HMCo #254p Caloola

P00254_Caloola.jpg

Particulars

Construction_Record_Title.jpgName: Caloola
Later Name(s): Pete
Type: Racing Power Launch
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1906-3-5
Finished: 1906-9-5
LOA: 39' 11.75" (12.19m)
Beam: 5' 3.5" (1.61m)
Displ.: 2,615 lbs (1,186 kg)
Propulsion: Gasoline, Gnome, 140 h.p.
Propeller: 3 bl. #8906
Built for: Croker Jr., Richard
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: Moulds of #245 for R. Croker Jr
Last reported: 1909 (aged 3)

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 #425Model number: 425
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room West Wall Left

Vessels from this model:
4 built, modeled by NGH
#245p X.P.D.N.C. (1904)
#254p Caloola (1906)
#256p Gadget (1906)
#269p Premier (1909)

Original text on model:
"Model made in 1888 EXPEDIENCE #245 Sept 1904 spaces 10" scale 3/4" (frames 11. 45' long)
CALOOLA 254" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model Description:
"45' gasoline racing launch XPDNC of 1904 and, with change in scale, the 40' Caloola two years later." (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.4.036

Offset booklet contents:
#245, #254, #256, #269 [gasoline launches X.P.D.N.C., Caloola, no name, Premier].

Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)

Drawings

Main drawing Dwg 001-045 (HH.5.00465) Explore all drawings relating to this boat.

List of drawings:
   Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
   HMCo #254p Caloola are listed in bold.
   Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
  1. Dwg 009-033 (HH.5.00815): Coupling for Str. # 196 - 3 1/2" & 5" & 8" x 4 1/2" Engine (1898-04-01)
  2. Dwg 106-007 (HH.5.08648): Reversing Lever 5 5/8" & 8" & 12 1/2" x 7" (1899-06-06)
  3. Dwg 114-005 (HH.5.09500): Davit Sockets and Stanchion Sockets (1902-06-16)
  4. Dwg 011-042 (HH.5.00968): Sterntube and Stuffing Box (1904-09-05)
  5. Dwg 011-043 (HH.5.00969): Shaft Bearing (Outside) # 245 for 1 7/8" Dia. (1904-09-06)
  6. Dwg 167-000 (HH.5.13193): Detail Construction # 245 (1904-09-08)
  7. Dwg 145-000 (HH.5.12111): Connection to Dynamo Gasoline Engine (ca. 1906)
  8. Dwg 025-037 1/2 (HH.5.01787): Construction and Metal Lists (1906-03-12)
  9. Dwg 062-064 (HH.5.04429): Rudder and Stern Fittings (62-61 Details) (1906-04-09)
  10. Dwg 145-004 (HH.5.12102): [Reversing Gear Details] (1906-05-26 ?)
  11. Dwg 145-005 (HH.5.12103): Details for Reversing Gear 254 (1906-05-28)
  12. Dwg 145-006 (HH.5.12104): Details for Reversing Gear 254 (1906-05-28)
  13. Dwg 145-007 (HH.5.12105): Reversing Gear and Thrust Bearing for # 254 (1906-05-28)
  14. Dwg 145-008 (HH.5.12106): [Reversing Gear Details] (1906-05-28)
  15. Dwg 145-009 (HH.5.12107): Cast Iron Pulleys for Gasoline Engine for # 245 (1906-05-28)
  16. Dwg 134-034 (HH.5.10872): Turning over Gear for # 254 (1906-06-02)
  17. Dwg 134-030 (HH.5.10868): Turning Over Gear for 254 (1906-06-04)
  18. Dwg 055-025 (HH.5.04013): Water Cooler for Gasoline Engine (1906-06-09)
  19. Dwg 008-042 (HH.5.00740): Shaft & Linebearing (1906-06-15)
  20. Dwg 141-000 (HH.5.11732): Piping for # 254 [Raised Engine] (1906-07-02)
  21. Dwg 141-000 (HH.5.11733): Piping for # 254 [Engine] (1906-07-02)
  22. Dwg 134-035 (HH.5.10873): Levers and Gear for Timer and Dynamo Gasoline Engine # 254 (1906-07-06)
  23. Dwg 001-045 (HH.5.00465): Construction Dwg > Racing Launch 39'-11 3/4" O.A. (1906-09-05)
  24. Dwg 134-046 (HH.5.10884): General Arrangement > Changes in Caloola # 254 (1909-05 ?)
  25. Dwg 058-044 (HH.5.04115): Propeller Strut for Caloola # 254 (1909-05-31)
  26. Dwg 134-045 (HH.5.10883): Turning over Gear for # 254 (1909-06-04)
  27. Dwg 006-090 (HH.5.00590): Propeller for Pete # 254, 19" Dia. x 19" Pitch (1918-06-13)
Source: Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Together with: Hasselbalch, Kurt with Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin. Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997. Together with: Numerous additions and corrections by Claas van der Linde.
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

Other Contemporary Text Source(s)

"Wednesday [September 5, 1906] morning the automobile boat which was built last spring for Richard Croker, Jr., by the Herreshoff Manufacturing company was launched at the boat shops about 11 o'clock.
The craft is 40 feet 10 1/2 inches in length over all, and has a beam of 4 1/2 feet. Her draught is but a few inches both fore and aft.
The new craft is very light in weight and can very easily be lifted by a few men, even with the engine in. A hood extends back from the forward end to midiships, which covers the engine and prevents the spray from dashing, on it. There are four seats at the outer end of the cockpit.
The Croker boat is fitted with a French automobile engine of 140-horse power and can make 30 miles an hour. The boat is an exact counterpart, with the exception of the engine, of the X. P. D. N. C, which was built some two years ago for Frank Croker, brother of Richard Croker, Jr. The latter was present at the launching." (Source: Anon. "Auto Boat Launched." Bristol Phoenix, September 7, 1906, p. 1.)

