HMCo #68p Fish Hawk Jr. [Launch for U.S.S. Fish Hawk]

"THE HOME OF HIGH SPEEDS. --- The summer months have opened busily at the constructing and machine shops of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol. R. I. They have in course of construction a steamer for the United Sates Fish Commission [#68p Fish Hawk Jr.], which will be completed about the 25th of this month [June 1880]. She will be used for planting young fish at the headwaters of rivers and bays, and will be an important addition to this useful organisation. ..." (Source: Anon. (C. P. Kunhardt?) "Yachting News." Forest and Stream, June 24, 1880, p. 419.)

"Bristol, R L, Sept. 28 [1881]. --- ... At Wood's Holl on a late occasion, as on a prior one last year, a small Herreshoff steam launch [#68p Fish Hawk Jr.] attached to the United States Fish Commission steamer Fishhawk allowed full opportunities of examination. 'The one thing,' said the officer in command of the steam-ship, 'that a man must do with one of these launches is to unlearn all he has been taught before. In the ordinary school of engineers we are taught to beware of putting cold water in contact with hot metal, and in a Herreshoff tubular boiler it is just the contrary, for we place at once cold water in contact with the hot metal.'
The celerity with which this power can be brought into play was made at once evident. The fires in this launch's boiler had been banked. The damper was closed until, it was apparent that there was but a coal or so hot. The engineer opened his boiler door, turned on the draft, threw in a handful of wood splinters, which gradually took fire, and certainly in three minutes --- not more --- some five people were spinning along in that launch through tho fairly rough waters of Cape Cod at the rate of 10 miles an hour. All the engineer did was to start the circulation of water by means of a hand-pump not larger than a gun-barrel, which injected the water through the warm coils. Once started, the operation of the machine became automatic. The main principle of this boiler is, then, the rapid accumulation of steam in a metal coil; the superheating of the steam and its action on the piston of a very small, light, but perfectly built, engine. Everything which excellence of material can give to lighten the weight of the engine is imagined, and an ounce of extra steel, iron, or brass is discarded. The exact proportion of form to material, with its power of resistance, has been studied, until the smallest, the lightest, and the very strongest of engines is produced. The condensation of the steam takes place in a tube or series of tubes, which run outside of the boat, and this water is used over and over again. 'With 25 gallons of fresh water, such a small launch will run some four or five days. Theoretically, the water, being condensed, is renewed all the time, but practically there is always some waste of water, such as by small, unimportant leakages or the blowing of the whistle, which amounts to some three gallons per diem. The quantity of coal is also exceedingly small, infinitely less than under the usual circumstances when such high speed is attained. With 500 pounds of coal this launch attached to the Fishhawk runs at tho top of her speed for 14 continuous hours. It can be understood, then, how, for small craft requiring high speed, this peculiar mechanical device should have at once been in such demand. ..." (Source: Anon. "A Blind Man's Steamers. The Fastest Small Steam Craft in the World." New York Times, October 4, 1881, p. 7.)

"... Boats. The [U.S. Fish Commission] vessel [Fish-Hawk] has four boats;
1st, a steam cutter built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, R. I., 24 feet in length, 6 feet 9 inches beam and 3 feet 6 inches depth; weight, 2,900 pounds; capacity of coal bunkers, 660 pounds, sufficient for 28 hours' steaming at 6 knots per hour; a fresh-water tank holding 40 gallons of water, enough for six days' steaming; she has a keel condenser which receives the discharge from the cylinder and escape valve. Both hull and machinery are constructed of the best material. Steam is raised in a few minutes, and when under banked fires requires no attention. She is an excellent sea-boat and has been of great service to this ship.
2d. A ten-oared cutter 24 feet 6 inches in length.
3d. A gig 26 feet 5 inches in length.
4th. A dingy 17 feet 6 inches in length.
She has also several flat-bottomed boats 18 feet in length, used for spawn taking." (Source: Z. L. Tanner. "Report on the Construction and Work in 1880 of the Fish Commission Steamer Fish-Hawk." In: United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries. "Report of the Commissioner for 1881." Washington, 1883, p. 8-9.)

"N/A"

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #68p Fish Hawk Jr. [Launch for U.S.S. Fish Hawk] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Fish Hawk Jr (HMCo-made index card)
• Fish Hawk Jr (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: Fish Hawk
Type: Steam
Length: 24'
Owner: Tanner, Capt. Z. L.

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

• Fish Hawk Jr
• 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: Fish Hawk
Type: 24' steamer
Owner: Capt. Z. L. Tanner
Row No.: 225

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: 1880
E/P/S: P
No.: 068
Name: Fish Hawk
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.

"Steam launch for the 157' LOA research vessel Fish Hawk built in 1880 by Pusey & Jones." (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.