HMCo #429p APc5

"Model of AMc Mine Sweepers [preceding two words crossed out and replaced with] Transports, Apr[il] 1942.
Scale 3/8" = 1.
Templets[sic] made from Bureau of Ships Plans 446519 [and] 446513 and Eldridge-McInnis.
Design No. 287-C-728 Plan No 1.
In order to come fair the model differs from lines as follows:
Waterlines are fuller amidships with more tumble home.
Buttocks are raised forward of sternpost, deadwood faired.
Frame spaces 18.4".
Stations are 3-frame spaces or 4.6', except # 11 - # 11A which is 4-frame spaces or 6.132'.
Deduct 2 3/4" for planking.
Deduct 2 7/8" for deck.
Load W.L. is 10'-0" above base.
Stem as per Eldridge-McInnis plan E-McI. Hull No. 274, Sheet 1.
Bureau of Ships Plan No. 446513." (Source: Herreshoff, A. Sidney DeW.? [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.082.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Lieut. Comdr. John D Bulkeley, American Navy war hero, whose deeds of daring in the Philippines thrilled the peoples of the Allied Nations during the early months of American participation in the war, will appear in Bristol, Monday [September 20, 1942], under the auspices of the War Savings Department of the U S Treasury. ...
At 5 o'clock he will speak to the shipbuilders at Herreshoff Mfg. Co. and witness the launching of the APC5, fifth of the special task vessels built at the local shipyard.
Later, he and his party will be the dinner guests of Rudolf F. Haffenreffer Jr at Mount Hope Farms. The group will include Roderick Pirnie, State Administrator of the War Savings Staff in Rhode Island, Francis X A Flannery, Deputy Administrator, F R Dimond, chairman of the local War Savings Committee, and other invited guests. ...
At the Herreshoff yards there will also be a public address system for the benefit of the many people who are expected to crowd the street in the neighborhood of the 'lower yard.' A number of high-ranking naval officers from Washington will be present to inspect and witness the trials of the first A P C boat ever to be completed and delivered to the Navy.
C W Haffenreffer manager of the Herreshoff Mfg Co, will act as master of ceremonies and will introduce Lieut. Comdr Bulkeley. He will also introduce Mr Pirnie and the sponsor of the APC5, Mrs Rice, wife of a resident naval inspector at Herreshoff's. It it interesting to note that Mr Rice is a member of a Maine ship­building family whose company is now turning out vessels for the Navy. After the christening the new ship will be slowly lowered into the water. ..." (Source: Anon. "Naval War Hero Will Have Busy Day In Bristol Monday." Bristol Phoenix, September 18, 1942, p. 1.)

"Another APC boat was launched at the Herreshoff Mfg. Company this morning when APC-9 [#433p] slid down the ways after having been christened by Mrs. William A. O'Connor, wife of the Comptroller at the Herreshoff Company. Co-sponsors were their young son and daughter.
Present at the ceremonies attending the launching were Lt. (j. g.) and Mrs. French, Lt Comdr Hayes, representing the Superintendent of Shipbuilding at Quincy, Mass; C W. Haffenreffer, manager, and other company officials and naval officers. Lt. French is the prospective commander of the new ship.
The Herreshoff yards were also busy this morning with the commissioning of another APC boat [#429p APc5] previously launched some weeks ago. As the new crew took over and the ship's orders were read, the Herreshoff Band, led by Rocco Migliori, played appropriate airs.
Tomorrow the keel will be laid for another boat of this same class. [This is probably a reference to #507p APc92 whose keel was laid December 5, 1942.]" (Source: Anon. "Launching This Morning At Herreshoff's." Bristol Phoenix, December 1, 1942, p. 1.)

"Class: APC-1
Design: Navy APC-1
Displacement (tons): 161 light, 258 lim.
Dimensions (feet): 103.25' oa, 98.2' wl x 21.25' e x 9.25' lim.
Original Armament: 4-20mm single
Later armaments: 2-20mm single (1943: APc 87-90, 93-98, 110-111)
Complement: 21 (1944)
Speed (kts.): 10
Propulsion (HP): 400
Machinery: Diesel, 1 screw
...
APc-5; [contracted: ] 19 Feb 42; [builder: ] Herreshoff Mfg; [keel laid: ] 10 Jun 42; [launched: ] 21 Sep 42; [commissioned: ] 1 Dec 42; [decommissioned: ] 28 Jan 46; [struck: ] 8 May 46; [disposed: ] 17 Apr 47; [fate: ] Maritime Commission / Delivery; [MA sale: ] 15 Apr 47; [note: ] Ex AMc-168. Sold (delivered) by MC to G. A. Hunter, Eureka, Cal. Merc. Merc. DENNIS GAYLE 1947. ..." (Source: Roberts, Stephen S. "Class: APC-1." Compiled October 26, 2008. http://www.shipscribe.com/usnaux/APC/APC01.html, retrieved October 25, 2011.)

