HMCo #71p Sport

"Sport, steam yacht, of Bristol.
Built at [blank] [sic, i.e. Bristol at HMCo].
10.52 tons; 42.1 ft. x 18.4 ft. x 3.8 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
One mast, plain head, round stern.
Surveyed and measured, October 4, 1880." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. Sport.)

"[License issued to vessel under 20 tons. Pos. 252:]
Sport, steam yacht, of Bristol.
Built at New York, N.Y. [sic, i.e. Bristol at HMCo], 1880.
10.52 tons; 42.1 ft. x 18.4 ft. x 3.8 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] ([for] C[oastal] T[rade]) Oct. 19, 1880. Owner: John B. Herreshoff of Bristol. Master: John B. Herreshoff.
Surrendered [license] June 7, 1881 at New York. ([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. Sport.)

"The following is a list of the steam yachts built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, R.I: ... Sport, built 1880, for Joseph P. Earl, New York. Length, 45 feet; breadth, a feet 2 inches; depth, 3 feet 2 inches; draught, 1 foot 2 inches; speed, 10 miles per hour. ..." (Source: Jaffray, Edward S. "American Steam Yachting." Outing, April 1886, p. 23-25.)

"... The forty-five foot steam yacht Sport I sold to advantage.
The sale of this last yacht was a rather amusing transaction. A man came to my office and asked the price: I told him $1,500. He said that this figure was ridiculous and belittled my yacht. He intercepted me, however, on my way to the Downtown Club where I was in the habit of lunching, and I told him that after listening to his opinion of the Sport I had decided to advance my price to $1,800. He turned on his heel with the remark that I was 'trifling'; but the next day he came to my office to dicker again. I told him the price was $2,500. He slammed the door as he went out of the office. On my way down to dinner that evening the bell rang. I opened the door and there was the would-be buyer again. I immediately told him that the price was now $3,000.
At which he quickly answered: 'I'll take her before she goes up another dollar.'
He had, of course, a good reason for acceding to my price. This yacht had been built for me by Herreshoff, with twin screws and universal joints on the shafts, so that she could run at low speed in eighteen inches of water by raising the propellers, while by lowering the propellers she could run at high speed in deep water. She was the only yacht in the United States that fulfilled the purchaser's requirements. ..." (Source: Flint, Charles R. Memories of an Active Life, Putnam's (1925), p. 142-143.)

"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] Penciled experiments booklet titled in ink on cover 'H.M. Co. Experiments. 1880 - 1881'. Relevant contents:
§12: Pinnace built by White of Cowes Sketch. Also Trial #71p SPORT. Also Fire Engine King Phillip Trial on October 20, 1880. (1880-10-19)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Experiments Booklet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE07_02030. Folder [no #]. 1880-08 to 1881-06.)
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪ ⑫ ⑬ ⑭ ⑮ ⑯ ⑰ ⑱ ⑲ ⑳ ㉑ ㉒ ㉓

"[Item Transcription:] Several superimposed penciled sections, some with pinpricks. They are labeled '94ft Torpedo boat [#118p STILETTO] 1883[sic]. Scale 3/4ft', '48f vedette boat [#74p & #75p Vedette boats for the English Navy and #85p & #86p Vedette boats for the French Navy]', '# 55 & 60 [#55p & #60p Torpedo Boats for Peru]', '# 57 & 58 [#57p & #58p Launches for N. Y. Coast Survey]', '#71 [SPORT]' and '# [blank] 33ft launch [probably #62p & #63p Launches for U.S. Navy and others from the same model]'.
On verso handwritten (in ink) satirical list:
Attention: 1 Bells
Are you there?: 1 Bells
Is J.B.H. there?: 2 Bells
Want N.G.H. at machine shop: 3 Bells
Want J.B.H. at machine shop: 4 Bells
Want N.G.H. at boat shop: 5 Bells
Want J.B.H. at boat shop: 6 Bells
Want sand paper: 1-1 Bells
Want cotton wicking: 1-2 Bells
Want drawings of catamaran: 1-3 Bells
Want drawings of steamers: 1-4 Bells
Want drawings of engines: 1-5 Bells
Want drawings for pattern maker: 1-6 Bells
Want brass screws, 7/8in no 8: 2-1 Bells
Want brass screws, 1in no 9: 2-2 Bells
Want brass screws, 1 1/4in no 10: 2-3 Bells
Want brass screws, 1 1/2in no 11: 2-4 Bells
Want brass screws, 2 3/4in no 16: 2-5 Bells
Want brass screws, 2in no 16: 2-6 Bells
Want tire bolts 1 1/4in by 7/32: 3-1 Bells
Want tire bolts 1 1/2in by 7/32: 3-2 Bells
Want tire bolts 1 3/4in by 7/32: 3-3 Bells
Want tire bolts 2in by 7/32: 3-4 Bells
Want tire bolts 2 1/2in by 7/32: 3-5 Bells
Want tire bolts 3 1/4in by 7/32: 3-6 Bells [Undated (ca. 1877?]." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. (creator). Penciled Sketch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0591. WRDT08, Folder 45. No date (first half of 1880s and ca. 1877 ?).)
① ② ③

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #71p Sport even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Sport (HMCo-made index card)
• Sport (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: Sport
Type: Steam
Length: 45'
Owner: Flint, C. R.

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

• Sport
• 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: Sport
Type: 45' steam
Owner: C. R. Flint
Year: 1880
Row No.: 648

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.: 071
Name: Sport
OA: 45'

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.

"Tender for sloop Earle & Flint's famous sloop Gracie." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 2, 2008.)

"Date this vessel was finished was estimated as October 4, 1880, the date this boat was measured by the U.S. Custom House inspector as per the U.S. Custom House Record Book in the collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 9, 2020.)

"In the absence of better available data displacement was estimated by using the figure for Old Measurement Tons (10.52) from the 1881 Olsen's American Yacht List and converting to lbs by dividing through 2000 (short tons). Note that this figure can only be a rough estimate because register tons as reported in Yacht Registers correlate only loosely with actual displacement figures." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 17, 2015.)

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