HMCo #217p Maisie

"[1902-01-02] Thu 2: Strong SW [wind in] PM. Launched & tested El[ectric] launch #217 [Maisie].
[1902-01-07] Tue 7: L[igh]t snow in PM. Mod[erate] NNE [wid]. Made trial of speed of #217, el[ectric] launch Maisie. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1902. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Jan[uary] 6, 1902
Maisie #217
Electric launch for Mr. Bourne.
20ft long - 5ft 6in wide. W[ei]g[h]t complete about 1050lbs.
Has batteries by Rhodell of Prov[idence], 44 cells, w[ei]g[h]t 400lbs. H.C. [Hotlzer Cabot] motor, 3/4hp rated.
Propeller 10 1/2 dia[meter], 9in mean pitch.
Trial from Van Winkle wharf to Hog Is[land] wharf & return to avoid ice.
Wind about 16m[iles] [from] NNE, snowing.
2 on board. Disp[lacement] 1050 + water 50 + crew 375 = 1475lbs. Distance .68+ miles.
[Followed by tabulated trial run data with mean speed being 6.02mph].
Voltage before going on course 47, after 46. Amperes 39 to 38. Ran very smooth & well." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten note in Trials Booklet '1898 - 1909' under date of January 6, 1902. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"I have yours of 8 [November 1905], and take pleasure in giving you what information I can. ...
We have built a number of electric driven launches to go in our yachts. They are in lengths from 20ft [#218p CARMEN, #217p MAISIE and #221p] to 14ft [#190101ep, #190201ep, #190202ep, #190302ep, #190304ep, #190305ep] and 1 1/2 to 1/2 horse power motors. We fit them with light batteries so that they can be easily hoisted at the davits and can run from 1 to 1 1/2 hours on a charge. The 20ft boats have a speed of 6 statute miles and weight at the davits about 1000lbs. The 14ft boats with 1/2hp will speed 4 1/2 miles and weigh about 500lbs. They are very useful little craft to the yachtsmen. When attached to st[eam] yachts which have electric generating plants on board for charging their thums[?]. I do not know what speed has been attained with electric power launches. We have only fitted light powers and batteries for short runs believing the boats usefulness would be destroyed if loaded with the batteries & motors of light[?] power. With the experience we have had with gasoline we still think steam power most reliable and satisfactory." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Penciled draft reply note to Admiral W.L. Capps, Bureau of Construction and Repair, Navy Dept. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly (84). After November 8, 1905.)

"[Item Transcription:] The Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Truman H. Newberry, has brought to my attention a launch [#232p HELVETIA II] recently built by you for Mr. C. O. Iselin, which seems to have given very great satisfaction. Will you kindly give me so much of the particulars of this launch as you might feel disposed to furnish, especially the general dimensions of the launch, speed, displacement, horsepower of engine and make of engine. Will you also give me, so far as your experience goes, the highest speed developed by launches fitted with electrically-propelled machinery, with dimensions of the launch so propelled.
Trusting that I am not imposing too much upon your good nature, and that you can furnish me the above-requested information at an early date, believe me,
Very sincerely yours, ...
[Incl. penciled NGH draft reply note on verso:] I have yours of 8 [November 1905], and take pleasure in giving you what information I can.
In spring of 1903 we built two gasoline launches [#231p ADRIENNE and #232p HELVETIA II] for the Iselin families at New Rochelle which are considered very satisfactory and model boats of their types. They were intended strictly for pleasure boats to use in L[ong] Is[land] Sound for short excursions. Are rather lightly built, but quite strong enough for the purpose intended, are double planked, a short deck forward with raised house having cabin room enough for shelter in case of rain and a toilet room. Aft of this there is a large open cockpit with the motor in the middle. The boats are 50ft o.a., 10 1/2ft extreme beam, about 3ft draft, high freeboard, and very easy lines below water. They are propelled by 20-25HP 'Standard' engines and have a speed of nearly 10 knots.
We are just building a similar boat [#248p TODDYWAX] except longer --- 60ft o.a. --- which will be used around Newport next summer.
We have built a number of electric driven launches to go in our yachts. They are in lengths from 20ft [#218p CARMEN, #217p MAISIE and #221p] to 14ft [#190101ep, #190201ep, #190202ep, #190302ep, #190304ep, #190305ep] and 1 1/2 to 1/2 horse power motors. We fit them with light batteries so that they can be easily hoisted at the davits and can run from 1 to 1 1/2 hours on a charge. The 20ft boats have a speed of 6 statute miles and weight at the davits about 1000lbs. The 14ft boats with 1/2hp will speed 4 1/2 miles and weigh about 500lbs. They are very useful little craft to the yachtsmen. When attached to st[eam] yachts which have electric generating plants on board for charging their thums[?]. I do not know what speed has been attained with electric power launches. We have only fitted light powers and batteries for short runs believing the boats usefulness would be destroyed if loaded with the batteries & motors of light[?] power. With the experience we have had with gasoline we still think steam power most reliable and satisfactory.
" (Source: Capps, Admiral W.L., Bureau of Construction and Repair, Navy Dept. (incl NGH reply). Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_00520. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly (84). 1905-11-08.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (mostly in pencil but also in ink) trials booklet titled '1898 - 1909'. Relevant contents:
§17: #217p MAISIE Trial Run best mean speed 6.03mph (1902-01-06)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Trials Booklet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE09_00060. Folder [no #]. 1898-09 to 1911-04.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #217p Maisie even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Maisie (HMCo-made index card)
• Maisie (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: Maisie
Type: Electric
Length: 20'
Owner: Stabuck [sic, i.e. Starbuck], Chas. A.

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

• Maisie
• 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: Masie [sic, i.e. Maisie]
Type: 20' electric launch
Owner: Charles A. Starbuck
Row No.: 418

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: 1901
E/P/S: P
No.: 217
Name: Maisie
OA: 20'

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.

"Order date November 29, 1901 and LWL 17' from plan 2-19. Note that #217p and #218p were not exact sisters as per a note on Model 18: Model cut away forward and remeasured before #218 set up Dec. 1901." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 21, 2009.)

"Made from moulds of #568. Sheer raised 1 1/2". Frame spacing 8 1/2". Traced from drawing 2-18 with changes. [As per notes on plan 2-20]. Note that this plan apparently also makes a reference to the electric launch built for #222p Parthenia which is shown on plan 2-23." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 26, 2009.)

"Built in 34 days (contract to launch; equivalent to 29 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Displacement 1000lbs from penciled draft reply note written shortly after November 8, 1905 by N. G. Herreshoff to Admiral W.L. Capps of the Navy Departments Bureau of Construction and Repair (in Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. Correspondence, Folder 1_14, formerly (84).)" (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 20, 2019.)

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