:] 113 miles to Bishop [Rock]. N 80deg E. 210 [miles] in 24[?] hours, 2966 [total] to Bishop. Lat 50[deg] 07' N Long 4deg 02'. Moderate breeze & cloudy w[eather]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1878. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"In 1878 the Herreshoffs had built a torpedo boat for the British government. She was fifty-nine feet six inches long and seven feet six inches beam, and I believe the first vessel they built that used much steel or iron in the hull. Below the sheer line, she had wood planking over steel frames, but the upper sides and deck were of one sixteenth inch sheet steel. Her engine was compound with bores of six inches and ten and one half inches; stroke ten inches. The coil boiler was four feet in diameter, and had three inch diameter tubes about three hundred feet long, using a working pressure of one hundred and sixty pounds. J. B. and N. G. Herreshoff took this torpedo boat to England on the deck of a steamer along with a small double-ended launch, No. 47, twenty-nine feet long, five feet beam, named 'Ibis,' [sic, i.e. Gymnotus] which they had built for G. R. Dunell of London. They took over with them a crew and ran the trials of the torpedo boat on the Thames before the First Lord of the Admiralty, Chief Constructor Barnaby, and other naval officers. The weight of this little ship was only six tons, but the crew of four, fuel and torpedoes brought her weight to seven and one half tons. She ran the same speed astern as ahead and turned in a circle of about three times her length. It is said she got up steam from the lighting of the fire to the blowing of the safety valve in five minutes. I believe she made only about eighteen miles per hour on the Thames, but her runs were slightly hampered by floating ice. Her deck was enclosed and clear, except for the smoke stack and a small turret aft for steering." (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. 100.)

"The British Government has made a contract with the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, of this town, for the construction of a torpedo boat, which is to be built immediately. The boat is to be fifty eight feet in length, and will have a Herreshoff coil boiler and Herreshoff engine." (Source: Anon. "Locals." Bristol Phoenix, July 20, 1878, p. 2.)

"The torpedo boat built for the English government by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., of this town, and which sailed from here for New York on the 3d inst., was shipped on board the steamer Denmark, which sailed from that city on the 11th inst., for London, Messrs. John B. Herreshoff and Nathaniel G. Herreshoff went out as passengers on the some steamer, expecting to return home in about two months." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, December 21, 1878, p. 2.)

"A cable dispatch was received here last Tuesday [December 31, 1878] announcing the arrival in London or Messrs. John B. Herreshoff, Nathaniel G. Herreshoff, Nelson Newman and Charles Mowry, all from this town." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity" Bristol Phoenix, January 4, 1879, p. 2.)

"Messrs. John B. Herreshoff and N. G. Herreshoff arrived home on Monday last [February 3, 1879]. They came to New York from Liverpool in the steamer City of Berlin." (Source: Anon. "Locals." Bristol Phoenix, February 8, 1879, p. 2.)