"Dennis Gayle [vessel name]; Hunters Offshore Enterprises Inc [owner]; Fields Landing, CA [hailing port]; Herreshoff Manufacturing [manufactucter]; 1942 [year built]; Recreational [type]; 198.0 [gross tons]; 96.60 [length in ft]. [Note: Size and building year suggest this to be #414p Defiance AMP-73." (Source: http://www.boatinfoworld.com/boat/registrations/fields-landing-ca-california.asp, retrieved September 14, 2008.)

"For Sale ...
Dennis Gayle [vessel]; 103 [length]; Hunter, Bill [owner]; Po Box 336 [address]; Fields Landing [city]; Ca [state]; 95537 [zip]; [707-441-1070 telephone]" (Source: http://www.trawl.org/Boats.html, retrieved September 14, 2008.)

"Humboldt County, CA, November 8, 2005 Election; Full Biography for Dennis G. Hunter, Candidate for Commissioner; Humboldt Bay Harbor Recreation and Conservation District; Division 4 ...My family made Eureka our home when my father and mother, Gib and Maxine along with my sister, Gayle and I, moved from Newport, Oregon in the mid 1940's. My brother Bill joined us later when he was born in Eureka. My life around Humboldt Bay began as my sister, brother and I watched our father's whaling boat, the Dennis Gayle, tow whales into the Fields Landing whaling station. Years later, the fish processing company, Eureka Fisheries, began in 1953 and expanded to become one of the largest fish processing companies on the west coast. ... (Source: http://www.smartvoter.org/2005/11/08/ca/hm/vote/hunter_d/bio.html, retrieved September 14, 2008.)

"... One of the greatest changes of the last 10 or 15 years has been shown by the trawler fleet. From about 10 pairs of boats, using paranzella nets in 1940, the fleet has expanded to 80 or more boats in 1947, all using stern-set otter trawls. This includes a large influx of boats which come down from the north in the off-halibut season and change to trawl gear. The size of the boats has increased from a maximum of 50-55 feet to 60-70 feet, with a few even larger (the largest is the Dennis Gayle, 103 feet over-all). ..." (Source: Bureau Of Marine Fisheries. "Fish Bulletin No. 74. The Commercial Fish Catch of California for The Year 1947 with An Historical Review 1916-1947." State Of California Department Of Natural Resources. Division of Fish and Game Bureau of Marine Fisheries. 1949. http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=kt1q2n9851&brand=calisphere&doc.view=entire_text, retrieved September 14, 2008.)

"... Progress, alas, is inevitable. The sailing ship of old has been replaced by converted World War 11 navy vessels, manned bv relatively small crews of five men. At present there are two licensed whale catchers working out of San Francisco Bay. The Dennis Gayle, which formerly based at the Fields Landing station, and the Donna Mae began operations in the spring of 1956." (Source: California. Dept. of Fish and Game. "Forty-Fourth Biennial Report for the Years 1954-1956." Sacramento, 1956, p. 57. www.archive.org/details/californiafishgabien19541956cali, retrieved September 14, 2008.)

"... Last year I purchased the DENNIS GAYLE, a 1942 Herreshoff built for the U.S. Navy as a coastal transport vessel. She is 100' LOA and constructed of Douglas-fir planking over oak frames.
She saw action in the Pacific Theatre in WWII and was part of Gen. Douglas MacArthur's fleet leading up to the invasion of the Philippines. After decommissioning she was sold in 1946 and began a whaling career that lasted until whaling was outlawed in the U.S. in the 1970s.
Matthew Maurice, Fields Landing, California." (Source: Maurice, Matthew. "The Last of Her Type." [Letter to the Editor.] Wooden Boat 216, September/October 2010, p. 8.)