"... Richard Croker, Jr. will enter his new motor boat, the Caloola, if she can be made ready in time. ..." (Source: Anon. "Motor Boat Carnival on the Hudson. Two Scrore of the Swiftest Automobile Craft in America Enter for the Various Races." New York Evening Telegram, September 5, 1906, p. 5.)

"Sunday afternoon a final trial of Richard Croker's fast speed boat 'Caloola' was given in Bristol harbor. The boat, which was built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, is 35 feet long, finished in mahogany. She is equipped with a four cylinder Gnome engine. She made about 26 miles an hour, although it is believed she can easily make 30 miles an hour when in racing trim. The boat will be taken to New York-shortly, and will participate in several races shortly this season." (Source: Anon. "Notes and News of Local Interest." Bristol Phoenix, June 2, 1908, p. 2.)

"The final trial of the fast speed boat Caloola, built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company for Richard Croker, Jr., of New York, was held last week in Bristol Harbor. The boat is about 35 feet long and is built of mahogany. She has a thin turtle deck, which covers the [unreadable], allowing free access to the engine. She is equipped with a Gnome engine of the four-cylinder type and is registered at 140 horse-power. The boat is somewhat of the design as the X. P. D. N. C. [#245p], but has considerable more horse power. She was tried over the different measured courses in the harbor and showed tremendous speed, especially considering the choppy sea. She made about 26 miles an hour with five persons aboard and considerable ballast that would be taken out when she was put in racing trim. It is not doubted by her owner and those on board that she will make 30 or more miles an hour when in racing trim and after the final tuning up of the engine. The boat will be taken to New York shortly and will participate in several of the most prominent events of the season." (Source: Anon. "Speed Craft For Croker, Jr." Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 10, 1908, p. 22.)

"Bristol Notes. BRISTOL. R I, June 20 [1908] --- ... Richard Croker Jr is to race his auto launch Caloola this season in New York waters, and the craft, which is 35 feet in length and built two years ago, was shipped to New York recently. The 140-horse power engine, which did not work well when the craft was first built, is in fine working order this season, as proved by the trials in the harbor recently when she made 26 miles an hour. ..." (Source: Anon. "Bristol Notes." Boston Globe, June 21, 1908, p. 39.)

"The fast motor boat Caloola, built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company for Richard Croker, Jr, of New York, was given a trial in the upper harbor Sunday [June 19, 1909] afternoon." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, June 22, 1909, p. 2.)

"BRISTOL, R. I., April 3 [1909] --- ... The Caloola, the racing power boat owned by Richard Croker Jr, built at Herreshoff's a few years ago, is to have greater speed this season, as it is planned to give her a new engine of about 200-horsepower." (Source: Anon. "Bristol Notes." Boston Globe, April 4, 1909, p. 48.)

"BRISTOL, R I, July 17 [1909] --- ... The latest craft to be launched at Herreshoffs were two speed launches, built of mahogany, both able to log off more than 23 miles an hour as demonstrated on numerous trials this week. One of the boats, the Premier [#269p], 29 feet in length, is to be sent overland to Chicago. The boat being built by Herreshoff for Richard Croker Jr. is to receive a 210 horsepower engine which was in the old Caloola [#254p] and which was found to have too much power for the method of construction. The new craft of mahogany will have larger and heavier frames und planking and is to be somewhat longer than the Caloola. [Note: The identity of the new craft for Richard Croker, Jr. is unclear.]" (Source: Anon. "Bristol Notes." Boston Globe, July 18, 1909, p. 38.)


Images

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 1931 HMCo-published Owner's List

Name: Caloola
Type: Gasoline
Length: 39'11 3/4"
Owner: Croker, Richard, Jr.

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

From the 1930s L. Francis Herreshoff Index Cards at the Herreshoff Marine Museum
  • 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.
From the 1953 HMCo Owner's List by L. Francis Herreshoff

Name: Caloola
Type: 40' gasoline
Owner: Richard Croker, Jr.
Row No.: 97

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.

Research Note(s)

"Renamed Pete in later years according to a note (probably by Tom Brightman) on the original photo envelope at the Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 20, 2009.)

"Built in 184 days (contract to finished; equivalent to 14 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Boat complete 2615lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G.? Hand-written note on Construction Plan 001-045 (HH.5.00465). Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

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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Citation: HMCo #254p Caloola. Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné. https://herreshoff.info/Docs/P00254_Caloola.htm.