HMCo #46p Ogeechee

"Ogeechee, steam tug, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, RI, by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., 1878.
8.39 tons; 46.5 ft. x 8.6 ft. x 3.9 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
One deck, one mast, plain head, round stem.
Surveyed and measured, [no date (1878)]." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. Ogeechee.)

"[License issued to vessel under 20 tons. Pos. 204:]
Ogeechee, steam yacht, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, 1878.
8.39 tons; 48.5 ft. x 8.6 ft. x 3.8 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] ([for] C[oastal] T[rade]) Oct. 22, 1878. Owner: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol. Master: John B. Herreshoff.
Surrendered [license] Dec. 6, 1878 at Savannah, Ga. ([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. Ogeechee.)

"Way's Station, Bryan County, Ga., March 14th. [1880] Editor Forest and Stream :-
I have read with pleasure in your issue of March 11th, the article on the steam yacht built by the Herreshoff M'f'g Co., of Bristol, R. I., and think it only due to those gentlemen to call your attention to one very important fact that was omitted in the article, viz., the impunity with which their boilers use salt water. I have owned two of these boats since 1875; one was built for me then [#15p Gem] and a much larger one [#46p Ogeechee] last year, and though my boats have been used almost always in salt water I have had no trouble, and the inside of the old coil is perfectly free from salt or scale to-day. I wish you would publish this, as it may do some one who wishes a boat a good turn. You know that I have no interest in writing this, other than to approve a good thing.
Geo. Lyman Appleton.
We publish the above indorsement of the Herreshoff coil with pleasure. It has all along been our desire to see the coil come into more general use as its many advantages will tend to multiply high-speed launches in our waters to an unparelleled extent. There are thousands of miles of bays and estuaries from New York to Calais, Me., never yet churned by the screw of a steam yacht. With economic and safe builders, fine cruising is to be got out of a 60ft. 'toe-kettle,' if suitably designed, and that with a combination of very fair seagoing qualities. But to that end we must depart from the prevailing light-draft river boat and adopt a hull you can get 'into' and not merely 'on to.'" (Source: Appleton, George Lyman. [Letter to the Editor.] Forest and Stream, March 25, 1880, p. 156.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Photocopy of a photograph of four photographs tacked to a wall as part of NGH's collection in 1931, showing 14. Early 26ft launches for Coast Survey and Fish Commission, 15. One of several launches in the early 1880's, 16. OGEECHE #46p, 1888 built for Truck and Towing, 46ft, 8ft 8in beam, [???] , 17. Harvard Rowing Association, #67p 40ft, 4ft 10in beam [possible reference to #45p, #47p (???)]." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.164. Photograph (photocopy). Box HAFH.6.7B, Folder Photographs. No date (1931 ?).)
①

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #46p Ogeechee even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Ogeechee (HMCo-made index card)
• Ogeechee (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: Ogeechee
Type: Steam
Length: 50'
Owner: Appleton, George L.

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

• Ogeechee
• 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: Ogeechee
Type: 50' steam
Owner: George Appleton
Row No.: 487

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.: 046
Name: Ogeechee
OA: 50'

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.

"Date this vessel was finished was estimated as October 22, 1878, the date this boat was measured by the U.S. Custom House inspector as per the 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." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 9, 2020.)

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