HMCo #119p Surprise [Launch for St. Y. Atalanta]

"Length 35ft. 7ft 6in Beam. 3ft 9in Depth. 2ft 7in Draft. 4 1/4in & 7in x 7in Eng[ine]s. F sq[uare] [boiler]. Engines aft of Boiler. 11 1/2in center to center of frames. Square stern." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Handwritten Note in Casting Record Books Vessel Castings Book 4, s.v. Steamer 119. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.120. No date (1878 to 1887).)

"#119.
[When lofting from the measured offsets use ...]
14" rule athwarships & depth.
11 2/3" fore & aft.
Deduct 1" for timbers.
5/8" for planking." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.013.] Undated, ca. 1884. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, R. I., are building, for members of prominent yacht clubs, two high-speed steam yachts, one [#118p Stiletto or #122p Lucile] 90 and the other [#120p Polly] 69 ft. long. Also, two steam launches [#119p Surprise and #121p Duck], 35 and 20 ft. respectively." (Source: Anon. "Yachting." Spirit of the Times, December 13, 1884, p. ?)

"A fine first class steam launch, about thirty feet in length, recently built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., for Jay Gould, developed a most wonderful speed on her trial trip a few days since, making 14.4 miles an hour. She was conveyed to New York, Wednesday, by steamer A. O. Barstow." (Source: Anon. "Local Affairs." Bristol Phoenix, December 13, 1884, p. 2.)

"A very fast steam launch has lately been completed by the Herreshoffs, for Mr. Jay Gould's steam yacht Atalanta. Her length is 36ft., beam 7 1/2ft., and she has shown very high speed on her trial trip." (Source: Anon. "Steam Launch For The Atalanta." Forest And Stream, December 25, 1884, p. 437.)

"The steam launches built by Herreshoff have been finished and delivered to their owners, Jay Gould [#119p Launch for St. Y. Atalanta] and Wm. F. Weld [#121p Launch for S.Y. Gitana], of Boston. The latter will carry his on the davits of the schooner Gitana." (Source: Anon. "Yachting." Outing, February 1885, p. 398.)

"THE HERRESHOFF WORKS AT BRISTOL. ... Their work this winter has been entirely in the line of steam yachts and engines, the first boat and the largest being No. 118 [to be called Stiletto]. ... The next by number, 119, is a little fellow, 35ft by 7ft. 6in., built of mahogany, with engines of 50 H. P., which have driven her 14 1/2 miles per hour, the greatest speed ever attained by so small a boat. She was built as a tender to the steam yacht Atalanta, and is the boat that has been noticed as costing from $10,000 to $30,000. Her construction and finish, being built entirely of mahogany, has made her cost more than most boats of her size, but the fabulous prices given are entirely incorrect. ..." (Source: Anon. (W. P. Stephens). "The Herreshoff Works at Bristol." Forest and Stream, April 16, 1885, p. 236, 237.)

"... The launch Surprise, 34ft. long, with coil boiler, was entered by Jay Gould for Friday's [July 17, 1885] race for the Manning prize. ... The second day of the cruise opened with a dense fog, which only cleared away at noon. Only one boat was entered in the launch race to Shelter Island for the Manning prizes, the Surprise, a Herreshoff launch 34ft. long, belonging to the Atalanta. She ran across, followed by the fleet, making the twenty six miles in two hours. ..." (Source: Anon. "American Y. C., July 16, 17, 18." Forest And Stream, July 23, 1885, p. 518-519.)

"... The Committee lost no time in arranging the race for the Manning Cups by steam launches. The original programme had been a steam launch race from New London to Shelter Island, but that had to be abandoned, no launch appearing to start against the Henrietta [#133p], nor was the prospect out on the Sound inviting for launch racing. Mr. Gould however, said be would put the Atalanta's steam launch Surprise [#119p] in against the Henrietta for a short race in Greenport Harbor, just to make a race and a record for the Herresboff boat, and it was so arranged.
A course was laid out from a red buoy just opposite the Prospect Home to a black buoy off the Bug Lighthouse, a distance, as accurately measured by Capt. Shackford, of the Ataianta, of 2 3/4 miles and return. At the word the Surprise dashed across the line in the lead with the Henrietta 12 seconds behind her. The Surprise is also a Herreshoff launch, about 34 ft. on the water-line, and, before the advent of the Henrietta, considered a marvel of speed. She seemed as if anchored as the Henrietta flew past, her stern burying deeply, and leaving behind a wide track of foam. At the turn the Surprise had not made half the distance. The instructions had been to turn the buoy from port to starboard, leaving the mark on the starboard hand. It was inconvenient to do this, because at the rate the launch was running she might have run ashore before she got around. It was safer to turn from inshore out, and she did so, and rushed back, followed some 11 minutes afterward by the Surprise, the skipper of which had the starboard hand so firmly fixed in his mind that he came up on the port side of the committee boat, leaving her on the starboard side and losing the race thereby. He protested against the other boat for turning wrong, and the protest was upheld, but then he had finished wrong, and so both were disqualified. ..." (Source: Anon. "Another Herreshoff Wonder." Spirit of the Times, July 24, 1886, p. 825.)

