HMCo #168p Vamoose

"[1890-07-19] Sat 19: Mr. Hearst here from San Francisco [Hearst would soon order a 85' high-speed yacht (which would become #164p Javelin) and change this order into a larger steam yacht, #168p Vamoose].
[1890-07-26] Sat 26: Have order for 85' high-speed yacht from Mr. Hearst [This vessel is apparently #164p Javelin whose contract was recorded on this day in the HMCo construction record. On 1890-12-04 Hearst ordered a larger steamyacht, #168p Vamoose, prompting the HMCo on 1891-01-26 to sell Javelin to E. D. Morgan.]
[1890-12-04] Thu 4: Closed contract with Mr. Hearst for 110' steamer [#168p Vamoose]. We[?] take 85' one partly built [#164p Javelin].
[1891-01-10] Sat 10: Laid keel for Mr. Hearst's 112' yacht, #168 [Vamoose].
[1891-01-23] Fri 23: Began planking steamer #168 [Vamoose].
[1891-02-23] Mon 23: Steamer #168 [Vamoose] all planked.
[1891-05-15] Fri 15: Boiler for #168 [Vamoose] all tubed. ...
[1891-05-20] Wed 20: ... Put engine in steamer #168 [Vamoose].
[1891-05-26] Tue 26: Put boiler in steamer #168 [Vamoose].
[1891-06-23] Tue 23: Steamer #168 launched [Vamoose].
[1891-06-27] Sat 27: Fired up steamer #168 [Vamoose].
[1891-07-06] Mon 6: Tried Hearst steamer [#168p Vamoose]. ...
[1891-07-07] Tue 7: Tried Hearst steamer [#168p Vamoose].
[1891-07-26] Sun 26: Mr. Hearst here; off in steamer #168 [Vamoose].
[1891-08-25] Tue 25: Steamer #168 [Vamoose] delivered." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1890 to 1891. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"Steamer no. 168.
Dec[ember] 1890.
Length extremes 112 1/2ft.
Breadth 12' 5".
Depth crown of deck to rabbit 9'.
Frame spaces 18".
Frame # 1 to 23 of bent oak.
Frame # 24 to 48 of angle steel.
Frame # 49 to 74 of bent oak.
In making moulds deduct
for planking 5/8 + 7/8 = 1 1/2".
for frames 2 x[?] 2 3/8".
Total 3 7/8"." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.025.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Right beside the 'Javelin' in the north construction shop that winter the 'Vamoose' was built for William Randolph Hearst. There is no doubt that she was fast, and perhaps the fastest yacht in America in 1891, although there were a few launches that were said to be faster, particularly the 'Yankee Doodle' and 'Norwood' which were claimed to go almost ten miles faster but never ran in public competition. However, on September of 1891 the American Yacht Club, which particularly sponsored steam yachts, gave a much publicized race with a five hundred dollar prize --- the course a straightaway of ninety miles from Race Rock at the east end of the Sound to the club station. Perhaps the other flyers did not want to race ninety miles of the Sound; at any rate 'Vamoose' was the only yacht that showed up at the start so we can assume the owners of other steamers considered her too fast for them. The speed of 'Vamoose' was a little over twenty-seven miles per hour." (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. The Wizard of Bristol. The Life and Achievements of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, together with An Account of Some of the Yachts he Designed. New York, 1953, p. 160, 162.)

"The Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. has contracted with Mr. W. R. Hearst, son of Senator Hearst of California, for a high speed mahogany steam yacht to be sent to San Francisco, California. ... [This is apparently a reference to #164p Javelin whose contract had been recorded on July 26, 1890 in the HMCo construction record. On December 4, 1890 Hearst ordered a larger steamyacht, #168p Vamoose, prompting HMCo to sell the unfinished Javelin to E. D. Morgan on January 26, 1891.]" (Source: Anon. "Local Affairs." Bristol Phoenix, August 2, 1890, p. 2.)

"Mr. John B. Herreshoff, the builder of the famous engines bearing his name, returned from Europe Wednesday [October 8, 1890] on the Teutonic with his daughter. Mr. Herreshoff told a Times reporter that his visit to Europe had been purely on business, and that it involved the interests of the Thornycroft boiler, with which the torpedo boat Cushing is supplied.
He said that he had completed an arrangement with the Thornycroft people whereby he had secured absolute control of the manufacture of those boilers in this country. His works at Bristol, R. I., will be enlarged and improved, he said, to meet the demands of the new plant Mr. Herreshoff and his daughter left town on the evening boat for Newport." [Vamoose was the third Herreshoff vessel to be supplied with a Thornycroft boiler, after Cushing and Javelin. She was also the last Herreshoff vessel to receive a Thornycroft boiler.] (Source: Anon. "Mr. Herreshoff's Return." New York Times, October 10, 1890, p. 3.)

"The works of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. at Bristol, R. I., are busy with a number of yachts, both sail and steam, in addition to Government work. The largest yacht is a steamer [#168p Vamoose], 112ft. long for W. R. Hearst, to make 25 miles per hour, another steamer [#164p Javelin], 98ft. long, is for E. D. Morgan, her speed being 23 miles; while Mr. Morgan will also have a steam tender, the Katydid [#165p], 27ft. long and 6ft. 5in. beam." (Source: Anon. "Work At Bristol." Forest and Stream, March 12, 1891, p. 161.)

"... The Herreshoffs have had a very busy winter, and at present employ 105 men, and have $115,000 worth of contracts on hand, outside of projected government work. ... A steam yacht 112 feet long, is now building for Wm. R. Hearst, a son of the late Senator Hearst, of California. She is to have a required speed of 25 miles per hour. ... --- Boston Globe." (Source: Anon. "At Bristol, R.I." Rudder, March 1891, p. 32.)

"There is just being completed at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, R. I., what will be one of the most palatial yachts afloat. It is the property of W. R. Hearst of Sea Point, Sausalito, son of the late Senator Hearst of California. It is expected she will be ready to slide off the ways in about ten days. The launching will be an important event. A big crowd of people will witness the ceremony. When completed, if the yacht comes up to contract stipulations, Mr Hearst will take her to the Pacific coast, where without doubt, in point of speed and beauty she will stand without a peer. [Vamoose was expected to replace in San Francisco Hearst's #157p Aquila which was already advertised for sale.]" (Source: Anon. "Hearst's Yacht." Sausalito News, May 29, 1891, p. 3.)

"Mr. W. R. Hearst's new steam yacht was launched Tuesday [June 23, 1891] morning from the yard of the Herreshoff Mnfg. Co. This is one of the best yachts ever built by the Herreshoffs, which is saying a great deal. The yacht is 112 feet in length and is a perfect floating palace. Her guaranteed speed is 25 miles an hour." (Source: Anon. "Local Affairs." Bristol Phoenix, June 27, 1891, p. 2.)

