HMCo #128p [Launch for U.S.S. Chicago]

"June 6th 1885.
Steamer no. 128.
Long launch, without deadwood.
Length of model 30".
1/2 Breadth of model, 3 1/4" full.
No. of frame spaces 39.
In making frames deduct for timbers 1 3/8".
In making frames deduct for planking 7/8".
In making frames deduct total 2 1/4"." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.016.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"39ft Steam Launch. Sq[uare] stern. Dead wood cut away. ... W[ei]g[h]t Bow 4620lbs. Stern 5555[lbs]. [Total] 10175[lbs]. Wgts on boatd. Coal 150. Water 250. [Sum] 400[lbs]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Note in handwritten experiments and trials booklet titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Experiments 1884 to 1889' dated October 25, 1885. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"[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 Description:] Penciled side-by-side half-sections and displacement curves. Titled 'LUCILE #122 [#122p]' with note 'Draft to base line 3f. Area water line 520.15sqft. Area [symbol] 20.16sqft. Displacement 949.05cuft [=60739lbs]. Surface of keel 198 1/2. Surface of rudder 16. Surface of hull 679.32'. Curves are labeled 'Wetted surface exclusive of keel 679.32sqft', 'Waterline 520.15sqft' and 'Disp[lacement] curve [?] 949.05cuft = 31tons'. Upside down is another set of superimposed half-sections and curves titled '39ft Launch. St[eame]r 128 [#128p Launch for U.S.S. Chicago]'. On verso is a third set of crossed-out superimposed half-sections and curves for an unidentified design titled '80ft w.l. Prem. [Preliminary?] model 3/8 scale. Before alteration'. The curve is marked '757.4cuft [=48474lbs] = 24.6 tons'. Undated (LUCILE was designed and built in the spring of 1885, the launch for Chicago in the fall of 1885)." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. (creator). Side-by-side Half-Sections and Displacement Curves. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0584. WRDT08, Folder 45. No date (1885-03 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] Casting Book # 3, steamers #136p, #63p (Repair), #89p, #118p (Repair), #137p, #94p (Extra), #138p, steamer LOOKOUT ex-HALCYON, #128p (spare parts), #139p [castings by hull number]. Undated, dates mentioned are from 1886. Note considerable informational overlap with Casting Book # 4, which also contains data for most of the boats mentioned in this book." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.120-08. Castings Book 3. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Casting Record Books Vessel Castings Book 3. No date (ca1886).)
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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:
§15: #128p [LAUNCH FOR U.S.S. CHICAGO] Trial Runs 'Stopped dead from full ahead in 40ft mean of several trials.' (1885-10-25 & 1886-02-23)
§16: #128p [LAUNCH FOR U.S.S. CHICAGO] Trial Run 'Mean speed 14.67m = 12.78kn.' (1886-02-23)." (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 #128p [Launch for U.S.S. Chicago] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Launch for USS Chicago (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: Ladoga
Type: Steam
Length: 39'5 1/2"
Owner: U.S.S. Chicago

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

• Launch for USS Chicago
• 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: Ladoga
Type: 39' 5" steam launch for ship "Chicago"
Owner: U.S. Navy
Row No.: 364

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: 1885
E/P/S: P
No.: 128
OA: 39"5 1/2"

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. #128 - 39Ft. long. 4-6 1/2+10x8 Eng[ine]. G 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.)

"... Str. #128 - [Repair Job.] Only Parts. ..." (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.)

"This launch is referred to as Ladoga in the 1931 'Herreshoff Yachts' booklet by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company and the 1953 'Partial List of Herreshoff-Built Boats' in L. Francis Herreshoff 'Wizard of Bristo'. Nowhere else could this Ladoga name be found for this vessel." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 30, 2009.)

"Both the Construction Record and the HMCo-made Vessel Index Card note that this boat was sold to U.S.S. Chicago in 1886. This suggests that it had been built the year before on speculation by HMCo which might also explain the long building time from late June 1885 when first drawings for this launch were made to october 1885 when it was finished and tested. Note also, that this launch was built from a new model and thus somewhat a prototype for subsequent boats built from this model." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 8, 2020.)

"This vessel's contract date was estimated from the date June 6th, 1885 in its respective section in offset booklet HH.4.016." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. April 23, 2021.)

"Displacement 10900lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Note in handwritten experiments and trials booklet titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Experiments 1884 to 1889' dated February 23, 1886. 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.