HMCo #409p [Launch for St. Y. Corsair IV]

"CORSAIR, 1939, HERRESHOFF LAUNCH. Built of teak for J.P. Morgan. She is one of a kind; show winner many times. $100,000. FL, 561-234-3867, Cedric Maycock." (Source: Maycock, Cedrick. [Classified ad.] WoodenBoat #141, March/April 1998, p. 149."

"Corsair, a recent acquisition for IYRS, is a unique vessel. She is a 35' powerboat, design # 409, from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., in Bristol, Rhode Island. Launched on May 10, 1939, she never served her original purpose.
She was ordered from Herreshoff by yachtsman and financier J.P. Morgan, who intended to put her into service as the starboard owner’s launch aboard Corsair IV, the fourth in a series of yachts that were large and kept getting larger with the christening of each successive one. The first Corsair, built in 1880, was 185'; Corsair II - 241'; Corsair III ­ 304'; and, finally, Corsair IV, an especially impressive 343'. The Corsairs were famous for their grandeur, their luxury and their imposing stature. Black and sporting a distinctive clipper bow, they were fixtures on the yachting scene, contributing quite a presence at events like the America’s Cup races and other New York Yacht Club regattas.
Some clarification is in order here. Restoration Quarterly readers may recall reading about the restoration of another starboard owner’s launch named Corsair in the Summer 2006 issue of RQ. Although remarkably similar, it is not the same boat. That boat, owned by Mr. Fred Bissett and beautifully restored in 2005/2006, was built in 1925, also by Herreshoff for J.P. Morgan, as launch to Corsair III. The main differences between the two boats are the overall length --- the Bissett boat is 30'6", the IYRS boat is 35' overall --- and the planking. While both are double planked, the IYRS boat is teak over cedar; the Bissett boat is mahogany over cedar. They share the same beam and draft. The IYRS launch is similar to others from the era with a cockpit forward for crew and the after cockpit for the owner’s party. It has such characteristic details as the tall cabin with curved glass windows covering the forward end of the owner’s cockpit, allowing the guests some shelter from rain and sun, and the signature molded sheer strakes, so often identified with Herreshoff boats. Her cabin is original but was lowered for aesthetic reasons. The rest of the boat is mostly original, including bronze hardware and lifting rings. An orphan before she was even launched, by the time this Corsair was completed, her mother ship had joined the British Navy to serve as a troop carrier during World War II. They were never united. Corsair IV eventually ran aground off Acapulco in 1949 and, after attempts to refloat her failed, her engines were appropriated to generate electricity for that city. Despite the fact that she never actually reported for duty, it is believed that the launch has kept the name Corsair throughout her life. She changed hands a few times and, in the 1970s, was sold to Jim Lewis, a yachtsman who kept his collection of classic launches in Clayton, New York, on the St. Lawrence River. Corsair kept good company berthed alongside Golden Girl, a 30' 1924 Fay & Bowen launch, and Mauvorneen, a 50' 1930 Camper & Nicholson, built as a launch for Charles Nicholson’s personal 8 meter racing sloop. During her 25 years under Mr. Lewis’ care, Corsair did not always endure long cold Clayton winters, stored in some shed. Instead, her owner brought her with him to Vero Beach, Florida, where one very compelling photo was taken of her gently floating in the placid waters of a swimming pool. In 1997, Jim Lewis sold Golden Girl, Mauverneen, and Corsair to Chuck Royce, who moved the collection to Watch Hill, Rhode Island. Corsair will be a second-year student project and will not require a total rebuild. At first glance, the boat is in excellent condition, having been owned and maintained for the last 35 years by very experienced collectors of classic boats. Despite some reframing, however, after 78 years, the original backbone is deteriorating, causing her to begin to lose shape. The scope of work will include the replacement of the oak backbone and the replanking of the bottom. She will then be relaunched for the season, will receive a thorough reframing the following winter, and will be relaunched again in the spring of 2010, ready for another 70 years." (Source: Picotte, Jay. "The Yacht Launch Corsair. An Historic Orphan with a Beautiful Future." Restoration Quarterly Spring, 2008, p. 20-21.)

