HMCo #424s Wraith

"[1892-02-11] Thu 11: Received order from Mr. Fletcher for catyawl [#424s Wraith].
[1892-04-02] Sat 2: Set up cat yawl, #424 [Wraith].
[1892-04-07] Thu 7: Began planking catyawl, #424 [Wraith].
[1892-04-21] Thu 21: Turned over #424 [Wraith]. ...
[1892-06-20] Mon 20: Launched #424 [Wraith].
[1892-06-24] Fri 24: Delivered #424 [Wraith]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1892. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"[Note in offset booklet for #406s Iris:]
Bow changed and extended for catyawl #424.
Changes indicated by red figures.
Frame spaces 12 1.2".
not used but new model made." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.066.] Undated, ca. February 1892. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"#424.
Cruising catyawl.
About 32' on deck, 23' w.l., 8' 6" beam, 5' 3" draft.
Frame spaces 12" [center symbol] to [center symbol].
In making frames deduct
for planking 7/8"
for timbers 1 3/8"
[Total] 2 1/4".
Planking single at bottom for about 1/3 and double for rest.
Sheer heights given are to under side of deck at side.
Stem & stern posts sided 4 1/2" inches[?].
Keel 3 3/4" thick." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Note (in ink) in Offset Booklet HH.4.081.] Undated, ca. February 1892. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"... Providence, May 2 [1892]. --- ... Ten new boats are in the Herreshoff works. ... The twenty-three-foot water line catyawl for Mr. Fletcher is well under way. ..." (Source: Anon. "Wasp Sails For The Hudson." New York Times, May 3, 1892, p.3.)

"Bristol, R. I., May 28 [1892]. --- The Herreshoffs are nearing the end of their season's work, and in a few weeks only the big steel steamer [#172p Truant] for Mrs. Newberry of Detroit will be left in the shops out of the many boats which have crowded them during the winter. The season has been a busy one, and now the firm are awaiting the outcome of the racing with great interest. ... The 24-foot yawl [#424s Wraith] is nearly ready for launching. ..." (Source: Anon. "With The Herreshoffs. Season's Work of Bristol Firm Drawing to a Close." Boston Globe, May 29, 1892, p. 1.)

"Cat Yawl No. 424 (Wraith).
Built at Bristol, RI, by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.
5.6 net tons; 28.7 ft. x 8.6 ft. x 5.9 ft. [Register length x breadth x depth.]
One deck, two masts, plain head, transom stern.
Surveyed and measured, [no date (1892)]." (Source: U.S. Customs Department, Bristol, R.I. Custom House Record Book, 1870s to 1904 (Collection of the Herreshoff Marine Museum), s.v. Wraith.)

"... At Bristol, the Herreshoffs have sent the 16-foot cat yawl [#419s Coquina 2nd] to Minnetonka, the 17-foot fin [#427s Fin] to Auburn, N. Y., and the half-rater [#425s Wee Winn] to Southhampton. Friday [June 24, 1892], the 23-foot cat yawl [#424s Wraith] left for Conanicut Park." (Source: Anon. "Yachts and Yachtsmen." Boston Globe, June 26, 1892, p. 21.)

"The spring work at Bristol is about finished, only the large steel steam yacht [#172p Truant] remaining. Last week the the half-rater Wee Win [#425s] was sent to New York for shipment to England, a 17ft. fin-keel [#421s Bee] was sent to Auburn, N. Y., a 16ft. cat-yawl to Lake Minnetonka, Minn. [#419s Coquina 2nd], and a 23ft. cat-yawl to Conanicut Park [#424s Wraith]; while the 30ft. centerboard Edith M. [#426s] was launched." (Source: Anon. "Yacht News Notes." Forest and Stream, June 30, 1892, p. 621.)

"Wednesday H. L Marsh of Newport sold to Edward J. Prest of the firm of Prest & Dixon, a 33-foot cruising yawl. The name of the craft is 'Wrath' and she was built at the Herreshoff boat shops. The sale was made through the agency of W. P. Gladding of this town." (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, November 2, 1906, p. 2.)

"BRISTOL, R I, Mar 25 [1911] --- ... The yawl Rafe, built by Herreshoff in 1893, for Charles Fletcher, has recently been sold to Capt F H. Torrey and the yacht is in the Bristol construction company's yard, being fitted out for the season." (Source: Anon. "Bristol Notes." Boston Globe, March 26, 1911, p. 57.)

"Yawl Yacht Wraith For Sale
(HERRESHOFF BUILD.)
34 Feet overall, 8 1/2 feet beam, 5 feet draught, 2 1/2 ton lead keel outside. Sails all in good condition. Accommodations for sleeping four. Metal lined ice chest. Copper water tank under floor connected with sink by pump. Marine closet forward. Lights, compass and binnacle, all complete. Cushions and rugs. Will be sold at a sacrifice. For further particulars inquire.
E. J. EATON, 218 Bank Street,
SUCCESSOR TO EATON & WILSON." (Source: Anon. [Classified Advertisement.] The [New London] Day, August 15, 1911, p. 7."

