HMCo #252p Waneche [Waneeche. Tender for #631s Dahinda]

"[1906-04-07] Sat 7: Mr. Duncan [owner of NY30 #631s Dahinda built the previous year and #252p Waneche just then under construction] ... here." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1906. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"April 26, 1906
Trial of #252, Waneche
40ft Gasoline launch for W.B. Duncan.
40ft x 8 1/2ft sq[uare] stern, built on Chicago launch [#128p] molds. 25hp motor 32in x 48in screw.
1st run from dock on 1/2 mile [course], wind N, 18[mph]
[Followed by tabulated trial run data with mean speed partly throttled being 10.4mph and with throttle open 11.04mph]
Vessel very steady and little noise from machinery. The exhaust is carried thro' bottom and there is but little noise.
P.S. Launch made 11.5 miles at 360 rev. in N.Y.Y.C. cruise at Glen Cove and towed 30 footer Dahinda [#631s] at 8.91 miles at 305 rev." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten note in Trials Booklet '1898 - 1909' under date of April 26, 1906. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"Soon after this the plumb bow and square stern launches 'Waneeche,' for Butler Duncan, and 'Seashell' for H. L. Maxwell, were built so that the Herreshoff Company began building launches of most every size powered with engines of various makes." (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. 248.)

"Six new boats are under construction at the Herreshoff shops at Bristol, R. I. The largest is the schooner [#657s Queen] for Mr. J. Rogers Maxwell. This boat is quite unlike Ingomar and she is a remarkably beautiful and clean vessel. She is a centerboard boat and has an unusually large amount of room below.
The boat [#658s Irolita II] building for Commodore E. Walter Clark, Philadelphia Corinthian Y. C, is to be rigged as a sloop and not as a schooner, as was originally announced. She is a keel boat with a waterline length of 65ft.
A high speed steamer [#249p] 95ft. long of the Mermaid, Mirage and Scout type, is building for Mr. Nathan Strauss, of New York, for use on the St. Lawrence River. She will have a guaranteed speed of 23 miles for a one hour run.
The other three boats are being built from the same moulds. They are launches about 40ft. long intended for day use on Long Island Sound. One of these boats [#252p Waneeche] is for Mr. W. Butler Duncan, Jr., and the other [#250p Tuza] is for Mr. Maxwell. The third boat [#253p Tautog] was built on speculation.
These six boats include all the work now in hand at the Herreshoff shops. The report that this firm was building a schooner [#190401es] for the German Emperor was erroneous." (Source: Anon. "New Boats Building at Bristol." Forest and Stream, February 17, 1906, p. 274.)

"Tuesday [April 24, 1906] a gasoline launch, 45 feet in length with a beam of 7 feet 4 inches was launched at the Herreshoff boat shops. She was built for William Butler Duncan, of New York, formerly manager of the Constitution [#551s]. She will be used as a tender to Mr. Duncan's racing sloop [#631s Dahinda]." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, April 27, 1906, p. 2.)

"BRISTOL, R. I. April 29 [1906] --- A power boat, the Waneche, built for W. Butler Duncan Jr of New York, former manager of the cup yacht Constitution, was launched Tuesday morning [April 24, 1906] at the Herreshoffs' shops. The Waneche is 45 feet long, with 7 feet 3 inches breadth, and light draft. She has an engine of 25-horse power. She will be used as a tender to Mr Duncan's racing 30-footer [#631s Dahinda]. The boat, after a trial, was taken to New York, leaving Bristol Thursday." (Source: Anon. "Bristol Notes." Boston Globe, April 29, 1906, p. 46.)

"William Butler Duncan, jr.. has had a 40-foot launch built by the Herreshoffs, at Bristol, R. I., for use on Long Island Sound, for towing his racing 30-footer Dahinda. The boat was launched last Wednesday [April 25, 1906]." (Source: Anon. "Of Interest to Yachtsmen." New York Tribune, April 30, 1906, p. 8.)

"[License issued to vessel under 20 tons. Pos. 273:]
Waneche, gas screw yacht, of Bristol.
Built at Bristol, 1906.
6 tons; 39.3 ft. x 8.8 ft. x 4 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
No specifications shown.
Lic[ensed] ([as] yacht) May 9, 1906. Owner: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol. Master: N. G. Herreshoff, Bristol. ([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. Waneche.)

"... W. B. Duncan races the Seawanhaka 16-footer Nahman [#812s] Nahma and his tender is the Waneche [#252p]. ...." (Source: Anon. "Power Tenders for Sailing Craft." Rudder Magazine, September 1916, p. 420.)

