HMCo #50p Spray
Particulars
Type: Cabin Steam Launch
Designed by: NGH
Finished: 1879-5
Construction: Wood
LOA: 42' (12.80m)
Beam: 8' 6" (2.59m)
Draft: 3' 9" (1.14m)
Propulsion: Steam, Herreshoff, Double exp., 2 cyl. (3 1/2" & 6" bore x 7" stroke); Comp. con.
Boiler: Coil; 42" x 39"
Propeller: Diameter 32", Pitch 48"
Built for: U.S. Navy
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: Open launch, mach'y aft, U.S. navy
Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.
Model
Model location: N/A (Missing, nonexistant or unidentified model)
Vessels from this model:
4 built, modeled by NGH
Note: This model is missing, is nonexistant or has not been identified. The number of vessels built from it is only an estimate based on similar features, such as dimensions, rig, machinery, etc.
Offsets
Offset booklet number(s): HH.4.003.1
Offset booklet contents:
#54, #55, #60 [40' steam launch Dolphin, two 56' steam torpedo boats].
Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)
Note: "Reference to offset booklet HH.4.003.1 was added by CvdL because this boat was built from the same construction plan as other sisterships that were specifically mentioned in it." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 24, 2021.)
Drawings
List of drawings:
Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
HMCo #50p Spray are listed in bold.
Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
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Dwg 003-002 (HH.5.00148); Construction Dwg > Launch - Stm, 42' O.A., 8'-6" Beam, 3' Draft (1878-02-05)
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Dwg 054-003 (HH.5.03936): Steam Yacht Lurline [Condenser] (1878-09-13)
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.
Documents
Archival Documents
"N/A"
Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #50p Spray even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.
Supplement
From the 1920 and earlier HMCo Index Cards at the MIT Museum
- 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.
From the 1931 HMCo-published Owner's List
Type: Open Launch
Length: 42'
Owner: U.S. Navy
Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. "A Partial List of Herreshoff Clients." In: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Herreshoff Yachts. Bristol, Rhode Island, ca. 1931.
From the 1930s L. Francis Herreshoff Index Cards at the Herreshoff Marine Museum
- 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.
From the 1953 HMCo Owner's List by L. Francis Herreshoff
Name: Spray
Type: 42' open steam launch
Owner: U.S. Navy
Row No.: 649
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.
From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray
Year: 1879
E/P/S: P
No.: 050
Name: Spray
OA: 42'
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.
Note
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