"This striking gasoline launch was built in 1939 as powerboat hull #409 from the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, and she must have been one of the last of scores of gas-engine launches built at Bristol since early in the Century for Service to large yachts, to yacht clubs and as day boats for coastal excursions.
Not many gas-engine displacement launches have survived, considering the numbers of them that were built by the likes of Lozier, Lawley, Racine and Herreshoff, and it may be because these boats were so often replaced in the 'twenties and 'thirties by the new speedboats and Utilities.
This one has survived nicely because she was an artifact almost from the beginning.
She was built to replace an older Herreshoff launch that had burned, and she was to take her place as the starboard launch aboard J. P. (Jack) Morgan's liner-like fourth Corsair. But Corsair joined the U.S. Navy and went to the West Coast in 1939-40, and this launch, named for the Morgan family's great steam and diesel yachts, passed to new owners --- fortunately, to careful ones.
She was owned for many years by a yachtsman in Martha's Vineyard, and six years ago she was acquired by James P. Lewis, who keeps her near his summer home in the Thousand Islands. 'We just use her as a launch for running around the St. Lawrence,' he says. Jim Lewis also uses her to delight boat-watchers at antique boat shows in the U.S. and Canada. She's won awards at Clayton, N.Y., at Ottawa and Port Carling in Canada and at the Antique and Classic Boat Society's annual show in Sanford, Florida.
Corsair has been changed a bit from her original form, which was similar to that of George Lauder's 30' Herreshoff launch shown in NQ23. The sheerline was raised forward and some flare given to the bow for better looks and drier running, and the originally high profile of the house was lowered about 6". She now has a Chrysler Royal engine, and Herreshoff records indicate her original engine was a Kermath. Otherwise she's a classic 'owner's launch,' with cushioned seats and a sink in the little day cabin, a big forward control cockpit and an after cockpit with wicker chairs.
Built to hang in the starboard davits of the Morgan family's fourth Corsair, the Corsair launch now serves Jim Lewis and his family as a day boat in the Thousand Islands. Typical of a Herreshoff 'owner's launch,' she has upholstered seats in a roomy cockpit forward, more upholstered seats and a sink in the little cabin and an after Cockpit with wicker chairs. The engine is under the forward cockpit and spins a shaft more than half the length of the boat. The engine is not original, nor are a few other details such as the flare and profile of the bow.
LOA: 35' Beam: 7'6" Draft: 2'6"
Power: 140-hp Chrysler Royal straight eight
Built: 1939
Owner: James P. Lewis
Home Port: Clayton, N.Y." (Source: Bray, Maynard. "Herreshoff Legacies." In: Nautical Quarterly, Spring 1987, p. 56-57.)

"[Item Transcription:] [Typewritten unsigned carbon copy of a letter:] When the New York Yacht Club Fleet came into Newport on Thursday, August 10th, I noticed that you had the new launch for the CORSAIR [#409p] running around the harbor with a sign on the glass of the cabin house to the effect that it was the new starboard launch for CORSAIR. This kind of advertising is something which would be extremely distasteful to my father as it is to me, and while the matter is not of very great importance, I thought you should be informed that this is the case. I am sure you will appreciate my point of view in the matter.
Yours very truly, ..." (Source: Morgan, Junius S. Letter (copy) to Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Acc. 98.104. Correspondence, Folder 33, formerly 176, 182. 1939-08-21.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Typewritten signed letter on 'Herreshoff Yachts. Design - Construction - Service' stationery:] I wish to acknowledge your letter of August 21st [1939]. We are very sorry that in our enthusiasm at having been commissioned to build a launch [#409p] for CORSAIR we did not use our best judgement by placing the cards in the windows of the launch while on its way to her delivery in New York. Naturally we should not have done so had we felt either you or your father would have had the slightest objections.
Very truly yours, ..." (Source: Newman, Herbert F. (Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.). Letter to Morgan, Junius S. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Acc. 98.105. Correspondence, Folder 33, formerly 176, 182. 1939-08-25.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #409p [Launch for St. Y. Corsair IV] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Bray, Maynard (with photos by Benjamin Mendlowitz). "Corsair." Nautical Quarterly, no. 37, Spring 1987, p. 56-57. (1,256 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text), Benjamin Mendlowitz (photos). Short vessel portrait. Part of the larger article "Herreshoff Legacies."

• Gannet and #409p Corsair (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.

Year: 1939
E/P/S: P
No.: 409p
Name: Corsair
OA: 35

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.

"Use moulds of #277 in book for #276. 35'-0" L.O.A. x 7'-5" Beam x 2'-1" Draft. Displ. approx. 5000#. See also drwgs. #(2-64), #(2-67), #(2-145)." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [Note on plan 2-121 for #409p.] Bristol, June 1939.)

"Intended as owner's launch for Corsair IV, but never used as such." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 30, 2014.)

"Over the years this launch's deckhouse, which is still original, was lowered by six inches for aesthetic reasons, her sheer was raised forward, and her bow given more flare to keep her drier at speed. Restored in 2008/2009 by second year students at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport who replaced her backbone, reframed her and renewed her underwater planking and turned her back to her original configuration." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 30, 2014.)

"All four launches built by HMCo for various Corsairs (#282p, #367p, #381p, #409p) were owner's launches as indicated by their elaborate curved glass deckhouses which were not fitted to crew launches." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 30, 2014.)

"Displacement (5000lbs) from note on construction plan 2-121." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 10, 2014.)

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