HMCo #138p [Launch for J. E. Ward]

"[1889-11-15] Fri 15: ... Laid keel & began setting up frames on st[eame]r no 164 [sic. #164p would be Javelin which was ordered and built only in 1890. This is probably a reference to #162p Judy]. Load of coal arrived." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1889. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"Bristol, Mass., March 19 [1887]. ...
Just behind the mate of the Henrietta [probably #139p Lotus Seeker] there is a yacht's steam launch [probably #138p [Launch for J. E. Ward], 27 feet long, with 6 feet 4 inches beam, of the same pattern as those carried by Jay Gould's Atalanta and Commodore Gerry's Electra. She is built of mahogany, and most of the finish is mahogany. ..." (Source: Anon. "Gorgeous Steam Yachts. Fleet As Swallows And Fine As Silk." New York Times, March 20, 1887, p. 9.)

"... In the bending house, besides the sister to Henrietta, is a steam whale boat [possibly #131p Whale boat for USCS Patterson] 28ft. x 6ft., with engines 6 and 3 1/2 x 6in., such as was carried by the Greeley expedition. There is also a duplicate [possibly #138p Launch for J. E. Ward] of Electra's launch [#130p], a new boat in stock, of mahogany, 27x6ft. 4in., weighing complete 3,800lbs. The wood in these launches is so carefully selected that a uniform grain and color is preserved over the entire boat. In one the mahogany is all straight-grained, while in another it is figured, but matching in all parts in color and grain. A valuable feature of all the Herreshoff launches is the hood or buggy top of oiled drill, stretched over bent wood frames hinged so as to be swung into any position. The cover can be raised sufficiently on either side to break the wind while leaving the boat open; it can be raised to cover half or more of the cockpit for protection from rain while running, or it can be swung entirely over the cockpit, making a complete roof by night. ..." (Source: Anon. "Steam Yacht Building At Bristol." Forest and Stream, June 2, 1887, p. 424.)

"[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 # 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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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #138p [Launch for J. E. Ward] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Launch for J E Ward (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.

Type: Steam
Length: 27'
Owner: Ward, J. E.

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

• Launch for J E Ward
• 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: 27' steam
Owner: J. E. Ward
Row No.: 812

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: 1887
E/P/S: P
No.: 138
OA: 27'

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. #138 - 27Ft. long. 3 1/2+6x6 Eng[ine]. D 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.)

"J. E. Ward, for whom this launch was built, was quite certainly James E. Ward (1836-1894), the founder in 1856 of James E. Ward & Co, a line of sailing packets for Havana and other places in the West Indies, which later became the Ney York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company, but continued to be known as the Ward Line. His daughter Florence married in 1882 Alphonse H. Alker who later became a good Herreshoff customer, owning among others, #581s Alert ex-Bogey, #446s Alerion II, #626s Alera, #208p Florence and #213p Florence II ex-Quickstep." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 4, 2018.)

"... weighing complete 3,800lbs. ..." (Source: Anon. "Steam Yacht Building At Bristol." Forest and Stream, June 2, 1887, p. 424.)

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