HMCo #121p Duck [Launch for Schr. Y. Gitana]

"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. ?)

"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. ... No. 121 is a small steam launch for Mr. Weld's schooner Gitana, 20ft. long, 4ft. 6in. beam, and weighing 1,200 pounds only. The speed is 7 1/2 miles. It is now in use on the Gitana. ..." (Source: Anon. (W. P. Stephens). "The Herreshoff Works at Bristol." Forest and Stream, April 16, 1885, p. 236, 237.)

"... For a three-year old the Gitana has done great service, having been in commission since she was launched, in 1882, and having cruised to Bermuda and through the Western Islands; up and down our coast from Florida to Maine; across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, when she gave a good account of herself in the Nice regatta, as she had done in various races on our coast, besides. She is a keel-schooner, ninety-six tons in burden.
On Sunday, January 11, 1885, we left the Hotel Hygeia [at Hampton Roads], and took up our quarters on board the Gitana, passing the afternoon stowing away our clothes and getting settled in our state-rooms, and at 1.40 P.M., the next day, we got under way with a pleasant southwest breeze. ... The rows of shining black faces which peered over the rails of these 'spongers,' as our little Herreschoff [sic, i.e. Herreshof] steam-launch, the Duck, shot along the blue water of Nassau harbor, were very amusing. Indeed, we were looked upon by the colored population with awe, and it was whispered among them that the stanchions of the yacht were made of pure gold.
One morning steam was got up in the launch, and, under the guidance of 'Yorick,' our ebony familiar, we ran up to the famous Sea Garden. We steamed along a back passage to the southward, by the fair gardens, bristling with bananas, palms, and cocoa-nut trees, and by the old round fort, which is reputed to have been a pirate stronghold in the good old days of the Buccaneers. ..." (Source: Anon. "A Winter Cruise." Outing, November 1885, p. 163-164.)

"[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:] 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:
§8: #121p DUCK [LAUNCH FOR SCHR. Y. GITANA] Trial Run (1884-12-22)." (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 #121p Duck [Launch for Schr. Y. Gitana] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Launch for Sch Y Gitana (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.

Year: 1885
E/P/S: P
No.: 121
OA: 20'

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. #121 - 20Ft. long. 2 1/2x5 Eng[ine]. A 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.)

"Steam launch for William Weld's schooner yacht Gitana, 114ft LOA, 99ft LWL, modelled and built in Chelsea, Mass. by D. J. Lawlor in 1882 and lengthened by Smith of City Point in 1886." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 3, 2009.)

"Weight with all equipment on board but no coal or water 1200lbs. ... 3 on board = 520 + 100[lbs] coal & water = 620lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Note in handwritten experiments and trials booklet titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Experiments 1884 to 1889' dated December 22, 1884. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"Displacement from Anon (W. P. Stephens) in Forest and Stream, April 16, 1885, p. 236, 237." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 3, 2015.)

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