HMCo #411p Marabout Amc-50

"Herreshoff Manufacturing Company yesterday launched the first of two heavily constructed mine sweepers being constructed here for the US Navy.
Without pomp or circumstance, the launching was witnessed by few people outside of workers and officials, and marked the first to go down the ways from any New England yards where similar crafts are being built.
While details of the launching, as well as of the dimensions and information are naval secrets, it was learned that the vessel launched yesterday is still in an uncompleted state, only the hull being finished. The engine installation and erection of the superstructure will be carried out while the boat is in the water, it was said." (Source: Anon. "Herreshoff Co. Launches First Naval Mine Sweeper." Bristol Phoenix, February 18, 1941, p. 1.)

"With a staff of Navy officers from Washington, aboard, the coastal mine­sweeper Maribow [sic, i.e. Marabout], first boat built here for the Navy since the last World War, was put out on a trial run this morning from the Herreshoff boat yard.
Tested as to speed and maneuverability, the Maribow was also examined from stem to stern by the naval officials. A further examination in the working parts of the vessel will be made and if everything is satisfactory she will be sailed off to her station. The first to be completed of a group of boats being built for the Government by the Herreshoff plant, the Maribow measures 97 feet overall." (Source: Anon. "First Navy Boat Built At Herreshoffs Taken On Trial Run Today." Bristol Phoenix, May 13, 1941, p. 1.)

"One hundred and ninety-nine war vessels, ranging from battleships to submarine chasers and mine sweepers, were under construction or contracted for in New England shipyards as of March 31, it was announced today by the New England Council.
The cost of these ships in the aggregate is placed at $1,156,109,000, the Council said. ...
Rhode Island's part in the vast shipbuilding program is represented by contracts for two minesweepers [apparently #411p Marabout and #412p Ostrich] to be built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol. They are valued at $304,000." [Note: The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company's share in the early warship building efforts was thus 0.026%.]" (Source: Anon. "New England Yards to Build 199 Warships." Christian Science Monitor, May 24, 1941, p. 11.)

"1941. ... THE first of 1941 ushered in the 'hush-hush' era. The country wasn't at war but warlike preparations were under way. In January Herreshoff was building some 94-foot vessels, supposed to be on government orders. Shop windows were covered with whitewash and nobody knew anything about them except everybody in Bristol and adjoining towns. ..." (Source: Davis, Jeff. Yachting in Narragansett Bay. Providence, 1946, p. 99.)

"Marabout (AMc 50)
Accentor Class Coastal Minesweeper: Laid down 20 December 1940 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, RI; Launched, 17 February 1941; Commissioned USS Marabout (AMc 50), 8 July 1941; Decommissioned, 29 May 1946 at Boston, MA; Transferred to the Maritime Commission; Sold 31 July 1946 to the City of Boston for service as a fireboat and renamed Joseph J. Luna after a Boston Fire Fighter killed in WWII; Taken out of service in 1972. [This is wrong. See below and research note.]
Fate unknown.
Specifications: Displacement 200 t.; Length 97' 1"; Beam 22'; Draft 9'; Speed 10 kts.; Complement 17; Armament two .50 cal. machine guns; Propulsion one 400bhp Superior K. N. B. diesel engine, one shaft." (Source: http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/03050.htm, retrieved March 16, 2007.)

"Marabout (AMc-50). Built in 1941 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, Rhode Island.
Named after the bird and commissioned on July 8, 1941, under Lt. (jg) Henry M. Larsen, USNR. Operated along the East Coast and Bermuda until decommissioned on May 29, 1946, at Boston.
Registered in 1948 by the City of Boston as the 159-ton fireboat Engine 3L. In 1950 the boat's name was James F. McTighe.
Registered in 1975 by James E. Blumenthal, 1616 Bertha St., Key West, Florida, as the 159-ton yacht Rhinoceros, call sign WYZ2766, and in 1978 operated under the Panamanian Flag.
ON 255180." (Source: Williams, Greg H. World War II Vessels in Private Hands. Jefferson, NC, 2013, p. 154.)

