HMCo #187p Hist [Launch for St. Y. Thespia]

"[1896-04-01] Wed 1: Very fine & warm, but growing cloudy & colder in p.m. Set up frames for st[eam] launch no 186 [sic. The steam yacht #186p Vacuna was launched April 28, 1896 which would have implied a 4-weeks building time. Apparently NGH meant the steam launch #187p Hist]. ...
[1896-05-21] Thu 21: Launched 27' launch #187 [Hist] for Thespia.
[1896-05-22] Fri 22: Trial of launch 187 [#187p Hist]. ...
[1896-05-26] Tue 26: St[eame]r #187 [Hist, Launch for St. Y. Thespia] left for New London ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1896. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"Captain William E. Withey, sailing master for Mr. David Dows, owner of the new steam yacht Thespia, N.Y.Y.C., has contracted with the Herreshoff's for a 30-foot steam launch for the yacht. The launch is guaranteed to make ten statute miles. She is to be delivered on May 15. The Thespia, which is a Cramp boat, will go into commission this season for the first time. Mr. Dows is expected to return to New York from a winter tour South, by the end of this month." (Source: Anon. "Eastern Yachting News." New York Herald, March 5, 1896, p. 10.)

"The new government steam launch which was put overboard at Herreshoff's yesterday, was given a trial trip in the harbor in the afternoon. James T. Robertson was the engineer, and Capt. Nat. Herreshoff was at the helm. The launch is about 45 feet overall, and 37 feet on the water line. She is built of mahogany. [The date of launch, May 21, 1896, suggests this to be #187p Hist, but note that #187p was not built for the Government nor was she 'about 45 feet overall'. On the other hand, #183p Item, which was being constructed at the time this note was published, was 45 feet long and originally intended for the government. It appears, the write confused and mixed up these two steam launches.]" (Source: Anon. "News and Notes of Local Interest." Bristol Phoenix, May 22, 1896, p. 2.)

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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:
§36: #187p HIST [LAUNCH FOR ST. Y. THESPIA] Trial Run with DuTemple-type boiler (1896-05-22)." (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

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #187p Hist [Launch for St. Y. Thespia] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Hist ex-Thespia (HMCo-made index card)
• Hist ex-Thespia (HMCo-made index card)
• Launch for St Y Thespia (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: Hist
Type: Steam
Length: 27'
Owner: Dorris, David, Jr.

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

• Hist
• 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: Hist
Type: 27' steam
Owner: David Dorris, Jr.
Row No.: 283

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: 1896
E/P/S: P
No.: 187
Name: Hist.
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.

"Launch for the steam yacht Thespia, later USS Hist, built at Cramp's shipyard in Philadelphia, Pa. in 1895, 174ft LOA and 23ftBeam, and sold in 1898 to the U.S. Navy by David Dows, Jr., Norfolk, VA." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. [Based on information from http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/130093.htm, retrieved November 16, 2009.] November 16, 2009.)

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