HMCo #305p Lady Gay

"[1916-09-18] Mon 18: Have order from Mr. Lippincott for [a] 58' launch #305 [Lady Gay].
[1916-12-01] Fri 1: ... #305 [Lady Gay] has been turned over [with] clamps & deck beams in.
[1917-03-10] Sat 10: Launched #305 Lady Gay. In evening. Fair & calm.
[1917-03-17] Sat 17: SE with rain in PM. Clear in evening. ... Sidney tried #305 Lady Gay and took Mr. Tod to Newport in PM.
[1917-03-25] Sun 25: Very fine. Calm [in] AM. L[igh]t s[outh wind in] PM. Tried #305 Lady Gay in forenoon." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1916 to 1917. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"No. 305.
Sept[ember] 1916.
Moulds for Cruising Power boat.
58' 00". Scale [of Model] 1/2".
Frame spaces 14".
Sheer height is to under side of deck.
Timbers moulded 1 5/8".
Planking 1 1/8".
Deduct making moulds 2 3/4".
Keel sided 3 7/8" (vertical plank) with shaft at one side.
Stem sided 4 1/4"." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Note 9in ink) in Offset Booklet HH.4.048.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"March 25, 1917
Lady Gay, #305
58ft o.a., 55 1/4ft w.l., 11ft 3in ex[treme] beam, 9ft 6in [at] w.l.
4 cyl. 5 1/2 x 6 Van Blerck, direct connected to 28in x 30in - 3 bl[ade] propeller.
2nd run out - nearly complete.
Test over lower 1/2 m[ile] harbor course, calm, 7 on board, calm[sic], high water.
[Followed by tabulated trial run data with mean speed being 12.16mph = 10.56kn with throttle wide open]
Ap[ril] 11 [1917] Screw was found to be bent due to soft metal, about 2in was cut off end of blades. Leaving dia[meter] about 24in. On a trial over 1/2 [mile] course at lowtide, speed was 12mi[les per hour] ..." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten note in Experiments Booklet '1911 Trial Trips and Experiments' under date of March 25, 1917 and April 11, 1917. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"[Abstract of register or enrollment. Pos. 1946:]
Lady Gay, gas yacht, of Philadelphia. Built at Bristol, 1917.
21 tons; 56.2 ft. x 11.2 ft. x 5.3 ft. One deck, [blank] mast, plain-head.
Enr[olled] and Lic[ensed], (temporary) (consolidated) ([as] (yacht) Apr. 10, 1917. Owner: Mrs. J, B. Lippincott of Philadelphia, Pa. Master: F. Leroy Duncan, Camden, Maine.
Surrendered Apr. 24, 1917 at Philadelphia. ([Record at:] C[ustom] H[ouse, Providence])." (Source: Survey of Federal Archives, Work Projects Administration. Ships Documents of Rhode Island. Providence. Ship Registers and Enrollments of Providence Rhode Island, 1773-1939. Providence Rhode Island, 1941, s.v. Lady Gay.)

"... The power cruiser Lady Gay, built by Herreshoff and recently launched, was delivered to her owner, Mrs J. P. Lippincott, last week. ..." (Source: Anon. "Notes From The Week's Log." Boston Globe, April 22, 1917, p. 59.)

"A fifty-eight foot power cruiser of an interesting type has been launched at Herreshoff's yard at Bristol, R.I. for Mrs. K. Bertram Lippincott of Philadelphia. This craft was destined by the Herreshoffs after Mrs Lippincott had given them the general ideal of what she needed for a pleasured craft
She has long been an enthusiast of yachting and handles her own craft whenever she desires. Her summer home is at Jamestown, R.I. and this boat will be used around Newport, but has been constructed with week-end cruises in view. The boat will be able to cruise along the New England coast with quite a party aboard, her accommodations, for the size of the craft, being exceptionally roomy. Plenty of open-air space has also been left for afternoon sailing. The boat, christened Lady Gay, is 55 feet, 3 inches on the line, with 11 feet beam, and 5 feet draft. She will be able to cruise at sixteen or seventeen miles an hour, as no attempt has been made to make the craft a speedy yacht. [With photo.]" (Source: Anon. Herreshoff Cruiser for Philadelphia Yachtswoman." Boston Transcript, July 6, 1917, p. 12.)

"United States Customs Service. Collection District No. 10, Port of New York. Notice is hereby given that under the Act of Feb. 19, 1920, and in pursuance of authority granted by the Commissioner of Navigation, on the application of Henry A. Wise Wood, the name of the gas yacht Lady Gay, burden 22 gross tons, official number 214864, has been changed to Sea Lady." (Source: Aldridge, George W. Collector of Customs. "Change of Vessel's Name." Nautical Gazette, 1921, vol. 101, [p. 192?].)

