HMCo #154p Dawn [I]

"[1888-09-13] Thu 13: Order for St[eame]r no. [blank] [probably apparently #154p Dawn] 48 ft long for Detroit.
[1889-01-01] Tue 1: ... Began setting st[eame]r #154 [Dawn I].
[1889-03-19] Tue 19: Launched st[eame]r #154 [Dawn]. ...
[1889-03-23] Sat 23: Trial of Dawn (#154). ...
[1889-03-25] Mon 25: Trial of Dawn [#154p] in a.m. & shipped to N.Y. by 'Bartow' in the evening." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1888 - 1889. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"March 19th, 1889. Dawn. Str #154. 48ft (Henrietta [#133p] class.) (Same as #133 except has no tank under forward platform and waterlevel boiler instead of topfeed. Weight just before launching with every thing on board except cushions. No coal & little water in tank. 9025lbs. ... March 23rd. ... Disp[lacement] Hull & equip. 9025. Coal & water 1000. 4 men 650. [Total] 10675[lbs]. ... March 25. Trial for acceptance. ... Mean [speed] 19.15miles." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Note in handwritten experiments and trials booklet titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Experiments 1884 to 1889' dated March 19, 23, and 25, 1889. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"Dawn, [steam launch].
Built at Bristol, RI, by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., 1889.
3.37 net tons; 46.6 ft. x 7.6 ft. x 3.8 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
[No specifications shown.]
Surveyed and measured, March 8, 1889." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. Dawn.)

"Two fast Detroit steam yachts are out for gore this season, and the casual patron of the river need not be astonished at any time to see them sliding for dear life up and down the placid waters of our famous straits in the effort to win from the other the mythical broom. One of these is the saucy Dawn, which, for two or three years has been showing her heels to everything of her inches that happened around in 'this 'ere deestrict.' She was built by the famous Herreshoffs, of Bristol, R. I., who have also recently built the Navahoe [#429s] which is fondly looked upon as the boat that is going to teach the Britishers they have not learned the rudiments of yacht building, when the tug for the America cup comes off. The Dawn has the latest engine, boiler and hull, and seems to have no trouble whatever in reeling off eighteen miles an hour when in her normal condition. It was tantalizing to see the ease with which she warped it to the rest of 'em, and so two young Detroit men who live in the west end had built for them last winter a yacht twenty-feet or so longer than the Dawn, put in her a good engine and boiler, and confidently informed their friends they were going to beat the Herreshoff craft, or know the reason why. Their friends advised them not to say too much about their intentions, or the public at large might think they were talking through their chapeaus. In other words, they said plainly it was presumption on their part to even think of coming out ahead of a boat which bore the magic touch of the Herreschoff, etc., etc.
On Memorial Day the I. C. U., for such is the name of the new boat, put out in the river with all colors flying. She had not gone far when she encountered the Dawn lying in wait with her war paint on and ready to do battle. Well, the skirmish came off, and the gossips do say that the I. C. U. astonished even her owners by running away from the hitherto invincible Dawn. Now, these same gossips aver, the owner of the Dawn is putting her through a course of sprouts, such as overhauling her engine, greasing her bottom, etc., with the intention of once more tackling the boat of insignificant ancestry which dared to defeat her. The outcome will be watched with interest." (Source: Anon. "Can This Be True? The I. C. U. Said to Have Vanquished the Dawn." Detroit Free Press, June 12, 1893, p. 3.)

"List of Yachts Enrolled in the Inland American Yacht Club.
Dawn, J. Stoughton Newberry, Detroit [Port], 6.73 [Tonnage Gross], 3.37 [Tonnage Net], 48 0 [Length over all ft. in.], 47 0 [L.W.L. ft. in.], 7 6 [Extreme Beam ft. in.], 3 8 [Depth of hold ft. in.], 2 0 [Draft ft. in.], Tr. Ex. 3 Cy. 4-6 & 10]" (Source: Mott, Henry Augustus. Yachts and Yachtsmen of America. New York, 1894, p. 646.)

"... The Dawn, owned by John S. Newberry, is considered the fastest yacht in Detroit..." (Source: Anon. "Detroit Steam Yachts." Detroit Free Press, September 29, 1895, p. 24.)

"THE Dawn, high speed steam Launch, 58 feet over all [sic, i.e. 48-foot]; mahogany hull and cabins; condition excellent; price $6,500. Address FLYER, box 197, Herald." (Source: Anon. [Classified Ad.] New York Herald, March 22, 1903, p. 10.)

"No. 827 --- For Sale --- Herreshoff fast 58-foot [sic, i.e. 48-foot] steam launch Dawn, Mahogany planking, brass stack and hood on boiler, high-grade construction. Boat and machinery in good order; cruising accommodations fully equipped with every requirement by U. S. inspectors. Speed at about 20-mile rate, newly furnished and overhauled; is economical and may be run by two men. You cannot find a more beautiful boat. Can be bought for less than half of what you would pay to build her to-day. Seen at Gas Engine & Power and Seabury's, Morris Heights, New York, by inquiry of Mr. Haines, owner's engineer." (Source: Rudder, March 1903, p. 154.)

"No. 28066 --- For Sale --- Bargain. 58-ft. [sic, i.e. 48-foot] Herreshoff steam launch; mahogany hull and finish. Cabin fore and aft of machinery space; toilet room. Triple-expansion engine. Water-tube boiler. Boat and machinery in excellent condition. Speed 15 miles per hour. Gas Engine & Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury & Co., Cons., Morris Heights, New York City. [Though not explicitly identified, the accompanying photo clearly shows Dawn #154." (Source: Rudder, March 1909, p. 247.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Blueprint steam engine detail titled 'Water Tube Boiler 42 in. Square. Scale 1/4 Size. Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Bristol, R.I. Sep[tember] 24, 1888'. [This plan not in Hart Nautical Collections. It may have been prepared for #154p DAWN I]." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Blueprint. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0081. WRDT08, Folder 8, formerly MRDE11. 1888-09-24.)
① ②

"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (in ink and pencil) experiments and trials booklet titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Experiments 1884 to 1889. N.G. Herreshoff'. Relevant contents:
§37: #154p DAWN [I] Trial Run Mean speed 19.15miles (1889-03-19&23&25)." (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.)
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

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #154p Dawn [I] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Dawn (HMCo-made index card)
• Dawn (MIT Museum-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: Dawn
Type: Steam
Length: 48'
Owner: Newbury, T. H.

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

• Dawn
• Dawn or Dawn
• 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: Dawn
Type: 48' steamer
Owner: T. H. Newberry
Year: 1888
Row No.: 150

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: 1889
E/P/S: P
No.: 154
Name: Dawn
OA: 48'

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.

"Built in 187 days (contract to launch; equivalent to 57 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

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