HMCo #132p [Launch for U.S.S. Atlanta]

"NEWPORT, R. I., Nov. 29 [1887]. --- In naval circles here there is much comment over charges made against the Herreshoff steam launches by Commander W. B. Hoff, in command of the United States sloop of war Ossipee. In a discussion at the War College on the merits and demerits of the methods employed Commander Hoff took occasion to criticise the Herreshoff steam launches, saying that they were incapable of towing and not as serviceable for this purpose as the old type of navy launch; that they were race horses only, while the old type were draught horses. At the time the Commander's remarks were published broadcast over the country, even going unchallenged by the Herreshoffs, in the face of the probable effect they would have on their business. They provoked much comment inasmuch as the Bureau of Steam Navigation was then wrestling with the steam launch problem, as these boats had to a great degree superseded and promised soon to completely supercede the old rowing working boats. Time passed and the condemnation of the Herreshoff launch was regarded as complete by all, perhaps save Capt. Bunce, of the steel cruiser Atlanta, and who is the senior officer of the North Atlantic squadron.
A few days ago, however, the Captain ordered Commander Hoff to send down to the Atlanta the Ossipee's launch, which is of the old navy type. The Atlanta's launch, a special make, being lighter built all around, and with engines capable of developing about twice the pressure of the Ossipee's, was brought out. The two launches, being connected by a heavy hawser, stern to stern, and parting company, steamed away from each other, slowly at first and then at full speed. As soon as the hawser tightened and the boats began to work against each other it was evident, that the Atlanta's launch was to get the better of the Ossipee's, and her crew, perceiving their advantage, turned toward Rose Island at full steam, and the Ossipee's launch, being completely at the mercy of the Atlanta's, was drawn through the water as if she had no engine at all. In fact, the pressure against the screw of the Ossipee's launch as the boat was drawn backward through the water caused it to turn against its own direction, completely stopping the engines. Commander Hoff, who had been following in a steam launch, was unable to keep up with the Atlanta's launch, even handicapped as the latter was. The crew of the big ship participated in the scene by loud cheering from her deck. It was a decided victory for the Atlanta's launch, and Commander Hoff saw a race horse and draught horse combined in a Herreshoff steam launch." (Source: Anon. "Merits of Steam Launches. A Decided Victory For The Herreshoff Launch." New York Times, November 30, 1887, p. 3.)

"The U.S.S. Atlanta's steam launch was built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., the machinery consisting of a compound engine with cylinders 4 and 7 by 7 inches, and a square boiler size F, with five flats, and a grate surface of 7.73 square feet and 82.8 square feet of heating surface.
The boiler was very unsatisfactory, as it was constantly giving out and causing the steam launch to be laid up for repairs.
The leaks were nearly always in the joint between the ends of the tubes and the return bends. I think most of this trouble was due to the service the boat was used for, as it was very irregular, and with this type of boiler a sudden stoppage of the pumps when the fire is heavy means great danger of overheating the flats, and when the pumps are started again the water striking the hot tubes and bends causes sudden contraction. As the tubes are made of wrought and the bends of malleable iron, they do not contract equally.
This trouble was so great that everything that could be was done to prevent it. The machinery as fitted by the builders had only the pumps on the main engine, and an injector. The injector was so unreliable, on account of its construction and the water in the tanks being warm, that it was removed. As it was then necessary to run the main engines to feed the boiler, an auxiliary pump, No. 000, Knowles, was fitted, but owing to the many leaks in the boiler it was necessary to run the pumps so constantly that it soon gave out, and was replaced by a pump two sizes larger. To try and protect the bends from the heat and keep their joints tight, the shelf supporting the bottom flat was made wider by an additional row of bricks on each side, and the bends were imbedded in fire clay; but this only afforded temporary relief, and the upper flats continued to give trouble. The repairs continued to be so constantly needed that to enable them to be made quickly the deck was cut and a hatch fitted so that the flats could be removed without disturbing the machinery, and the pipe connections and spare flats were kept on board ship that could be quickly used to replace the leaky ones. I do not think it possible to use a Herreshoff boiler successfully for any purpose where the engines are worked irregularly without any notice of when they are to be stopped or started, or how long they will be used or remain stopped.
The supply of feed water is so nearly equal to the steam used, that with spread fires it is absolutely necessary to keep some feed water always entering the boiler, and the trouble of starting a pump or injector the instant the main pumps are stopped, often causes the man in charge to neglect to do so, in hopes that the stop is only temporary, until the flats are hot and the mischief done. I have not said anything about the faults due to poor design, which made it very difficult to keep grate bars from burning out and to keep a bottom in the ash pan, as these were overcome by practically building a new boiler casing and were not due to the type of boiler." (Source: Norton, Harold P. Assistant Engineer, U. S. Navy. [Comment.] Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers. May, 1890, p. 210-211.)

"[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).)
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪ ⑫ ⑬ ⑭ ⑮ ⑯ ⑰ ⑱ ⑲ ⑳ ㉑ ㉒ ㉓ ㉔ ㉕ ㉖ ㉗ ㉘ ㉙ ㉚ ㉛ ㉜ ㉝ ㉞ ㉟ ㊱ ㊲ ㊳ ㊴ ㊵ ㊶ ㊷ ㊸ ㊹ ㊺ ㊻ ㊼ ㊽ ㊾ ㊿
①

"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).)
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪ ⑫ ⑬ ⑭ ⑮ ⑯ ⑰ ⑱ ⑲ ⑳ ㉑ ㉒ ㉓

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #132p [Launch for U.S.S. Atlanta] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Launch for USS Atlanta (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: Atlanta
Type: Steam
Length: 33'
Owner: U.S. Navy

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

• Launch for USS Atlanta
• 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: Atlanta
Type: 33' steam
Owner: U.S. Navy
Row No.: 57

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: 1886
E/P/S: P
No.: 132
OA: 33'

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. #132 - 33Ft. 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.)

"Steam launch for the 288ft LOA protected cruiser, U.S.S. Atlanta, built at Chester, Pennsylvania by John Roach & Sons and launched in October 1884." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 3, 2009.)

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