"No. 168 [Vamoose], pleasure steamer, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, RI, by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.
63.26 gross tons, 31.63 net tons; 108.7 ft. x 12.6 ft. x 9 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Surveyed and measured, July 23, 1891." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. No. 168.)

"[License on enrollment issued out of the port of Bristol. Pos. 37:]
No. 168 [Vamoose], pleasure steamer, of New York.
Built at Bristol, 1891.
31.63 tons; 108.7 ft. x 12.6 ft. x 9 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] (temporary) [as] (yacht) July 30, 1891. Owner: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol. Master: [blank].
License surrendered Oct. 26, 1891 at New York. ([Record at:] C[ustom] H[ouse, Providence])." (Source: Survey of Federal Archives, Work Projects Administration. Ships Documents of Rhode Island. Bristol. Ship Registers and Enrollments of the Port of Bristol - Warren Rhode Island, 1941, s.v. No. 168.)

"W. R. Hearst's new steam yacht, No. 168, so called because Mr. Hearst has not yet found time to name her, made an unofficial trip from Bristol to Providence last week to change her propeller. Although the yacht was not out for speed, she made the run in remarkably quick time. Nat Herreshoff was aboard, and under his direction the craft did wonderful work. Her best was done under a pressure of 150 pounds of steam, although she is licensed to 260 pounds. Fifty minutes from the time of leaving Bristol, which is considered sixteen miles from Providence, the yacht touched her nose at the dock. The results were certainly surprising, showing that under reduced steam and with a four-and-a-half-foot three-bladed propeller she made about twenty and one-half, miles an hour. She made the return trip with a new four-bladed wheel and under 200 pounds of steam at twenty-four miles an hour. The change of screw will add much to her speeding qualities, in the estimation of Mr. Herreshoff, who on her official trial, will endeavor to outrun the United States torpedo boat Cushing. This boat is sure to have a remarkable career, as she is one of the most interesting boats ever built by Herreshoff. The fact that twenty-five miles an hour was guaranteed, is of itself sufficient to attract attention. She is supplied with an 800 horse power quadruple-expansion engine, and a tubulous boiler of the Thorneycroft. style. The steering is done by hand, as the yacht is intended for coasting and not for ocean cruises. The length of the yacht is 100 feet, her beam 12.4 feet, and the draught 5.4 feet. Her furnishings are most elaborate and costly. Mr. Hearst will bring the yacht to New-York very soon, and her first cruise will be a trip to California by way of the Straits of Magellan." (Source: Anon. "One Week's Yacht Races." New York Times, August 10, 1891, p. x.)

"The new Herreshoff yacht is not to remain in these waters, but is to be taken to the Pacific coast by her owner, young William R. Hearst, son of the late United States Senator George Hearst of California. Before she goes, however she is going to race the steamer Monmouth, the torpedo boat Cushing, and that other flying steam yacht, the Norwood, to verify, if possible, the many wonderful predictions made in regard to her speed.
When Mr. Hearst's boat reached Tebo's basin, at the foot of Twenty-third Street, South Brooklyn, last Saturday, she was known simply as '168,' the number placed on her in lieu of a name by her builders. Now, however, she is the Vamose, a name bestowed upon her by her owner as a tribute to her racing qualities.
The Vamose is said to be the fastest boat yet built by the Herreshoffs. She was guaranteed to make 25 nautical miles an hour, and she steamed four miles at the rate of 25 1/4 miles an hour on her trial trip off Newport, R. I. This disposed of the guarantee, and Mr. Hearst paid down $65,250 in cash and the yacht belonged to him. Her construction began on Dec. 20 last, and she was completed on Aug. 26 this year [1891]. She is 110 feet long, 12 feet 4 inches wide, and draws 5 feet of water.
Since her arrival at Tebo's the Vamose has been visited and admired by many persons. Strange to say, Mr. Hearst has seen her only three times, twice while she was in the Herreshoff yard, and again on last Tuesday at Tebo's, Yesterday morning Mr. Hearst left for California, but before going he told his chief engineer, Theodore Heilbron, to race the Vamose with any boat on earth, over a distance of from 50 to 100 miles. Arrangements have been already made for a race with the steamer Monmouth some time next week. The course will be down the bay and out past Sandy Hook. This is a course not especially suited to the Vamose, because, with her screw propeller making 400 revolutions per minute, nothing but very deep water will perfectly satisfy all of the conditions necessary to her making the best speed.
The screw put on the Vamose by the Herreshoffs has been discarded, and its place is supplied by a screw manufactured in California, according to a model made in Germany. It cost over $1,000, and it is said to have less vibration and less 'slip' than the old one.
When it was determined to take the Vamose to California, two routes were considered, one across the Isthmus of Panama, and the other by way of Cape Horn. It was found that the bridges over the railroad on the Isthmus were too low to permit the passage under them of the Vamose on flat cars, and the other route was then decided upon. It will be necessary to equip the Vamose with three masts and enough sail to steady her. With her crew of ten men she can make the journey from New-York to San Francisco in a month, going at half speed.
In California she will be used by Mr. Hearst as a pleasure craft along the coast, and it was with that idea in view that her hull was made of wood instead of steel. Steel would have been somewhat lighter, but the California coast is hot in Summer and a steel boat would be uncomfortably warm in such a climate. The frame of the Vamose is of steel.
Although definite instructions will not be received from Mr. Hearst for a week or so, it is expected that the yacht will depart on her long Journey the last of November.
The Vamose is built to cross the ocean if desired, and has splendid seagoing qualities. She rides the water like a duck. She is guaranteed to carry coal sufficient to take her 2,800 miles at half speed. A powerful electric search light has been put on the yacht, and this will be of service to her in going around the coast and through the Straits of Magellan.
Next Sunday the yacht will take a cruise to Great Neck, L. I., and up the Sound, having on board General Superintendent H. B. Parsons, of the Wells-Fargo Express Company, his family, and a small party of friends. On Monday the yacht will be put in the dry dock, her fires will be drawn, and she will be subjected to a thorough overhauling.
Chief Engineer Heilbron said last night he was confident that the Vamose was the fastest steam yacht in the world. There are those who express doubts on this subject, however, and base their doubts on the failure of the Vamose to make over twenty-five and a quarter miles per hour on her trial trip in the face of a contract that stipulated that the Herreshoffs were to receive $2,000 for every half mile of speed per hour developed over the guaranteed figure of twenty-five miles, per hour.
'I think the Vamose can make twenty-seven miles an hour when she gets in trim,' said Chief Engineer Heilbron to a TIMES reporter, 'indeed, I feel sure of it. [Note: There is no evidence of Vamoose having ever made the voyage to California.]" (Source: Anon. "Mr. Hearst's New Yacht. She Will Race A Little And Then Go To San Francisco." New York Times, September 4, 1891, p. 2.)