"Passengers on the Thames may have noticed during the last few days a strange looking little craft lying off Erith Pier; a craft hardly larger in its dimensions than a lifeboat, covered in so as almost to suggest comparison with a coffin, and in form something like a squab-shaped cigar. Passengers may have noticed such a craft; but it is probable that they have passed her without observation, for, besides being small, her grey colour renders her almost undistinguishable, unless her funnel, the only conspicuous feature about her, should serve to attract attention. Yet, this little vessel has the ambition to destroy the largest and most powerful men-of-war. She is a torpedo boat of American manufacture, and is about to pass into the hands of the British Government. Built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island, and 57 Gracechurch Street, and bought by Mr Dunell, of Erith, under order from the Admiralty, the boat was brought over on board the National Line steamboat Denmark, and it arrived in the Thames on the 1st instant [January 1, 1879]. On Wednesday morning her machinery was inspected by the Admiralty officials, and after this inspection her capabilities were exhibited, unofficially, in a trip on the river. She was not run to show her speed, which will be tested in due course, and which is guaranteed to be sixteen knots an hour; but she was taken out to show certain special qualities in regard to going astern, making almost a dead stop, and turning within a small circle. Among those on board were Captain De Cavalier de Cuverville and Lieutenant Borel de Bretizel, naval attaches to the French Embassy; Mr Herreshoff, and Mr Dunell. Starting from Erith pier, the boat went down the Lower Rands into Long Reach, and on the measured two-mile course, turning off Purfleet, and at various times stopping, going astern, or revolving in a circle, the diameter of which was less than three times her own length. Her stopping was remarkably good, being effected from a speed of twelve miles an hour within 60 feet. After a dead stop she went astern at about the same speed as that at which she had gone ahead, and she answered to her helm with great readiness in either direction. Her turning fully justified the promise of her makers, the wake plainly showing the circle within which she moved. The evolutions of the boat must have appeared very eccentric to persons on board the passing steam vessels; the little oddity would have been seen wheeling round, as though suddenly struck with vertigo; or advancing with full speed, apparently reckless of collision; then stopping in a manner little short of miraculous; and, finally, darting away like a racer. To those, however, who understood the method of all this seeming madness, the illustration of her special powers was sufficiently satisfactory. Without going too fully into technical detail, the following particulars of the Herreshoff boat may be found useful: --- Her length is 59 1/2 feet, and her width 7 1/2 feet. The hull is composite --- a wooden skin and a steel frame below water, and steel plate above. She is propelled by a compound condensing engine placed in the bows, of 100-horse power indicated, the direct acting diameter of the cylinders being 6 and 10 1/2 inches, with a stroke of 10 inches. The stroking room is enclosed, and air is forced into it by a sturtevant blower, driven by a separate engine of 2 1/2-horse power. The steam is supplied by a Herreshoff patent steam generator, which gets up full steam five minute s after the fires are lighted; the coil is of 2-inch pipe, and is about 300 feet long. The pressure of steam is intended to be 100 pounds, but it is claimed that an immensely greater pressure can be employed, and that the generator cannot explode. The present weight of the boat is 6 tons, and she will weigh 7 1/2 tons when manned and fully equipped. The screw is placed under the centre of the boat, midway between the head and the stern. The rudder is a balanced one, steered from near the stem, and there is a deck look-out for the steersman. The guaranteed speed is 16 knots. The boat is covered over with steel plates for the protection of the men and machinery from rifle shots. It only remains to say, that this minute, but possibly important, addition to the strength of the British navy proved herself, in rough water, and with a still easterly breeze, to be a good sea boat, as she is also reported to have done on her trip from her builder's yard to New York, a distance of 180 miles, performed with a consumption of one ton of coal. --- Daily News." (Source: Anon. "Torpedo Boat Experiments." Irish Times, January 10, 1879, p. 3.)

"... in 1878 an order was received at Bristol from the British government for its second torpedo boat. This craft departed widely from the ordinary launch type in model, and possessed some remarkable features. She was 59 feet 6 inches long, 7 feet 6 inches beam, with a wooden frame and 7/8-inch white cedar planking up to the water-line. Above this the skin was of steel, up to the gunwale, with a crowned deck of steel extending down to the gunwale, the general appearance being similar to Stiletto, page 627. The compound engine had cylinders 6 and 10 inches by 10 inches. In accordance with a theory then in favor, --- that the best position for the wheel was well under the hull, --- the wheel was below the keel at a distance of about two-thirds of the length from the bow. The shaft was allowed to take a natural sag from the engine, placed well forward, curving down through the keel to the propeller. Outside the hull it was carried in a hollow keel or fin built of two plates of brass, with sufficient space between for the shaft and bearings. The constant strain due to the twisting of the shaft with every revolution caused it to break frequently." (Source: Stephens, W. P. "The High Speed Steam-Yacht as a Factor in Torpedo Boat Design." Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine. July 1898, p. 628.)

"... The British patent for the Herresholf boiler was taken out in 1876 (Xo. 4271). It was owned and worked in this country by Mr. G. R. Dunell, who obtained a trial order for it from the British Admiralty. ..." (Source: Rowan, Frederick John. Practical Physics of the Modern Steam Boiler, London, 1903, p. 481.)

"Hull No. 44.
The first of these Herreshoff-built spar torpedo boats, designated Hull No. 44, was a demonstration prototype completed in July 1878. She was 59 feet 6 inches long and 7 feet 6 inches abeam. Excluding the midship centerboard and screw, she had a draft of 2 feet 9 inches and was the first boat of her kind to use as much steel or iron in the hull. Below the sheer line, she had wood planking over steel frames, but the upper sides and deck were made of 1/16-inch steel. The boat had a compound engine with a stroke of 10 inches and bores of 6 and 10.5 inches. The coil boiler was 4 feet in diameter and had 3-inch-diameter tubes about 30 feet long, using a working pressure of 160 pounds. The weight of the craft was only 6 tons, but the weight approached 7.5 tons with a crew of four, fuel, and torpedoes. She ran the same speed astern as ahead and turned in a circle about three times her length. Her expected speed of 16 knots was easily met. Her deck was fully enclosed and clear, except for a smokestack and a small turret aft for the helmsman.
The Herreshoff brothers took this torpedo boat to England along with a 29-foot, double-ended launch, the Ibis, Jr. [HMCo. #45], for delivery to London customer George R. Dunnell, a wealthy entrepreneur. Dunnell bought Hull No. 44 on speculation for the British navy.
The Herreshoffs' American crew ran trials of the torpedo boat on the Thames River before a gathering of senior naval officers and the first lord of the admiralty. Subsequently, at the instigation of Chief Naval Constructor Nathaniel Barnaby the Royal Navy purchased the boat from Dunnell for thorough evaluation.
Known to her British crew as 'the Coffin,' she was taken into the service as H.M. 2nd Class Torpedo Boat No. 63. In 1881, she was used for training at the Vernon Torpedo School. She returned in 1884 to the Portsmouth Steam Reserve still under trial and not yet fitted with torpedo gear. Apparently there was some doubt of her stability. In 1887 [sic, i.e. 1879], she reportedly collided with a tug and suffered damage to her bow [sic, i.e. stern]. In 1888, she was expended as a target at Portsmouth to test the effect of shell fire on a torpedo boat. Under close-range fire for the best part of a day, she took 26 hours to sink." (Source: Simpson, Richard V. Building the Mosquito Fleet: The U.S. Navy's First Torpedo Boats. Charleston, S.C., 2001, p. 33-34.)

