HMCo #246p [Steam Launch for U.S.S. Yankton]
Particulars
Name: [Steam Launch for U.S.S. Yankton]Type: Steam Launch
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1904-9
Construction: Wood (Mahogany)
LOA: 28' (8.53m)
LWL: 27' 9" (8.46m)
Beam: 6' (1.83m)
Draft: 1' 10" (0.56m)
Propulsion: Steam, Herreshoff, 48 h.p. Triple exp., 3 cyl. (3 1/2" & 5" & 8" bore x 4 1/2" stroke)
Boiler: Bent Tube; [Plan]43-37
Propeller: Diameter 22", #2
Built for: U.S. Navy
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: Like #239 [Mahog. launch. extra Watertank.]
Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.
Model
Model number: 424Model location: H.M.M. Model Room West Wall Left
Vessels from this model:
30 built, modeled by NGH
Original text on model:
"[#197] Model made 1897 and changed in fall 1897 26' long frame spaces 9 3/4
[#198] 198 ditto everything
[#199] 199 28' long frame spaces 10 1/2
[#200] 200 ditto all the way
[#201] 201 ditto all the way
[#202] 202 30' long frames spaces 10 1/2
[#204] 204 ditto all the way
[#227] 227 30 YACOMA [sic, i.e. Yacona]
[#233] no number [should be 233] 28 DELEWARE
[#238] 239 [should be 238] 28 US EAGLE
[#239] dash [should be 239] 26" [should be 28] VIXEN
[#240] 240 30' by 5' "240" gasoline
[#246] 246 28' USN
[#262] 262 28' M plant [unreadable name]
[#263] 263 34' Cassandra
[#265] 34? J.B.H. Premier gasoline [i.e. #265]
[#???] ? 34 by 5 gasoline [this is apparently another reference to #265p Premier]
[#270] ? 28 WANDERER [should be 270]
[#???] ? 34' ILONDA ? [sic, i.e. Morton Plant's steamyacht IOLANDA] 1909
[#255] also 2 [unreadable] for ELECTRA [sic, i.e. #255 and #257] and 1 for ILONDA [sic, i.e. Morton Plant's steamyacht IOLANDA]
[#257]
[#272?]
[#273] 273 35' ILONDA [sic, i.e. Morton Plant's steamyacht IOLANDA]
[#274] 274 Sept. 1910 Cuban [sic, i.e. Haulrey Jr.]
[#275] 275 Oct 1910 28' USN SCORPION" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)
Model Description:
"26' steam launch of 1898 for the coast survey vessel Yankton. Others built of various sizes over the next dozen years, with scale changes, including the 30' gasoline launch 240 that is now in the Herreshoff Marine Museum's Hall of Boats." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)
Note: Vessels that appear in the records as not built, a cancelled contract, a study model, or as a model sailboat are listed but not counted in the list of vessels built from a model.
Offsets
Offset booklet number(s): HH.4.030
Offset booklet contents:
#198 - #202, #233, #237 - #242, #246, #263, #266, #271 [steam & gasoline launches].
Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)
Drawings
Explore all drawings relating to this boat.List of drawings:
Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
HMCo #246p [Steam Launch for U.S.S. Yankton] are listed in bold.
Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
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Dwg 043-037 (HH.5.03387); Boiler for No. 197 (1898-06-21)
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Dwg 008-022 (HH.5.00720): Shaft for 28' Launch 199, 200, 201 (1898-11-21)
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Dwg 002-013 (HH.5.00013): General Arrangement > Steam Launches # 197. 198 26 ft. Long; # 199 28 ft. Long (1898-12-22)
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Dwg 002-028 (HH.5.00028): Construction Dwg > # 233 Steam Launch 28', # 237, 239, 246, 262, 270, 275 (1903-03-16)
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Dwg 002-033 (HH.5.00033): General Arrangement > Steam Launch, 28' Long (1903-09-26)
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Dwg 002-034 (HH.5.00034): General Arrangement > Steam Launch, 28 ft. Long (1903-09-29)
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.
Documents
Nathanael G. Herreshoff
"Dec[ember] 28, 1905
Trial of 28ft St[eam] launch #246, just sold to the U.S. Navy to go on [blank (U.S.S. Yankton)].
Launch is same as #239 & many others, and trial was only to prove machinery to be in good working order.
Made 4 runs over 1/2 mile in harbor, perfectly calm, 3 on board.