"[Detailed account of the Vamoose racing famous passenger steamers and a train on the Hudson.]" (Source: Anon. "What The Vamoose Can Do. Mr. Hearst's Steam Yacht Let Out On The Hudson. She Gives The Mary Powell A Cold Shoulder Twice, Runs Away From The New-York, And Holds Her Own With A Passenger Train." New York Times, September 12, 1891, p. 1.)

"Newport, R. I., Sept. 23, 1891. --- Yacht experts over in the town of Bristol say that if the new Herreshoff steam yacht Vamoose is beaten in the impending race under the auspices of the American Yacht Club it will be the fault of W. E. Hearst, her owner. ... It must be acknowledged that very little sympathy will be felt for the owner of the Vamoose in case he comes in astern of the Norwood. The reason for this is not generally known outside of Bristol, and only a few persons know of it in Newport.
The HERALD may make public for the first time the fact that the Vamoose is three miles an hour slower than she should have been. This is not the fault of the Herreshoffs, as one might naturally suppose. It is due entirely to the fact that W. R. Hears, the Californian for whom the yacht was built, would not keep his hands off and give the Herreshoffs a fair chance to show what they could do. ...
The fact has already been commented upon in the HERALD that the Vamoose drags at the stern when going at a high rate of speed. ...
The reason why the Vamoose is three miles an hour slower than she ought to be is because she drags at the stern, and the reason why she drags at the stern is because her machinery is placed too far aft. ...
Mr. Hearst wanted a cabin for himself in the forward part of the boat, and he wanted it so badly that he would not have the boat without it. Captain Nat Herreshoff showed in the plans that the machinery was to go pretty far forward; so far, in fact, that Mr. Hearst's cabin would be a very small affair indeed. Mr. Hearst insisted that the machinery should go further aft. ...
As the Herreshoffs felt sure that they could build a boat up to the standard of the contract, which stipulated for a speed of twenty-five miles an hour, they naturally decided to give Mr. Hearst his cabin under the forward deck and so retain the order. So the Vamoose was built, and when she made her contract time the Herreshoffs were satisfied. The truth of the matter is that the Vamoose does not represent the greatest skill of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Mr. Hearst's restrictions killed that. As a piece of work the Vamoose does not at all compare with the torpedo boat Cushing and the feeling in Bristol is that the Cushing is able to steam all around the Vamoose as the Vamoose capered about the Mary Powell and the Monmouth.
If Mr. Hearst had told the Herreshoffs to build for him the fastest vessel in the world, and had then let them entirely alone while they did it, he would not now be searching for a new propeller with which to make his boat go faster. ..." (Source: Anon: "Vamoose's Engine Too Far Aft. Mr. Hearst Knocked Three Knots an Hour Off Her For The Sake of a Cabin." New York Herald, September 24, 1891, p. 10.)

"William R. Hearst's steam yacht Vamoose, which has probably had more local advertising within the last few weeks than any craft that floats, gave its promised exhibition of speed yesterday afternoon off the American Yacht Club's headquarters at Milton Point, on the Sound. In view of the aforementioned advertising, it seems almost superfluous to say that the Vamoose is the new sixty-five-thousand-dollar yacht which the Herreshoffs built for Mr. Hearst, under a guarantee that she should make twenty-five miles an hour. She is said to have complied with the guarantee in every particular, and Mr. Hearst believes that she is the fastest steam yacht afloat. This explains why he was so anxious to race the Vamoose against that other fast boat, Mr. Norman Munro's Norwood, and it also explains his motive in giving a public speed trial when he found that the Norwood could not compete.
The trim Herreshoff craft was not able to beat the world's record over the measured mile yesterday, but she made two mile runs at a speed equivalent to twenty-four miles an hour and one half-mile run at a fraction over twenty-six miles an hour, so that her performance, on the whole, was highly creditable. Accidents, which are inevitable accompaniments of speed trials, were few in number yesterday, the only one of any importance beig the breaking down of the yacht's new steam-steering gear, which ocourred, unfortunately, just at the wrong time, and prevented what promised to be a smashing of the record. [A detailed description of the record runs follows.]" (Source: Anon. "Speed Run Of Vamoose. Twenty-Four Miles An Hour Sustained With Ease. She Was Going A Good Twenty-Six-Mile Gait When An Accident Made Further Trials Impossible. Her Future Movements." New York Times, October 11, 1891, p. 1.)

"The damaged Norwood will not be ready for a race for three weeks, but in the meantime Mr. Hearst has left for California, while his yacht Vamoose will be shipped by steamer for San Francisco in a short time, so that there is no probability of a race. Her engines and wheel will be removed and the hull cradled on the deck of a vessel. On Saturday Vamoose was at the station of the American Y. C, where she made several exhibition runs. A course of one mile was measured off by the wire used for the Norwood's trial on the Merrimac River last year, and Vamoose covered this distance four times, the result being:
First mile (against tide) 2 50
Second mile (with tide) 2 30
Third mile (against tide) 2 30
Fourth mile (with tide) 2 35
She would have made her fourth mile in 2.20 or 2.15, but when partly over the course her stuffing box of the steam steering gear-blew out. She was immediately stopped and a tiller and tackles fitted, after which a second trial was made, the time being 2.35. On her return to Brooklyn she was steered by the tiller and tackles, narrowly escaping a collision with a ferryboat in the East River.
Later. --- Vamoose will remain in New York until spring, and will be ready to race Norwood at any time." (Source: Anon. "Steam Yacht Racing." Forest and Stream, October 15, 1891, p. 261.)

"[Four weeks later the Vamoose's record was broken by the C.D. Mosher designed steam yacht Norwood.]" (Source: Anon. "Another Record Broken. This Time By Norman L. Munro's Steam Yacht Norwood. A Mile In Two Minutes Twelve And A Half Seconds. The Vamoose's Exploit Fairly Eclipsed. Said To Be Able To Do Better." New York Times, November 8, 1891, P. 1.)

"Vamoose, steam yacht, W. E. Hearst has been altered during the winter below deck, a saloon and staterooms being built aft, in the space formerly occupied by the forecastle, the crew's quarters being moved into the bow. Chief Heilbron is still in command." (Source: Anon. "YACHT NEWS NOTES." Forest and Stream, April 27, 1893, p. 372.)

