HMCo #255p Electra Jr. [Launch for St. Y. Electra]

Particulars

Construction_Record_Title.jpgName: Electra Jr. [Launch for St. Y. Electra]
Type: Steam Launch
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1906-7-14
LOA: 28' 0" (8.53m)
Beam: 7' 0" (2.13m)
Displ.: 3,585 lbs (1,626 kg)
Propulsion: Steam, Herreshoff, 48 h.p. Triple exp., 3 cyl. (3 1/2" & 5" & 8" bore x 4 1/2" stroke); Gasolene burning
Boiler: Ofeldt Boiler (gasoline burning); 24x36
Propeller: #2
Built for: Gerry, Elbridge T.
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: 13.5/12 of figs. for #199. Tender for "Electra". E. T. Gerry

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 #424Model number: 424
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room West Wall Left

Vessels from this model:
30 built, modeled by NGH
#197p [Steam Tender for U.S.C.S. Yankton] (1898)
#198p [Steam Tender for U.S.C.S. Yankton] (1898)
#199p [Steam Tender for U.S.C.S. Eagle] (1898)
#200p [Steam Tender for U.S.C.S. Yosemite] (1899)
#201p [Steam Tender for U.S. Coast Survey] (1899)
#202p [Steam Tender for U.S.C.S. Vixen] (1899)
#204p [Launch for St. Y. Valiant] (1899)
#214p Isis [Launch for St. Y. Isis] (1902)
#220p Atala (1902)
#227p [Launch for St. Y. Yacona] (1902, Extant)
#233p Delaware Junior [Launch for St. Y. Delaware] (1903)
#237p North Star II [Launch for St. Y. North Star II] (1903)
#238p [Launch for U.S.S. Eagle] (1903)
#239p [Launch for U.S.S. Vixen] (1903)
#240p 240 (1904, Extant)
#241p [Launch for St. Y. Haida] (1903)
#242p Breeze (1904)
#246p [Steam Launch for U.S.S. Yankton] (1904)
#255p Electra Jr. [Launch for St. Y. Electra] (1906)
#257p [Gannet (? Launch for St. Y. Electra)] (1907)
#262p [Launch for St. Y. Iolanda] (1908)
#263p Cassandra Jr. [Launch for St. Y. Cassandra] (1908)
#265p Premier (1908)
#266p Polyana (1908)
#270p Wanderer Jr. [Launch for St. Y. Wanderer] (1909)
#271p Diana (1909)
#272p [Launch for St. Y. Iolanda] (1909)
#273p [Launch for St. Y. Iolanda] (1910)
#274p Haulrey Jr. [Launch for St. S. Hatuey / Houtrey] (1910)
#275p [Launch for U.S.S. Scorpion] (1910)

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.


Drawings

Main drawing Dwg 002-046 (HH.5.00045) Explore all drawings relating to this boat.

List of drawings:
   Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
   HMCo #255p Electra Jr. [Launch for St. Y. Electra] are listed in bold.
   Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
  1. Dwg 055-006 (HH.5.03994): Condenser for Launch # 197 (1898-06-14)
  2. Dwg 008-022 (HH.5.00720): Shaft for 28' Launch 199, 200, 201 (1898-11-21)
  3. Dwg 058-038 (HH.5.04109): Shaft Strut # 255 (1906-07-19)
  4. Dwg 011-047 (HH.5.00973): Stern Tube # 255 (1906-07-20)
  5. Dwg 049-062 (HH.5.03738): Tank for Gasoline (1906-07-22)
  6. Dwg 068-071 (HH.5.04877): Steering Gear # 255 (1906-07-22)
  7. Dwg 002-046 (HH.5.00045): Construction Dwg > Tender - IC, 28' O.A., 7' Beam [Gas Burning Boiler] (1906-09-25)
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

Nathanael G. Herreshoff

"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.)

Archival Documents

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled technical sketch titled 'Condenser for HELIANTHUS 2nd (#299) to be made from 2 second hand condensers from ELECTRA launches [probably #255p and #257p]. 18 1/2sqft surface' and marked 'Scale 3/4ft per ft. Dec[ember] 8, 1918'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Technical Sketch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE11_02940. Folder [no #]. 1918-12-08.)


Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #255p Electra Jr. [Launch for St. Y. Electra] 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 1931 HMCo-published Owner's List

Name: Electra Jr.
Type: Gasoline
Length: 26'
Owner: Gerry, Eldridge T.

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: Electra Jr.
Type: 26' gasoline
Owner: Elbridge T. Gerry
Row No.: 190

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.

From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray

Year: 1906
E/P/S: P
No.: 255
Name: Electra Jr.
OA: 26' 0"

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)

"Launch for steam yacht Electra, 173ft LOA, 161.4ft LWL, built 1884 by Harlan & Hollingworth, owned by Elbridge T. Gerry until 1912, when she was broken up." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. [Electra information from Hofman, Erik. The Steam Yachts. Lymington, 1970, p. 48-49.] January 9, 2009.)

"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.)

"This launch was 28ft LOA as stated on its construction plan and on the HMCo-made vessel index card and not 26ft LOA as was stated apparently by mistake in the Construction Record." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. December 16, 2021.)

"As per its construction drawing 2-46 this launch was fitted with a gasoline-burning 'Ofeldt Boiler 24in x 36in high' instead of a conventional boiler. Patent No. 716,467, granted on December 23, 1902 to E. G. Ofeldt shows this to be a vertical center drum with vertical coils around its circumference. (Other Ofeldt boiler patents are No. 707,519 granted August 19, 1902 to A.W. Ofeldt which also shows a vertical drum but with two sets of coils around its circumference and Patent No. 653,360 granted July 10, 1900 to G. Ofeld which shows a horizontal drum with interlocking coils beneath it.) " (Source: van der Linde, Claas. December 9, 2022.)

"N/A"

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 #255p Electra Jr. [Launch for St. Y. Electra]. Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné. https://herreshoff.info/Docs/P00255_Electra_Jr.htm.