HMCo #61p Waterwitch

"THE HERRESHOFF SYSTEM OF STEAM PROPULSION. ... The following is a description of a sporting yacht built by this Company a few months since for Messrs. Charles R. Flint and Joseph T. Earle, of this city [New York]. She has been in successful operation in southern waters, and shown herself to be everything desirable for the purposes for which she was intended. Length, 24ft; beam, 6ft. 9in.; depth, 3ft. 6in.; draft of water, 2ft.; speed, 7 1/2 miles per hour; consumption of coal, 20 lbs. per hour; weight of boat, including machinery, 3,000 lbs. Her interior is beautifully finished in mahogany, cherry and oak. An important novelty in the form of a folding tent and awning combined was furnished with this boat. It is formed by employing a number of curved longitudinal ribs of wood, the ends of which are pivoted at the extreme forward and after parts of the standing room or cockpit. These ribs are covered by waterproof cloth, and when not in use fold themselves in a compact form on the gun-wale of the boat just outside the rising. The tent may be instantly raised by swinging the uppermost rib or batten over to the opposite gunwale. When thus closed it forms a perfect protection against wind and weather and gives plenty of room to stand up under. Either side of the tent may be raised at will, or both sides of it may be partly raised when needed as an awning. This folding tent will be found an important addition to all open launches, giving a ready means of protection against the elements and mosquitos. ..." (Source: Anon (C. P. Kunhardt?). "The Herreshoff System of Steam Propulsion." Forest and Stream, March 11, 1880, p. 115-116.)

"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 10. above 'Herreshoff Torpedo Boat' [Copy of photograph, part of NGH's collection 1931, 10. Torpedo boat #61p, 1879 and 1880]." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.169. Photocopy. Box HAFH.6.7B, Folder Photographs. No date.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #61p Waterwitch even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Waterwitch (HMCo-made index card)
• Waterwitch (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: Waterwitch
Type: Steam
Length: 24'
Owner: Earle, C. T. and C. R. Flint

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

• Waterwitch
• 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: Water Witch [sic, i.e. Waterwitch]
Type: 24' steam
Owner: C. T. and C. R. Flint
Row No.: 745

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: 1879
E/P/S: P
No.: 061
Name: Waterwitch
OA: 24'

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.

"Weight of boat, including machinery, 3,000 lbs." (Source: Anon (C. P. Kunhardt?). "The Herreshoff System of Steam Propulsion." Forest and Stream, March 11, 1880, p. 115-116.)

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