"[Item Description:] Printed letter beginning with 'With reference to your inquiry of December 31st addressed direct to our Home Office at Ampere, New Jersey, and forwarded to this office for attention concerning DC motor drives and control for operation of cable reel of U. S. Navy Mine Sweepers [probably #411p MARABOUT AMC-50, #412p OSTRICH AMC-51, #413p COURIER AMC-72, and #414p DEFIANCE AMC-73], when the writer recently called at your office concerning this inquiry we were advised that the motor capacity had been decreased to 5 HP and that the use of brakes was unlikely. We are accordingly pleased to quote you now (and will forward supplementary quotation shortly on control) on suitable motors conforming in full to specifications as we interpret them and offering motors at both 1750 EPM and 1150 EPM.'. With technical sheet titled 'Dimensions of Form F Direct Current Machines'." (Source: Crocker-Wheeler Electric Manuf. Co. Letter to Brightman, Thomas (Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.). MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.131. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Motors. 1941-01-23.)
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"[Item Description:] Hulls, anchors and pipe berth cut-out models and diagrams. Among others deckline cut-outs for BETTY ANN, #300p SHADOW III, NOMAD, Fishers Island 31-footer, Fishers Island 23-footer, Sub Chaser 110ft x 18ft, 11ft-6in Boat [built from Plan] 76-17 [now named Plan 28-21] (76-33 [now named Plan 28-23]) for Mr Tiffany's #934 [HARLEQUIN] [this may be a reference to #191901es], 18ft-9in Launch [#191002ep] used on #692 [WESTWARD], 14ft Rowboat [#190912es] [built from Plan] 76-14 698 [#698s WESTWARD], 19ft-4 1/2in x 5ft-4in Launch [#191304ep] for #719 [VAGRANT II], 14ft-8in Gasoline Launch [#190307ep] for 590 [#590s INGOMAR], 10ft-3in Boat [# ?] for 376 [#376p ESLOMA], 18ft Dories [#191729es] for #323 [SP-2840], #293 [Power Launch for #215p ROAMER], Vosper [Torpedo Boats built from 1943 - 1944), AMC Minesweeper [#411p, #412p, #413p, #414p], 16ft-10in x 5ft-1in [#191307es Colonia Sailing Cutter] for #719 [VAGRANT II], 711 Class [New York 50s], [dinghies #191308es and #191309es] for #722 [KATOURA], 12ft [dinghy #191106es ?] for 698 [#698s WESTWARD], 25ft-10in x 6ft-1in [built from Plan] 2-83 [#191301ep Owner Launch for #722s Katoura], 11ft-0in Rowboat [# ?] between davits on #251 [LANG SYNE] Feb [19]06, 23ft-4in x 6ft-4in [#287p Stock launch later Crew Launch for #722s KATOURA]. Generally undated, the last vessels referred to appear to date from 1944." (Source: MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.130. Cut-out Models and Diagrams. Box HAFH.6.4B, Folder Models and Diagrams. No date (1944 and earlier).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #411p Marabout Amc-50 even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Marabout (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Gloriana and #411p Marabout (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: 1941
E/P/S: P
No.: 412p [sic, i.e. 411p]
Name: Marabout (AMc 50)
OA: 97' 1"
LW: 92'

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.

"Contract value of $152,000 was calculated from Christian Science Monitor, May 24, 1941, p. 11, which reports that the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company had received an order worth $304,000 to build two minesweepers." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. August 24, 2009.)

"A Joseph J. Luna, former fireboat from Boston, was owned by A.C. Cruise Line, Inc., Alan D. Circeo, Boston in 2009, but email communication with owner Alan Circeo showed that this Joseph J. Luna (Engine 47) (formerly USS Bulwark) was built in East Boothbay Harbor, Maine 1942 powered by an Atlas Imperial 400 H.P., 300 RPM engine direct reversing 2 buda generators - official #255181 - tonnage gross 159 net 108 length 91.6 beam 21.2 depth 11.3. Judging from this information it would appear as if Marabout never became Joseph J. Luna. Capt. Circeo subsequently spoke with Capt. Joe McDonald (the former owner of J. J. Luna) who suggested that the James T. McTighe was the former Herreshoff and that it went to the West Coast. According to www.navsource.org USS Bulwark was a Accentor Class Coastal Minesweeper, laid down 15 April 1941 as Combat by Hodgdon Brothers and Goudy and Stevens, East Boothbay, ME; renamed Bulwark 23 May 1941; launched 6 October 1941; placed in service as USS Bulwark (AMc 68), 5 February 1942 at Boston, MA; placed out of service 18 June 1946 at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA; struck from the Navy Register 3 July 1946; sold to the city of Boston 12 September 1946 for use as a fire boat and renamed James McTighe after a Boston Fire Fighter killed in WWII; taken out of service in 1972 and sold to Carribbean interests for $5,600.00; fate unknown; Specifications: Displacement 195 t.; Length 97' 1"; Beam 22'; Draft 9' 1"; Speed 10 kts.; Complement 17; Armament two .50 cal. machine guns; Propulsion one 400bhp Atlas 6HM-2124 diesel engine, one shaft. These specifications match those of Capt. Circeo's J. J. Luna quite closely. It remains unclear if Marabout became Joseph J. Luna or Jame McTighe." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. October 12, 2009.)

"[On October 18, 2009, Joseph J. Luna, the tug on which Alan Circeo had lived 30 years in Boston Harbor, sank and was a total loss after a plank had sprung.]" (Source: Circeo, Alan. Email to Claas van der Linde, October 26, 2009.)

"Built in 164 days (setup to delivered; equivalent to $927/day, 2439 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Displacement 200 [long or short?] t." (Source: http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/03050.htm, last visit March 16, 2007.)

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