"[Item Description:] Casting Book # 4, steamers #40p, #54p, #57p, #63p, #67p, #70p, #79p, #89p, #92p, #99p, #100p, #101p, #102p, #103p, #104p, #105p, #106p, #107p, #108p, #109p, #110p, #111p, #112p, #113p, #114p, #115p, #116p, #117p, #118p, #119p, #120p, #121p, #122p, #123p, #124p, #125p, #126p, #127p, #128p, #129p, #130p, #131p, #132p, #133p, #134p, #135p, #136p, #137p, #138p, #139p, #140p, #141p, #142p, #143p, #144p, #145p, #146p, #147p [castings by hull number; front page shows summary size and engine and boiler data for steamers 99 thru 146 as well as repair data for steamers #40p, #54p, #57p, #63p, #67p, #70p, #79p, #89p, #92p, #118p, and #128p]. Undated, vessels mentioned were built between 1878 and 1887. Dates mentioned for repairs range from 1885 to 1887. Note considerable informational overlap with Casting Book # 1, which as in this book also contains data for #99p through #116p, although it appears (!) that Book # 4 lists more patterns per boat than Book # 1. Likewise, considerable overlap with Casting Books # 2 and # 3 which also contain data for boats that are also listed in book # 4. It may well be that information in Book # 4 was copied from books # 1, # 2 and 3." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.120-07. Castings Book 4. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Casting Record Books Vessel Castings Book 4. No date (1878 to 1887).)
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"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Work order notebook [Titled Nathl G. Herreshoff, Esq., Bristol R.I.; 1882-1887, mostly signed by N.G.H., later ones by C.H.K.; material and item orders relating to #400s CONSUELO, #401s ROMP and steamers #89p, #99p, #100p, #101p, #102p, #104p, #105p, #106p, #110p, #111p, #113p, #118p, #119p, #120p, #122p, #123p, #140p, #146p; many orders from the marine store of A. B. Babbitt at Tiverton]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Work Order Notebook. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.120-04. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Casting Record Books Sketch and Order Book 1882-1887 NGH CHK. 1882 to 1887.)
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"[Item Description:] Casting Book # 2, steamers #70p; #79p, #117p, #118p, #119p, #120p, #121p, #122p, #123p, #124p, #125p, #126p, #127p, #128p, #129p, #130p, #131p, #132p, #133p, #134p, #135p, #139p, [castings by hull number]. On last page handwritten note 'Commenced Work on Triple Cond[?] Eng. new one Nov 11/85. H com[?] on Nov 13/85 10 A.M. C.H.K.'. Undated, most vessels mentioned were built between 1885 and 1886. Note considerable informational overlap with Casting Book # 4, which also contains data for all of the boats mentioned in this book, although it may be (!) that Book # 4 lists more patterns per boat than Book # 2." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.120-05. Castings Book 2. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Casting Record Books Vessel Castings Book 2. No date (1885 to 1886).)
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"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (in ink and pencil) experiments and trials booklet titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Experiments 1884 to 1889. N.G. Herreshoff'. Relevant contents:
§6: #119p SURPRISE [LAUNCH FOR ST. Y. ATALANTA] Trial Run (1884-12-06)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Trials Booklet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE07_03520. Folder [no #]. 1884-05 to 1890-05.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #119p Surprise [Launch for St. Y. Atalanta] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Launch for St Y Atalanta (HMCo-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: Launch for Atlanta
Type: Steam
Length: 35'
Owner: Gould, Jay

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

• Launch for Atalanta
• Launch for Atalanta
• 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: N/A
Type: 35' steam launch for same ["Atlanta"]
Owner: Jay Gould
Row No.: 817

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: 1884
E/P/S: P
No.: 119
OA: 35'

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.

"... Str. #119 - 35Ft. long. 4 1/4+7x7 Eng[ine]. F Sq[uare] [Boiler]. ... " (Source: Anon. [Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. (N. G. Herreshoff?)] No Title. [Handwritten Notes on Outer Cover of Notebook.] No date [ca. late 1880s.] Notebook in the Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, The Francis Russel Hart Nautical Collections, M.I.T. Museum, Cambridge, Mass., obj. no. HH.6.120.)

"Weight with all on board but coal and water 5799lbs. ... Weights - boat and equipment 5799. Coal 150, water 200 [=] 350. Total 6469lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Note in handwritten experiments and trials booklet titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Experiments 1884 to 1889' dated December 6, 1884. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

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