"Lovely in her simplicity, Lady Gay shows the raised-deck powerboat hull form that NGH favored during this era and that he had already adopted for his own power cruiser, Helianthus [#288p Helianthus I]. Access to the step-down pilothouse is by two sliding companionways, one on each side. You're in this boat, not on it --- that's why she enjoys such a low cabin profile. The cabin sole is even lower than that of the pilothouse and carries all the way aft through the small cockpit at the stern.
Lady Gay would end the long tradition of building only from NGH designs. By the time she was built, JBH had been dead for two years; NGH had sold his share of the Herreshoff Mfg. Co.; New York interests were in control; and the next boat, a 112-foot military patrol boat [#306p SP-1841 designed by A. Loring Swasey], would be the first in company history built to the plans of another designer. The end, however, was nowhere near. There were some great times ahead for the Herreshoff Mfg. Co., and many more fine boats to be created." (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 123.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled sketches of two marine engines, one marked 'Dupont Motor 4 cyl', the other marked 'J.V. B. [Joseph Van Blerck] Model A4R. Model A4'. No further notes, undated (4 cylinder Van Blerck engines were used at HMCo between 1916 and 1921, e.g. for #300p SHADOW III, #299p HELIANTHUS II, #305p LADY GAY and #378p HELIANTHUS III)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Sketch. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_01230. Folder [no #]. No date (between 1916 and 1921 ?).)
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"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan HH.5.00396 (005-182). Blueprint preliminary general arrangement plan with plan view and inboard profile titled 'Preliminary for 48ft w.l. Launch'. [Note: Plans 005-182, 005-183 and 005-184 should all be seen together and show the evolution of preliminary designs that eventually led to the contract for #305p LADY GAY on September 11, 1916.]" (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Blueprint. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0013. WRDT08, Folder 2, formerly MRDE08. 1916-08-06.)
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"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan HH.5.00397 (005-183). Blueprint preliminary general arrangement plan with plan view and inboard profile titled 'Preliminary for 53ft w.l. Launch'. [Note: Plans 005-182, 005-183 and 005-184 should all be seen together and show the evolution of preliminary designs that eventually led to the contract for #305p LADY GAY on September 11, 1916.]" (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Blueprint. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0017. WRDT08, Folder 2, formerly MRDE08. 1916-08-28.)
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"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan HH.5.00398 (005-184). Blueprint preliminary general arrangement plan with plan view and inboard profile titled 'Preliminary for 54ft w.l. Launch' and marked with 'Note: Dementions[sic] decided upon differ slightly from this drawing'. [Note: Plans 005-182, 005-183 and 005-184 should all be seen together and show the evolution of preliminary designs that eventually led to the contract for #305p LADY GAY on September 11, 1916.]" (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Blueprint. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0109. WRDT08, Folder 11, formerly MRDE02. 1916-08-31.)
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"[Item Description:] Three sets of penciled pantograph hull sections, one with tracing marks. Titled 'No 305 [#305p LADY GAY]. Day cruiser for J.B. Lippincott. 58ft o.a. 55 1/4ft w.l. 11 1/4in beam. 14in frame spaces. Scale 1/2in. Sept[ember] 13, 1916'. " (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_03910. Folder [no #]. 1916-09-13.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (in ink) trials booklet titled '1911. Trial Trips and Experiments'. Relevant contents:
§25: #305p LADY GAY Trial Run (1917-03-25)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator) and Herreshoff, A. Sidney deW. (creator). Trials Booklet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE07_04280. Folder [no #]. 1911-06 to 1926-05.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #305p Lady Gay even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Lady Gay (HMCo-made index card)
• Lady Gay (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: Lady Gay
Type: Gasoline
Length: 58'
Owner: Lippincott, Mrs. J. E.

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

• Lady Gay
• Sea Lady ex-Lady Gay
• 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: Lady Gay
Type: 58' power
Owner: Mrs. J. B. Lippincott
Year: 1917
Row No.: 366

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: 1916
E/P/S: P
No.: 305
Name: Lady Gay
OA: 58' 0"
LW: 55' 6"

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.

"Built in 180 days (contract to launch; equivalent to 244 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"In the absence of better available data displacement was estimated by using the figure for Gross Register Tons (22) from the 1917 Lloyd's Register of American Yachts (Net Register Tons were reported as 21) and converting to lbs by dividing through 2000 (short tons). Note that this figure can only be a rough estimate because register tons as reported in Yacht Registers correlate only loosely with actual displacement figures." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 17, 2015.)

"Burned up in fire at Butts. [No year given.]" (Source: Herreshoff, L. Francis. "Lady Gay." Vessel index card in the collection of the Herreshoff Museum, Bristol, R.I. No place, no date.)

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