HMCo #47p Gymnotus

"J. B. and N. G. Herreshoff took this torpedo boat [HMCo #44] 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." (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.)

"While the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company did not build large vessels, it did manufacture a great number of small ones, so that by 1878 the number of steamers alone was up to 49. That year the brothers, J. B. and N. G., built and took to England on the deck of an ocean liner a small torpedo boat for the British Navy [#44p]. On this trip they also took over the small launch Gymnotus, 29 feet long; 5 foot beam; speed, 13 MPH. She was a highly developed craft for her time." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. An L. Francis Herreshoff Reader. Camden, Maine, 1978, p. 143.)

"The torpedo boat [#44p Herreshoff] 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 same steamer, expecting to return home in about two months. [J. B. and N. G. Herreshoff also took #47p Gymnotus with them.]" (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.)

"... The British patent for the Herresholf boiler was taken out in 1876 (No. 4271). It was owned and worked in this country by Mr. G. R. Dunell, who obtained a trial order [#44p Herreshoff] for it from the British Admiralty. ..." (Source: Rowan, Frederick John. Practical Physics of the Modern Steam Boiler, London, 1903, p. 481.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Photocopy of a photograph of four photographs tacked to a wall as part of NGH's collection in 1931, showing 10. Torpedo boat #61p, 1879 and 1880, 11. Torpedo boat #64p, 1880 for Russian Navy, 12. IBIS JR. #45p and GYMNOTUS #47p, 1878, 13. Launch, steamer #24p, 1876-1878." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.163. Photograph (photocopy). Box HAFH.6.7B, Folder Photographs. No date (1931 ?).)
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"[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 ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #47p Gymnotus even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Gymnotus (HMCo-made index card)
• Gymnotus (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: Gymnotus
Type: Steam
Length: 30'
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.

• Gymnotus
• 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: Gymnotus
Type: 30' steam
Owner: Geo. R. Dunnell, England
Row No.: 261

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.: 047
Name: Gymnotus
OA: 30'

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." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

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