"To Expert Engineers, to the Herreshoffs, to Mr. William R. Hearst of California, and to a Doubting Public:
I believe that there are scarcely two boats under the sun today as well known to the general public the world over as the Vamoose and Norwood. With a view to satisfy public curiosity, and to demonstrate to my friends and others that either one or the other of these yachts did not merit such world-wide fame, I became the owner of the Vamoose.
This celebrated yacht has been speeding through the press for the past two years at a rate of anywhere between thirty and forty miles an hour. In fact, a Brooklyn paper on May 20 last reported this wonderful yacht as carrying our President through the waters of the Potomac at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour. This is but a very slow rate of speed for the Vamoose, as may be shown by clippings taken from responsible newspapers throughout the country for the past two years.
Now, what the public demands and desires to know is which is the faster yacht, the Vamoose or Norwood. My motive for purchasing
the Vamoose was to settle this vexed question once and for all. The price paid by me for her was $10,000, and as I had her sold for a much larger sum before I bought her, I am out nothing: but I control her for five weeks to come.
To finally determine the question of comparative speed between the two boats, I invite the Herreshoffs, builder of the Vamoose, and Mr. William R. Hearst, her former owner, to place in her engine and boiler room the most expert engineers and firemen America can produce, to put an expert pilot at her wheel, and to man her to suit themselves, all at my expense. Then I ask that the Vamoose be sent for a record, first over a measured mile, second, over a twenty-mile course, and third, over the American Yacht Club's course of eighty-two knots, so that Messrs. Herreshoff's and Hearst may publicly verify their statements regarding the speed of the Vamoose, or be obliged to pronounce her a most stupendous failure. The Norwood will be sent over the same courses after the Vamoose has finished, and her speed under similar conditions accurately ascertained.
If the Herreshoffs and Mr. Hearst refuse to adopt this plan, which, as already stated, will cost them absolutely nothing, then the name of the yacht which heretofore was and now is the Vamoose, will be changed to the highly appropriate and suggestive one of Led Astray, and she will pass into her new owner's hands with a guarantee from me that she can speed over an 82-knot course at the rate of 18 1/2 miles an hour. Respectfully.
New York, Sept l5.
Norman L. Munro.
(Source: Anon. "Why he Paid $10,000 For The Vamoose. Mr. Munro Wants to Find Out Whether She Is Faster Than the Norwood." New York Sun, September 16, 1893, p. 3.)

"VAMOOSE.
A screw schooner designed by Herreshoff and built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, Rhode Island. She was launched in 1891, hails from San Francisco, and sails with the fleets of the New York and American (Rye) Yacht Clubs. She was formerly owned by W. R. Hearst but was recently the property of the late Norman L. Munro [who died February 24, 1894], as also the steam yacht Norwood.
DIMENSIONS.
Length over all, 112.6 feet.
Length load waterline, 109.4 feet.
Breadth, 12.4 feet.
Draft. 6.11 feet.
Engines: Triple expansion, compound inverted. 5 cylinders 11 1/4, 16 and (3) 22 1/2 x 15 inches. Indicated horse power 800.
Boiler and engines built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company." (Source: Mott, Henry Augustus. Yachts and Yachtsmen of America. New York, 1894, p. 677.)

"Vamoose. Designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff.
Built 1891, at Bristol, R.I., by the Herreshoff MFG Company.
Hull, of wood. Length 112 feet 7 inches, breadth of beam 12 feet 5 inches; depth of hold 9 feet 8 inches.
Engine, vertical compound, five-cylinder; diameter of cylinders 11 1/4, 16, 22 1/2, 22/2 and 22 1/2 inches; stroke 15 inches.
Horse Power, 800.
Boiler, tubular, 'Thornycroft' type.
Tonnage, 63.27 gross; 31.63 net.
One of the fastest steam vessels ever built, being able to steam as high as 30 miles an hour. Built for W. R. Hearst, of Sanfrancisco." (Source: Stanton, Samuel Ward. American Steam Vessels. New York, 1895, p. 409.)

"Vamoose, steam yacht, has been sold by Munro estate to F. T. Morrell, for $11,500, as stated." (Source: Anon. "Yacht News Notes." Forest & Stream, April 7, 1894, p. 301.)

"In the summer of 1891 two steam yachts were launched at the Herreshoff works, the Javelin [#164p] and the Vamoose [#168p]. Both were of the full decked type, with accommodations for cruising, but they were intended for a far higher speed than had thus far been attained in this type of craft. ... The Vamoose, ordered by W. R. Hearst, of San Francisco, was 112 feet over all, 108 feet lwl, 12 feet 4 inches beam, 9 feet 6 inches depth of hold, and 5 feet draft, with quadruple-expansion engines, one cylinder 11 1/4 inches, one 16 inches, and three 22 1/2 inches by 15 inches stroke. With 400 turns the i. h. p. was 800. The two yachts were of similar model and construction, with a rounder section and more deadrise than the Norwood, and the after body fined away in the usual manner. The Javelin failed to realize the expectations of her owner, and did not show remarkable speed. The Vamoose was more successful. She has been in continual service for a number of years, and has a record of 22.6 miles, over the American Yacht Club course off Milton Point. ... While still building steam yachts of the cruising type, [the Herreshoffs] have made no attempt at exceptionally-high-speed yachts since the Vamoose, their efforts being concentrated on sailing yachts and on torpedo boats." (Source: Stephens, W. P. "The High Speed Steam-Yacht as a Factor in Torpedo Boat Design." Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine. August 1898, p. 790-792.)

"Vamoose, steam yacht, has been sold by F. T. Morrill to Howard Gould, who will use her between his home at Sands Point, Long Island, and New York City." (Source: Anon. "Yachting News Notes." Forest & Stream, October 13, 1900, p. 297.)

"At last the Vamoose has achieved the long hoped for success of her career. For years the swift Herreshoff steam yacht annually has had her brushes with the big and speedy passenger steamboat Monmouth and always with one result until yesterday.
It was a procession from start to finish. The Vamoose was first and the Monmouth was nowhere. Before Governors Island was passed the Vamoose was showing the way, and from there on she was in front. The race did not come off as prearranged, for Charles R. Flint's fast steam yacht, the Arrow, was not on hand. It was two minutes after the regular starting time when the Monmouth left her pier at the foot of Rector Street for her late afternoon trip to Atlantic Highlands. At that time, 3:47, there were no signs of the Vamoose. The boat was crowded with passengers, more than 1,600 persons being on board. Every one was on the lookout for a race, and when the Monmouth started away alone keen disappointment was expressed.
It was 3:48 when the Monmouth reached the Battery. Suddenly a cry went up, 'There she is,' and the little Vamoose showed up just astern, as though she had arisen from the waters. She had full steam up, and her engines and boilers were working for all they were worth. It is a standing order of the Central Railroad of New Jersey that from pier to pier the Monmouth shall make the best possible time on every trip. 'Well,' said Capt. Martin, 'we pushed her a little more than usual, perhaps, this afternoon.'
At 3:49 the Vamoose was alongside on the port beam. In another minute she was by the waist of the big boat, and in two minutes more she was in the lead. All was over then but the shouting. One reckless individual wanted to bet that the Herreshoff boat would blow up before the finish was reached, and others said 'look out for a collapse when the waters of the Lower Bay are reached.' But nothing happened. At 3:54, opposite Bay Ridge, the Monmouth was quite a quarter of a mile behind, and at 4 o'clock, going out of the Narrows, she was another quarter of a mile behind. At Swinburne Island the Vamoose was quite a mile and a half ahead, and the proceedings interested the Monmouth's passengers no more. An excursion steamboat passed up the bay. Its passengers jeeringly called out, 'Wouldn't you like a towrope?' and no one had the courage to resent the insult.
Before the West Bank Light was reached the Vamoose was out of sight from the Monmouth except to those who had marine glasses. When the Sandy Hook boat came alongside the piir at Atlantic Highlands the Vamoose was quietly riding at anchor off the station of the New York Yacht Club. Her arrival was timed from on shore as at 4:42. The Monmouth arrived at 4:55. Upon these figures the Vamoose beat the Monmouth by 13 minutes. It has been figured that the Arrow beat the Monmouth last Saturday by 8 minutes. That would give the Vamoose 5 minutes the lead of the Arrow, over the twenty-mile course. But yesterday the Herreshoff boat gained time by taking a short cut east of the Robins Reef out of the direct deep water channel that the Monmouth was obliged to keep.
The Monmouth has now been beaten by five boats in her fourteen years of service --- the torpedo boat Porter and the steam yachts Norwood, Feisseen, Arrow, and Vamoose. It is certain that the victory of the Vamoose yesterday will bring out the Arrow now, and very likely the Revolution, and some lively times over the Sandy Hook are predicted." (Source: Anon. "Vamoose beat Monmouth. Fast Steam Yacht Was Winner In Race Against Big Passenger Steamer. " New York Times, July 19, 1902, p. 5.)