"APc-5. Built in 1942 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co., Bristol, Rhode Island.
Commissioned on November 30,1942. Operated in the Pacific under Lt. Glenn S. Fikcs, USNR, and decommissioned on January 29, 1946 at San Francisco.
Registered in 1947 by Gilbert A. Hunter, 3150 F St., Eureka, California, as the 198-ton whaling vessel Dennis Gayle, call sign KPEK and WA4147 in 1949. In 1954 the address of record was Rt. 1, Box 485, Bayside, California, and in 1963 Hunter moved the boat to Coos Bay, Oregon.
Registered in 1964 by Hunters Offshore Enterprises, Inc., Box 456, Empire, Oregon, as the 198-ton whaling vessel Dennis Gayle, homeported at Coos Bay, call sign WA4147. In 1970 the address of record was c/o Eureka Fisheries, Box 217, Fields Landing, California, and in 1989 the boat was registered as a fishing boat at San Francisco. In 2006 the call sign was WTU8933 and the address was Box 217, Fields Landing, California.
Registered in 2007 by Stanwood A. Murphy, Jr., 3550 Nelson Ln., Fortuna, California, as the 187-ton yacht Dennis Gayle homeported at Eureka, California.
Currently registered since 2009 by Matthew Maurice, 2907 Shelter Island Dr., Suite 105-143, San Diego, California, as the 198-ton yacht Dennis Gayle.
ON 252763." (Source: Williams, Greg H. World War II Vessels in Private Hands. Jefferson, NC, 2013, p. 12.)

"On the morning of Feb. 28, someone at the Humboldt Bay Forest Products Dock in Fields Landing noticed the Dennis Gayle, which had been moored there for years, was gone. The wood-hulled ship, a repurposed Naval vessel that was once the last boat to whale out of Humboldt Bay before the practice was banned in the 1970s, was lying at the bottom of the bay. No one yet knows exactly why it sank --- a sprung plank in the hull is everyone's best guess --- but it didn't surprise anyone. The Dennis Gayle had been ready to go underwater for years. It had turned on its side as it sank, and a thin sheen of oil had covered the surface of the bay near the dock by the time people gathered to look at the space where it had once been. ...
...in 2009, an OSPR specialist boarded the Dennis Gayle and measured the fuel in its tanks and the oil in its engines and generators, finding a few thousand gallons of hazardous materials on board.
Using the financial sting of the Allen Cody's sinking as leverage --- the spill response cost the boat's owner several hundred thousand dollars --- Dayton and the OSPR team convinced the Dennis Gayle's owner to have the hazardous materials pumped out of the boat's engine and tanks.
It paid off. The Dennis Gayle is likely leaching creosote and other chemicals from its wood into the water --- it's impossible to completely scrub the oil from an old boat --- but its sinking didn't warrant a spill response. Dayton said he hasn't seen wildlife impacted by the boat having gone down. The boat's owner saved a lot of money that way, and taxpayers probably did, too (though who will foot the bill to refloat the Gayle is yet to be determined). ..." (Source: Anon. "That Sinking Feeling." North Coast Journal, retrieved January 21, 2020.)

"Twenty-two of these 'jacks of all trades' were built between October 1942 and July 1943 --- with an average of nearly one of these 103-footers each week. Each cost $145,750, and they appear to have been contracted for in two batches, with the lead ship [#425p] of the class (APc 1) included in the first batch of ten; APc 85 [#500p] through APc 96 [#511p] constituted the second batch. It was an impressive rate of production, especially so because the APcs were built concurrently with eight 71-foot British Vosper torpedo boats, which were built in the South Construction Shop." (Source: Bray, Maynard and Carlton Pinheiro. Herreshoff of Bristol. Brooklin, Maine, 1989, p. 226-227.)

Year: 1942
E/P/S: P
No.: 429p
Name: APc5
OA: 103' 2 1/2"
LW: 98' 1 1/2"

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.

"The design of the APc Coastal Transport Class was based on that of the Eldredge McInnis-designed 93ft AMc Minesweeper, lengthened by a 6ft plug. [Information based on a plaque at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.]" (Source: van der Linde, Claas. December 14, 2008.)

"Built in 214 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $678/day, 1047 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"[Displacement 100 long tons.]" (Source: http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/23/23009.htm, retrieved March 29, 2011.)

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