"[Item Description:] Handwritten notebook. This booklet had two lives: In 1907-1908, 1908-1909 and 1909-1910 it was used for winter storage records, listing name of boat, owner, storage location, billed amount, and dates of storage. Listed were for the winter of 1907/1908: #235p MIST, ORIANA, #571s LARIKIN, EAGLET, #453s VAQUERO II, #580s TRIVIA, #663s ISTALENA, COSSACK, #666s AVENGER, #220p ATALA (for sale), #207p MIRAGE, #224p EUGENIA, #146p AUGUSTA, #247p SEA URCHIN, #105p COSETTE, ARLINE, #213p FLORENCE, #208p FLORETTE, #249p SISILINA, #591s IROLITA, #481s SPALPEEN, DUCHESS, #669s ELEANOR, #460s KILDEE, #647s CAPRICE, #408s PELICAN, #243p SWIFTSURE, #617s COCK ROBIN, #177p VANISH, #446s ALERION, and #591s IROLITA I, for the winter of 1908/1909: #666s AVENGER, #663s ISTALENA, #481s SPALPEEN, #580s TRIVIA, #617s COCK ROBIN, COSSACK, #177p VANISH, #242p #242, #243p SWIFTSURE, SKIP, #446s ALERION, CHEWINK II, DUCHESS, #571s LARIKIN, #460s KILDEE, #679s PEPITA, EAGLET, #408s PELICAN, #453s VAQUERO, #146p AUGUSTA, #224p EUGENIA, COYOTE, #264p SARAH WEBB, #207p MIRAGE, ARLINE, #213p FLORENCE, #208p FLORETTE, #249p SISILINA, #591s IROLITA I, CASSANDRA 27ft Launch, and #263p CASSANDRA 34ft Launch, and for the winter of 1909/1910: #252p WANECHE (no further boats were listed). At some later time, the same book was turned upside down and inscribed with a new title in ink '200Ft Submarine Destroyer [#191802ep Unbuilt 200ft Submarine Chaser]. Data + Calculation Book. Herreshoff Mfg Co.' on its now-new front cover (formerly its back cover), followed by weight data estimates and calculations for this submarine destroyer." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Notebook. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.087. Box HAFH.6.2B, Folder Submarine Destroyer 200-Footer. 1907-1908, 1908-1909, 1909-1910, 1918-06.)
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

"[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).)
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"[Item Transcription:] I am sending you a blue print of the curves of time allowance. The 60% square root & the 40% cube root curves are so nearly alike I do not think they will consider a change.
By the way I sent you the propellor of my launch [#252p WANECHE] to be straightened out. I have put the new one on so there is no hurry, but when it is finished please ship it down to Port Washington. [Incl. envelope.]" (Source: Duncan, W. Butler. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_68660. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 1), Folder B1F02, formerly MRDE15. 1908-11-30.)
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"[Item Description:] am sending the launch [#252p WANECHE] to lay up for winter, need heavier steering gear which gives trouble and is too light, need new strengthened ruder that can withstand backing the boat and then letting go the wheel, want engine overhauled, shaft strut to be rebabbited, we have done well with AURORA [#667s] lately and she is pretty hard to beat" (Source: Duncan, W. Butler, Jr. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_42740. Correspondence, Folder 91, formerly 127. 1909-09-07.)
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"[Item Description:] don't know what your people did to the engine of the launch [#252p WANECHE] but we can't get it to work, we had two poor races with the NY65s" (Source: Duncan, W. Butler, Jr. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_42770. Correspondence, Folder 91, formerly 127. 1910-05-31.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (mostly in pencil but also in ink) trials booklet titled '1898 - 1909'. Relevant contents:
§45: #252p WANECHE [TENDER FOR #631s DAHINDA] Trial Run mean speed 10.4mph [= 9.04kn] (1906-04-25)." (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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"[Item Description:] yours received, launch will be at Bristol weather permitting Monday [May 27, 1913] evening or Tuesday morning, can not send her before as am racing Saturday & want to put both men in the launch [apparently, Duncan was sending his launch #252p WANECHE to pick up #723s DEFENDER and #724s COLUMBIA which were finished on that Monday as per NGH's diary]" (Source: Duncan, W. Butler, Jr. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_43170. Correspondence, Folder 93, formerly 127. 1913-08-21.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #252p Waneche [Waneeche. Tender for #631s Dahinda] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Waneeche (HMCo-made index card)
• Waneeche (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: Waneeche
Type: Gasoline
Length: 40'30"
Owner: Duncan, W. B., Jr.

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

• Waneche Waneeche
• 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: Waneche [sic, i.e. Waneeche]
Type: 40' 3" gasoline
Owner: W. Butler Duncan
Year: 1906
Row No.: 740

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: 1906
E/P/S: P
No.: 252
Name: Waneecbe
OA: 40' 3"

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.

"Used as a tender for the New York Thirty #631s Dahinda."

"Built in 98 days (contract to launch)." (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.