"VAMOOSE. A screw schooner designed by Herreshoff and built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, Rhode Island. She was launched in 1891, hails from San Francisco, and sails with the fleets of the New York and American (Rye) Yacht Clubs. She was formerly owned by W. R. Hearst but was recently the property of the late Norman L. Munro, as also the steam yacht Norwood. Dimensions. Length over all, 112.6 feet. Length load waterline, 109.4 feet. Breadth, 12.4 feet. Draft. 6.11 feet. Engines: Triple expansion, compound inverted, 5 cylinders 114, 16 and (3) 224x15 inches. Indicated horse power 800. Boiler and engines built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company." (Source: Mott, Henry Augustus. The Yachts and Yachtsmen of America. New York, 1894, p. 677.)

"... The desire among wealthy yachtsmen for high-speed steam craft developed about 1900. The Vamoose [#168p] was the pioneer in 1891, and held sway for several years, till the Yankee Doodle appeared in the field. The Javelin [#164p] followed and then the Now Then [#142p]. Each exceeded the speed of its predecessor slightly, the Now Then achieving the unheard-of record of twenty-one miles an hour.
How the mighty fall in yachting can be illustrated no better than by the fate of this quartet. The Javelin and Yankee Doodle have disappeared. Where the Javelin is none but the most dyed-in-the wool enthusiast can say. The Yankee Doodle blew up in the Raritan Canal. The Now Then is still in commission, owned by E. F. Luckenbach of this city, while the Vamoose is in the service of W. Lewisohn. Neither, if they were to be seen making twenty-odd miles on the Hudson, would attract more than a passing glance from the men among whom they once were the observed of all observers. ..." (Source: Anon. "Gen. Ives Owns the World's Fastest Steam Yacht." New York Times, June 18, 1905, p. SM6.) [Note, that the article confuses the sequence in which these high-speed yachts were built.]

"No. 2138 --- For Sale --- (See illustration). High-speed steam yacht with cruising accommodations, designed and built by Herreshoff Mfg. Co., 112 ft. 6 in. o.a., 12 ft. 4 in. beam, 2 ft. draught. Especially well adapted for comfortable ferry between owner's country home and New York. Owner's quarters aft provide 6 ft. 4 in. headroom, and give a stateroom with single berth, toilet room and saloon 13 ft. long with two transoms each side, sleeping four people if desired. Captain's and engineer's stateroom under after deck. Galley forward of the engine compartment with dumb-waiter to saloon on deck. Eight berths in foc'sle for crew. The interior is neatly finished in white enamel; saloons and stateroom lighted by electricity. 800-h.p. Herreshoff triple expansion, inverted surface condensing engine, 5 cylinders, thoroughly overhauled, 1903, at which time she was given a new Seabury water-tube boiler; also propeller and condenser. Normal speed 18 miles an hour. Yacht is completely equipped, including boats in davits, capstan, binnacle and compass, anchors and cables. Bedding, cooking and serving outfit, etc. Will be sold very reasonable. Apply to Stanley M. Seaman, 220 Broadway, New York. [Though not explicitly identified, the accompanying photo clearly shows this to be Vamoose.]" (Source: Rudder, March 1907, p. 251.)

"... Among the vessels plundered [by the group of thieves] was the old Vamoose, the Herreshoff steam yacht, which was converted into a gasolene turtle back and is now owned by J. D. Maxwell, of Tarrytown. ..." (Source: Anon. Pirates Aboard $40,000 Yacht are Cought by Cable. Youths Who Intended to Go to South Seas Come to Grief with the Lounger II." New York Herald, November 12, 1912, p. 8.)