"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] [Advertisement by HMCo titled 'From An Old Plate Found in a Loft at Herreshoff Mfg. Co., Dec. 1931. Explanations by N.G. Herreshoff, Esq.' and showing 10 woodcuts with the following explanations:] 1 Represents the early Navy Launches that started in 1879-80. Commodore Isherwood of the U. S. Navy carried on an extensive program of tests and experiments with two of them, No. 62 [#62p] and 63 [#63p], and a Navy launch built in the Washington Navy Yard, in the summer of 1880, lasting over two months. The Board consisted of Com. B. P. Isherwood, Com. T. Zeller and 3 or 4 assistants from the School of Marine Engineers of U. S. N. The Herreshoff launches proved superior to the Navy built and designed launch in every way. Illustration does not do justice to the launch.
2 Represents a class of cabin launches, between 55 and 68 ft long-built in the 80's. JAVELIN, No. 52 [#52p] , was the original (1879).
3 Steam yacht GLEAM, No. 65 [#65p], built for Mr. William Graham of Baltimore in 1880. Length on deck about 115 ft; w. l. 105 ft.
4-5 The general type of steam engines, 1878 to 1885. No. 4 is a marine type compound engine with cut-off valves riding on back of main slide valves. No. 5 stations-type such as used in small shops, as our own machine shop and another for wood working machinery. This type was given up in 1885. Replaced by triple expansion engines with valves worked from side shaft.
6-7 Early coil boilers, given up in 1881 or '82. The vertical drum at side is a steam separator and a good one, but it is not correctly represented.
8 A poor representation of 4 or 5 torpedo boats in 1879 and 1880. One was built for the British Admiralty [#44p HERRESHOFF], two for Chili [sic, i.e. Peru #53p REPUBLICA, #55p ALIANZA (a third boat, #60p, was never delivered)], one for Russia [#64p].
9 Typical cabin arrangement of early steam yachts 80 to 90 ft long.
10 Steam yacht STILETTO [#118p] rated in her time as one of the fastest yachts in the world." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Advertisement Broadside. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE14_01240. Folder [no #]. 1931-12.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #44p Herreshoff 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.
• Anon. "The Herreshoff Torpedo Boats." (Reprinted from "Engineering.") In: Maw, William Henry. Recent Practice in Marine Engineering. Volume 1. London, New York, 1884, p. 280-287. (469 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: No. Detailed report on HMCo #44p "Herreshoff" delivered to the British Navy in 1878.

• Herreshoff (HMCo-made index card)
• Herreshoff (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: Herreshoff
Type: Steam
Length: 59'
Owner: Dunell, George R.

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

• Herreshoff
• 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: Herreshoff Torpedo boat
Type: 59' steam
Owner: George R. Dunell for the English Navy
Year: 1878
Row No.: 281

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: 1878
E/P/S: P
No.: 044
Name: Herreshoff
OA: 59'

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.

"Exported to England to George R. Dunell. Note that much of Chapter XI in Dixon Kemp's 1891 Yacht Architecture was written by G. R. Dunell, as noted in that book's preface. " (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"The British Navy designated this vessel TB-73 (Source: Brown, David K. Warrior to Dreadnought. Warship Design & Development 1860- 1905. Seaforth Publishing, UK, 1997, p. 188) or TB-63 (Source: Simpson, Richard V. Building the Mosquito Fleet: The U.S. Navy's First Torpedo Boats. Charleston, S.C., 2001, p. 33-34.)

"Destroyed in 1888 during target practice in Portsmouth, England." (Source: Simpson, Richard V. Building the Mosquito Fleet: The U.S. Navy's First Torpedo Boats. Charleston, S.C., 2001, p. 141, p. 33-34.)

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