[Followed by tabulated trial run data with best mean speed being 13.55mph = 11.75kn]
Everything working well, except coal matted on grate and could not get st[eam] higher." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten note in Trials Booklet '1898 - 1909' under date of December 28, 1905. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)
"246 [#246p]. 28ft. 13.55[mph = 11.77kn]." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Penciled Note on Verso of Envelope titled 'Trials of 26[ft], 28[ft] & 30[ft] Launches. 1898 - 1912. N.G.H.'. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. No date, September 28, 1920 or later.)
Other Contemporary Text Source(s)
"The Herreshoff Manufacturing company shipped a 38-foot steam launch to Boston Saturday morning over the Consolidated railroad. The woodwork of the craft was finished in mahogany and she was built for the government. [This is possibly a reference to #246p Launch for U.S. Navy even though it had been contracted for already in September 1904.]" (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, January 2, 1906, p. 2.)
Archival Documents
"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (mostly in pencil but also in ink) trials booklet titled '1898 - 1909'. Relevant contents:
§44: #246p [STEAM LAUNCH FOR U.S.S. YANKTON] Trial Run best mean speed 13.55mph = 11.75kn (1905-12-28)." (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.)
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 ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪
"[Item Transcription:] [Penciled trial run summary on verso of envelope to NGH in Bristol, R. I. postmarked September 27, 1920:] Trials of 26[ft], 28[ft] & 30[ft] Launches. 1898 - 1912. N.G.H.
197 [#197p]. 26ft. 13.10[mph = 11.38kn]. 225lbs.
198 [#198p]. 26ft. 12.49[mph = 10.85kn].
199 [#199p]. 28ft. 13.02[mph = 11.31kn]. 210lbs.
199 [#199p]. 28ft. 16.02[mph = 13.92kn]. 240lbs.
202 [#202p]. 30ft. 15.35[mph = 13.34kn]. 235lbs.
202 [#202p]. 30ft. 15.50[mph = 13.47kn]. 245lbs.
200 [#200p]. 28ft. 14.35[mph = 12.47kn].
201 [#201p]. 28ft. 14.25[mph = 12.38kn].
214 [#214p]. 26ft. 14.60[mph = 12.69kn]. 240lbs.
214 [#214p]. 26ft. 13.47[mph = 11.71kn]. about 235lbs.
220 [#220p]. 28ft. 14.98[mph = 13.02kn].
227 [#227p]. [30ft]. 13.82[mph = 12.01kn].
?. 28ft. 14.50[mph = 12.60kn].
239 [#239p]. 28ft. 13.22[mph = 11.49kn]. Required 10k[nots].
?. 26ft. 12.50[mph = 10.86kn].
239 [#239p]. 28ft. 12.40[mph = 10.78kn]. Not full speed.
246 [#246p]. 28ft. 13.55[mph = 11.77kn].
?. 28ft. 14.46[mph = 12.57kn].
275 [#275p]. 28ft. 10.80[mph = 9.38kn]. Not full speed.
274 [#274p]. 27ft. 14.66[mph = 12.74kn]. [More calculations on other side.] [Note: Every launch listed above was built from Model 424 --- as if this was an attempt to assess the speed of launches built from this model and thus judge the capabilities of the model.]" (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. (creator). Penciled Note. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE03_03510. Folder [no #]. No date (1920-09-28 or later).)
① ②
Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #246p [Steam Launch for U.S.S. Yankton] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.
Supplement
From the 1920 and earlier HMCo Index Cards at the MIT Museum
- 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.
From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray
Year: 1904
E/P/S: P
No.: 246
OA: 28'
LW: 27' 9"
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.
Research Note(s)
"U.S.S. Yankton was built as the steam yacht Cleopatra in 1893 by Ramage & Ferguson in England. She was designed by G. L. Watson and 217ft LOA. She was sold to the U.S. Navy in 1898 at the time of the Spanish-American War and later became a survey vessel and then a tender to the Atlantic Fleet. She was owned by the U.S. Navy until 1921." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. [U.S.S. Yankton information from Hofman, Erik. The Steam Yachts. Lymington, 1970, p. 78-79.] June 3, 2009.)
"An HMCo-made name index card indicates that #246p was built for U.S.S. Yankton." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 26, 2014.)
"Steam engine rating 48hp from undated (1903 or later) diagram by N. G. Herreshoff titled 'Marine Engine. Weights and Prices' in the Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 24, 2019.)
"Marine Engine of Inclosed Type. 3 1/2 & 5 & 8 x 4 1/2, 825[rpm], 48[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.)
Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.
Note
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