"Curator’s Log August 2012
William Randolph Hearst, The Herreshoffs and the Yacht VAMOOSE
Part I: Contract and Design
It wasn’t unusual at the end of the nineteenth century for an American newspaper proprietor to own a steam yacht. James Gordon Bennett Jr., publisher of the New York Herald and a two-time commodore of the New York Yacht Club, spent the large sum of $625,000 on his 285-foot LYSISTRATA, which was staffed with a crew of a hundred officers and sailors. Joseph Pulitzer, owner and editor of the New York World, bought the ROMOLA and after a single sleepless night sold her for a quarter of what he’d paid. A few years later he ordered the larger LIBERTY, a 250-foot vessel equipped with state-of-the-art soundproofing that allowed many restful nights on frequent journeys across the Atlantic. (1)
William Randolph Hearst’s first yacht was relatively modest; a fifty-foot cruiser AQUILA [#157p]. He used it to shuttle between his Sausalito home and the offices of his San Francisco Examiner. AQUILA was the fastest speedboat on the Pacific Coast, and a delight for its owner, who liked to run circles around the Sausalito ferry. But AQUILA’s days were numbered after Hearst’s mother boarded her to visit family in Santa Clara County. The Bay was choppy and she arrived soaked to the skin. Phoebe Apperson Hearst decided her son should have the largest steam yacht that could be shipped by rail to San Francisco from New York. (2)
With the much heralded speed of the torpedo boat-type steam yacht STILETTO (HMCo #118p,1885) and the publicity gained by beating the Hudson River steamer MARY POWELL orders came for vessels that could do 22 mph or better. Hearst visited Herreshoff on July 19, 1890 and on July 26 Nat Herreshoff (NGH) recorded in his diary that Hearst had placed an order for an 85-foot waterline high-speed yacht. Following more negotiations NGH wrote in his diary on Dec. 4 that they had closed a contract with Hearst for a larger steamer (112 foot 6 inch VAMOOSE HMCo #168p) taking back the smaller vessel then in construction. (3)
No yard built better high-speed steam yachts, steam launches and torpedo boats. The Herreshoffs, in fact, may have been the only builder in the world confident enough to accept the Hearst order, coming as it did with the stipulation: if the new yacht wasn’t capable of twenty-five mph, making it possibly the fastest steam craft in the world, delivery would be refused. (4)
Nat Herreshoff went to work right away. He knew that to meet the speed guarantee the one unsolved challenge was to fit his new Thornycroft type boiler into a hull 2 feet 5 inches narrower in beam and shorter in vertical height than the larger torpedo boat (CUSHING) [#152p] for which the boiler was designed. The very first drawing he prepared in December 1890 (Figure 1) was a body section of the boiler barely squeezed into the hull with the upper casing and steam drum extending above the potential deck line; not quite a fit, but he could make it work. The drawing has no date in December, but recognizing the great care with which he approached his work it is almost certain that he did the drawing before the contract wording was agreed to on the 4th of that month.
Why was this the one and only unsolved challenge? What about the shape of the hull and its structural details, the engine, the propeller? In short how did the Company meet a guarantee to build a steam yacht that would set a speed record, lay the keel only five weeks after contract award and deliver in a short seven months? (5)
It is no mystery --- at 42 years of age Nat Herreshoff had been studying his profession since he was a boy of eleven, and had prepared well for this particular challenge
The hull design was developed from a half model that Nat carved in 1884, applying lessons learned about easily driven hull shapes from model tests he conducted beginning in 1880. This half model was used with some modifications for sixteen steam power vessels from 1884 to 1896. (6) The hull construction was of composite type --- mahogany planked over steel frames. He had first used composite construction in 1875 for the U S Navy’s first torpedo boat LIGHTNING [#20p] and perfected it in a number of steam yachts in the late 1880s.
The revolutionary five-cylinder quadruple expansion engine came from a 'Scheme of Sizes for Light High Speed Launch, Torpedo Boat and Yacht Engines' that he had first prepared in 1886. The first application of this engine was in the 1888 132-foot high speed yacht SAY WHEN [#150p] and again, one year later in the U S Navy’s 138-foot twin-screw 'Seagoing Torpedo Boat No. 1' USS CUSHING. [#152p] (Figure 2) The engine was made of forged steel in place of heavier iron castings and included an innovative lightweight hollow-steel crankshaft, The power plant produced an impressive 875-bhp and was directly coupled to a 52 inch dia. by 100 inch pitch four-bladed propeller that also had been used in SAY WHEN. (7)
So the challenge was not the machinery design, but to package it in a hull shorter in length, beam and depth than the previous successful applications.
To be continued in the September Log
John Palmieri
(1)Whyte, Kenneth. The Uncrowned King
(2) Ibid
(3) NGH 1890 Diary. The smaller vessel was purchased by E. D. Morgan in Jan. 1891 and delivered as JAVELIN [#164p] shortly after the completion of VAMOOSE.
(4)The contract penalty terms are from The Uncrowned King. We have found no records of the actual contract wording in the museum files. There is a question about the contract speed; in The Uncrowned King it is stated as 26 knots, but mph was used in those days, not knots. Also in a New York Times article of September 12, 1891, Hearst is quoted that she met terms of the contract, 'twenty-five miles per hour'. The US Navy contract for CUSHING (as well as later torpedo boat contracts) had penalties and incentives tied to vessel speed. The Herreshoff’s never missed a contract speed requirement.
(5) NGH Diaries of 1890 & 1891
(6) NGH Half Model Sequence #423
(7) A boiler safety valve blew on one of SAY WHEN trial trips and to prevent loss of steam pressure NGH screwed down the safety valve adjustment. The following day a boiler tube burst with the firebox door open. A fireman was fatally asphyxiated and NGH lost his steam engineer license over the incident.
Figure 1- NGH drawing to demonstrate, before agreeing to Hearst’s contract terms, that the Thornycroft boiler would fit into the narrow hull of VAMOOSE. Courtesy MIT Museum
Figure 2- The five-cylinder quadruple expansion engine. HMM Archives
==================
The Curator's Log September 2012
This article is continued from August 2012
William Randolph Hearst, The Herreshoffs and the Yacht VAMOOSE
Part 2: Construction, Trials, Records, the Panama Railway and Cuba
The keel was laid on Jan. 10, 1891; five weeks after contract; the hull was planked six weeks later. The boiler was installed on May 26 (Figure 3) and VAMOOSE was launched on June 23rd. The machinery was fired up only four days later. Underway trials were held on July 6 & 7 and then VAMOOSE sat waiting for Mr. Hearst to take delivery, which he did on July 26. (8) Completion of trials on a vessel designed to push the state-of-the-art only seven months after finalizing the contract is itself a record.
To demonstrate the guaranteed contract speed VAMOOSE was run on the US Navy’s Newport trial course. With navy inspectors on board, she accomplished one mile in 2 min. 27 sec. and maintained that speed for some time. (9) (Figure 4.)
At 112 feet, VAMOOSE was not large nor, at $80,000, particularly expensive. But she stood apart. Low in profile, narrow at the beam, with a single smokestack and a deck uncluttered but for pilothouse and a sun canopy, she had none of the traditional features of yachting elegance. She was all steam and her sleek appearance expressed the aggressive purposes for which she was designed. Below deck the boiler, engine and auxiliary machinery extended over 1/3 of the length amidships, with the crew’s quarters forward and a galley aft along with the spartan owner accommodations.
In early September VAMOOSE was tested against the Hudson River steamer MARY POWELL. Taking a page from STILETTO’s challenge, racing MARY POWELL had become a right of passage for fast steam yachts wanting to establish a reputation. Starting bow and bow, with Hearst on board, VAMOOSE put MARY POWELL 500 yards astern in less than five minutes; spun around, ran down river passing the steamer, reversed course again to overtake the steamer before crossing ahead and going off to a new challenge- matching speed with a New York Central passenger train. Of this feat chief engineer Theodore Heilbron said, 'I will wager my life that this is the fastest steam craft in the world.' (10)
Following this event VAMOOSE was refit with a 72 inch three-bladed propeller that was expected to improve high-speed performance, increasing maximum propeller rpm from 410 to 420. (11)
Two American steam yacht speed records were set in the fall of 1891. On Oct. 10, off the American Yacht Club VAMOOSE made four runs on a measured mile course. The first run against a 'young flood' and into a light breeze was a disappointment covering the mile in 2 min. 50 sec. with 200 pounds of steam and 400 propeller rpm. The next run with the wind and tide, 225 pounds of steam and 410 rpm, took 2 min. 30 sec. For the third run, the two firemen stoking coal into the boiler built up 240 pounds of steam (just below the safety setting of 250). A quarter-mile into the run the steam steering gear stuffing box blew out. With temporary steering rigged a fourth attempt was made, but maximum steam pressure was not attained and the time was 2 min. 35 sec. VAMOOSE went into the record books with the 2 min. 30 sec time. (12)
The other record, 2 min. 12 sec. over a measure mile, was set by the 63-foot steam launch NORWOOD built by C. D. Mosher of Amesbury, MA. and powered by a 400 hp triple expansion engine. She was owned by New York millionaire publisher Norman L. Munro who like Hearst had the ambition to possess the fastest steam yacht. In his quest he had previously owned the Herreshoff fast-steamers HENRIETTA [#133p] (48-footer, 1886) and NOW THEN [#142p] (84-footer, 1887). (13)
The plan was to ship VAMOOSE to Hearst in California via the Isthmus of Panama on a specially designed crib extending over three cars of the Panama Railway Company. It was an extraordinary operation, requiring the partial dismantling of three bridges along the track. All logistical obstacles were overcome when Colonel Rives, president of the railway, arbitrarily refused Hearst’s freight. It seems that the literary critics at the San Francisco Examiner had been unkind to a popular new novel, The Quick or the Dead, written by his daughter. (14) VAMOOSE remained in the East to race out of New York.
The major steam yacht race of the 1891 season was to be held by the American Yacht Club; six vessels were expected including a request to the Navy to race STILETTO [#118p]. As the race neared all contenders except NORWOOD declined to challenge VAMOOSE. Unfortunately VAMOOSE was alone on race day because an inexperienced pilot had run NORWOOD onto a reef while enroute. (15)
The press periodically reported plans for a race between the two boats, and both owners appeared eager to have that happen; but it never came to pass. These were two very different boats as is made clear by the following table.
Boat LOA Beam Draft Displ HP
VAMOOSE 112-6 12-7 5-4 ~50 TONS 875
NORWOOD 63-0 7-3 1-6 8 TONS 400
Hearst preferred to run a long race on the American Yacht Club’s 80-mile course in the deeper waters of Long Island Sound. NORWOOD preferred a shorter race in the more protected and shallower waters of the Hudson River; it was questionable whether NORWOOD could handle the strain or maintain full steam pressure over the longer course in open water. Also the assistant engineer of VAMOOSE claimed that in the Hudson NORWOOD could gain one mile an hour by following the eddy of the tide while VAMOOSE had to keep in deep water. (16)
In 1893, to settle the issue, Munro purchased VAMOOSE from Hearst for $10,000. He planned to allow the Herreshoffs to put their own engineer and firemen on board, and if the NORWOOD did not beat VAMOOSE he would donate NORWOOD to a charity. Unfortunately Munro died before he could carry out the race. (17) VAMOOSE was sold by his estate.
Advancing to 1896; VAMOOSE was then owned by Howard Gould, son of financier and railroad developer Jay Gould. The Spanish had put a large number of troops into Cuba and Hearst was anxious to get the story. In Nov.1896 the New York Journal chartered VAMOOSE and fitted her out as a press boat to carry uncensored dispatches from Cuba to Key West from where they could be telegraphed to New York. The US Government suspicious of Hearst’s purpose had her searched several time for arms. No arms were found. Hearst declared 'The first time she steams out of the harbor of Havana she will carry a cargo more fatal to Spain's hopes than all the dynamite ever made.' (18)
In early 1897 three attempts were made by VAMOOSE to insert a team of reporters into one of the Cuban insurgency camps, but because of inclement weather, and concern for seaworthiness (or perceived fragility of the narrow, speedy craft by a timid crew) they all failed. (19)
But fragile she was not; VAMOOSE went on to serve for thirty years --- not at all typical for a boat 'at the frontier of speed'. (20)
John Palmieri
Footnotes
8 NGH Diary 1891
9 W. R. Hearst quote from New York Times Sept. 12, 1891
10 New York Times. Sept. 12, 1891
11 Ibid
12 The World, Sunday Oct. 11, 1891
13 Yachting Records, World Almanac Book of Facts, 1891
14 Whyte, Kenneth. The Uncrowned King
15 The First Hundred Years of AYC
16 New York Times, Sept. 10, 1891 & June 18, 1892
17 New York Times Feb. 25, 1894
18 Campbell, Joseph W. Not likely sent: The Remington Hearst Telegrams
19 Ibid
20 Streeter, John W. Their Last Letters. p. 82.
Bibliography
1. The American Yacht List. Mannings. 1896. & 1902.
2. Bray, Maynard and Pinheiro, Carlton. Herreshoff of Bristol. Herreshoff Marine Museum. 2005. (page 27, covering VAMOOSE and JAVELIN.)
3. Campbell, Joseph W. Not likely sent: The Remington Hearst Telegrams. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. Summer 2000.
4. Famous Yachts of 1891. The Illustrated American. September 18, 1891
5. The First Hundred Years of American Yacht Club (1883-1893). American Yacht Club, Rye, NY. 1983 (The AYC was initially founded for steamyachts and was known in the early days as the 'American Steam Yacht Club'. It sponsored the American Yacht Club International Challenge Cup for steam yacht competition in perpetuity for friendly competition among nations.)
6. Herreshoff Marine Museum (HMM) Archival files and photo collection of vessels, steam engines and boilers
7. Herreshoff, Nathanael G. (NGH) Design Record Book 1864- 1895. (Courtesy of Halsey Herreshoff) documenting his standard steam engine sizes for yachts, torpedo boats and launches; and the weighing of the model for 'Hearst’s High Speed Yacht'.
8. Herreshoff, Nathanael G. (NGH) Diaries of 1890-1891 recording the visits of W. R. Hearst and important dates in the construction of VAMOOSE. HMM archives.
9. Herreshoff, Nathanael G. (NGH) Half Model Collection. Model Seq. #423 VAMOOSE & other vessels. Courtesy of Halsey Herreshoff
10. New York Times Archives. 1891- 1894.
11. The Photography of J. S. Johnston. www.jsjohnston.org (A maritime photographer of New York City in the late 1880s and 1890s including America’s Cup participants, and Herreshoff yachts.)
12. Speeding the VAMOOSE, The World, Sunday, October 11, 1891
13. Streeter, John W. Their Last Letters. Herreshoff Marine Museum. 1988. (page 82, covering VAMOOSE.)
14. The Tribune Almanac for 1891. (Yachting Records)
15. Whyte, Kenneth. The Uncrowned King: The Sensational Rise of William Randolph Hearst. Counterpoint. Berkeley, CA. 2009. In the Prologue of this book Nothing by Halves (available on the web: http://www.pgw.com/home/catalogs.aspx?CatalogKey=546366&ISBN=9781582434674) is a history of Hearst’s purchase and use of VAMOOSE.
16. World Almanac Book of Facts 1891. (Yachting Records)." (Source: Palmieri, John. "William Randolph Hearst, The Herreshoffs and the Yacht Vamoose." Herreshoff Marine Museum Curator's Log, August and September 2012. http://www.herreshoff.org/news/newsletter_archives.html, retrieved March 22, 2014.")

"N/A"

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Several penciled superimposed hull sections marked 'Model Feb[ruary] 1890]', '89 [#89p] Aug[ust] 1890', 'Hearst 112.5. Dec[ember] 1890 [#168p VAMOOSE]', 'STILETTO [#118p]', and 'Model of M[ar]ch [18]90 for 84 w.l. yacht'. (This is probably related to torpedo boats)." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. (creator). Penciled Sketch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item WRDT08_06220. Folder 45. No date (1890 ?).)
① ② ③

"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (in ink and pencil) notes booklet titled in ink '33ft LWL Cutter [#188702es Unbuilt Centerboard Cutter for N. G. Herreshoff]. 1887. Mr. Nat'l Herreshoff. R.M.[?] Dunbars[?] Ast. [this name crossed out]'. Relevant contents:
§12: #168p VAMOOSE Tag with calculations." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Notes Booklet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE07_03290. Folder [no #]. 1887-05 to 1891-09.)
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪ ⑫ ⑬ ⑭ ⑮ ⑯ ⑰ ⑱ ⑲ ⑳ ㉑ ㉒ ㉓

"[Item Description:] Yachting editor The World and editor of new yachting weekly 'Burgee & Pennant': has excellent photo of #446s ALERION II by Child; will publish in 'Burgee & Pennant; please send a description of her and of her excellect suit of [crosscut] sails; story of [Larchmont] 21-footers and fine picture of #444s VAQUERO & #442s HOURI in the paper; could someone please write #437s VIGILANT in England article; is it true you have order from [James Gordon] Bennett for a 85-ft sloop [#189401es]; #168p VAMOOSE race challenge; #142p NOW THEN" (Source: Summers, James. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_01320. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly 237. 1894-09-07.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (in ink and pencil) trials booklet 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Experiments & Trial Trips. 1890. N.G. Herreshoff'. Relevant contents:
§15: #168p VAMOOSE Trial Run (1891-07-22 & 1891-07-30)
§18: #168p VAMOOSE Trial Run (1891-07-26)
§22: #168p VAMOOSE Trial Run (scribbled on envelope) (1891-07-30)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Trials Booklet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE07_02260. Folder [no #]. 1890-01 to 1898-08.)
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 ② ③ ④

"[Item Description:] Photograph. [Backside of Trophy Cup shown in HH.6.208:] ANEMONE [#4p] 1870, LIGHTNING [#20p] 1876, STILLETO [#118p] 1885, HENRIETTA [#133p] 1886, NOW THEN [#142p] 1887, BALLYMENA [#151p] 1888, CUSHING [#152p] 1890, VAMOOSE [#168p] 1891, PORTER [#184p] 1896, MORRIS 1897 [#190p]." (Source: Anderström (creator). Photograph. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.209. Box HAFH.6.7B, Folder Photograph. No date (1899 ?).)
①

"[Item Description:] Four handwritten (in ink) pages with tabulated data listing 'Shop No', 'Name', '[Tons] Gross' and '[Tons] Net' for a total of 100 HMCo-built boats and classes. Tonnage data is usually precise to two digits behind the decimal. Random comparisons suggest source of tonnage data to be official Custom House data. Boats mentioned are: #664s, #663s, #625s, #665s, #634s, #658s, #657s, #646s, #641s, #617s, #626s Class, #624s, #621s, #616s, #619s, #590s, #591s, #586s, #592 Class, #618s, #605s, #578s, #560s Class, #580s, #553s, #551s, #552s, #546s, #541s, #545s, #538s, #534s, #533s, #532s, #529s, #534s, #530s, #531s, #435s, #437s, #452s, #499s, #429s, #426s, #424s, #481s, #422s, #417s, #414s, #451s, #215p, #213p, #222p, #235p, #230p, #229p, #236p, #224p, #244p, #247p, #249p, #231p, #232p, #228p, #252p, #250p, #251p, #248p, #168p, #164p, #118p, #142p, #174p, #173p, #194p, #189p, #193p, #183p, #178p, #179p, #181p, #182p, #175p, #163p, #148p, #149p, #172p, #155p, #170p, #186p, #188p, #206p, #207p, #205p, #208p, #209p, #210p, #211p, #212p, #216p. Undated (the latest boat listed, WINSOME, was launched in 1907)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (?) (creator). Handwritten List. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00220. Folder [no #]. No date (1907 or later).)
① ② ③ ④

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #168p Vamoose even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Anon. "Two Steam Arrows Eager For A Race. Vamoose, the Latest Herreshoff Marine Wonder, Waiting to Get a Chance at the Little Norwood." New York Herald, September 20, 1891, p. 12. (1,200 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: No. Comparison of Herreshoff's Vamoose and her competitor Norwood, designed by Mosher and owned by former Hereshoff customer Norman Munro. Interesting details, such that, unlike Vamoose, Norwood seemed to plane when at full speed, and that both boats travelled with a strong list to port due to the rotational direction of the propellers. Detailed description of Vamoose's unique quadruple expansion steam engine.

• Vamoose (HMCo-made index card)
• Vamoose (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: Vamoose
Type: Steam
Length: 112'6"
Owner: Hearst, Wm. Randolph

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

• Vamoose
• 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: Vamoose
Type: 112' steamer
Owner: W. R. Hearst
Year: 1891
Row No.: 707

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: 1890
E/P/S: P
No.: 168
Name: Vamoose
OA: 112' 6"

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.

"Data for LWL, beam and depth from 1903 Lloyd's Register." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 16, 2009.)

"A model for this vessel has not been identified yet. According to a note made on January 13, 1891 by NGH in his 1880s design book this model was made to a scale of 1/2 inch to the foot (1/24), which for a vessel of 112.5ft LOA would have resulted in an overall model length of 56.25in (142.88cm)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 4, 2014.)

"Marine Engine of Open Type. 11 1/4 & 16 & 22 1/2 & 2x22.5 x 15, 430[rpm], 1050[hp]." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten List of HMCo-Made Steam Engines. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum, MRDED1_00220. Undated, between 1903 and 1918.)

"Built in 201 days (contract to launch; equivalent to 523 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Displacement 105,092lbs from preliminary estimate by NGH in 1880s NGH design book: 'Jan'y 13, 1891. Weighing of model for Hearst's High Speed Yacht. Lenght overall 112.6ft. Beam 12ft 5in. W.l. [blank]. Scale 1/2in to foot. ... Disp. [3.6942 x 14224 x 2] / 2000 = 52.6 tons net = 47 gross. ..." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 4, 2014.)

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