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Three groups of penciled midship sections on brown paper. Untitled. Some of the sections in the first group are marked '40ft', '23ft catyawl #424 [WRAITH]', '21[?] 1/2ft 18.6sqft Disp[lacement] 17200', 'CONSUELO [#400s] 21.5[sqft] Disp[lacement] 21400[lbs]', '29[?] 1/2[ft] [#409s GANNET ???] 24.8sqft Disp[lacement] 25000[lbs]. None of the sections in the second group is identified. Some of the sections in the third group are marked '46 foot', 'Owen's IRIS [#406s]', '22 1/2[ft] w.l', '18.6sqft 26 1/2ft w.l.', '19.0sqft CLARA [#402s]'. With note 'CLARA L / cube-root(Disp[lacement]) = 4.32'. With small sketch of block and tackle with hook. Undated (the latest boat mentioned is from 1891)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Midship Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_09720. Folder [no #]. No date (1891 or later ?).)
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"[Item Description:] [Handwritten (in ink) letter on 'Love Rocks' stationery:] Will send clothes [to New York on #437s VIGILANT], have been expecting you home every day or would have written earlier, Frank has attended to the WRAITH [#424s], [her owner] Mr. Fletcher used her yesterday and has not brought her back, news from home, expected you home last Sunday, made arrangements to have the children baptized, when I found you were not coming I became your proxy and had it done in the afternoon, we were all very sorry you were not here, but I imagine you do not feel very bad, today is my birth-day, I am forty years old, it does not seem possible, do you realize we have been married ten years, I hope you will be on the VIGILANT during the races and she will be the chosen one." (Source: Herreshoff, Clara deW. [Caddie]. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_46580. Correspondence, Folder 103. 1893-09-05.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections on 'Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Bristol, R.I., John B. Herreshoff Prest. & Treas., N.G. Herreshoff, Supt., C.W. Young, Sec'y' stationery. Titled '#424. 1892. WRAITH. Scale 3/4. Taken off M[ar]ch 15 1903. 23ft l.w.l.'. With note 'Sails Main 515[sqft]. Mizzen 137[sqft]. [Sum] 652[sqft]'. With calculations arriving at a displacement of 200[cuft] [= 12800lbs]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_07970. Folder [no #]. 1903-03-15.)
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"[Item Description:] Four handwritten (in ink) pages with tabulated data listing 'Shop No', 'Name', '[Tons] Gross' and '[Tons] Net' for a total of 100 HMCo-built boats and classes. Tonnage data is usually precise to two digits behind the decimal. Random comparisons suggest source of tonnage data to be official Custom House data. Boats mentioned are: #664s, #663s, #625s, #665s, #634s, #658s, #657s, #646s, #641s, #617s, #626s Class, #624s, #621s, #616s, #619s, #590s, #591s, #586s, #592 Class, #618s, #605s, #578s, #560s Class, #580s, #553s, #551s, #552s, #546s, #541s, #545s, #538s, #534s, #533s, #532s, #529s, #534s, #530s, #531s, #435s, #437s, #452s, #499s, #429s, #426s, #424s, #481s, #422s, #417s, #414s, #451s, #215p, #213p, #222p, #235p, #230p, #229p, #236p, #224p, #244p, #247p, #249p, #231p, #232p, #228p, #252p, #250p, #251p, #248p, #168p, #164p, #118p, #142p, #174p, #173p, #194p, #189p, #193p, #183p, #178p, #179p, #181p, #182p, #175p, #163p, #148p, #149p, #172p, #155p, #170p, #186p, #188p, #206p, #207p, #205p, #208p, #209p, #210p, #211p, #212p, #216p. Undated (the latest boat listed, WINSOME, was launched in 1907)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (?) (creator). Handwritten List. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE06_00220. Folder [no #]. No date (1907 or later).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #424s Wraith even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Wraith (HMCo-made index card)
• Wraith (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: Wraith
Type: Cat Yawl
Length: 23'
Owner: Fletcher, Charles

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

• Wraith
• 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: Wraith
Type: 23' cat yawl
Owner: Charles Fletcher
Year: 1892
Row No.: 766

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.

Month: Feb
Day: 22
Year: 1892
E/P/S: S
No.: 0424
Name: Wraith
LW: 23' 0"
B: 8' 6"
D: 5' 2"
Rig: Cat Yawl
K: K
Ballast: Lead
Amount: 2600.00
Last Name: Fletcher
First Name: Chas.

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.

"Figure for LOA from a note 'Length deck about 32ft' in NGH design booklet entry dated March 20, 1892." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 17, 2014.)

"Built in 119 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $22/day, 111 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Displ. 13230lbs from a preliminary calculation in NGH design booklet entry dated March 20, 1892." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. September 17, 2014.)

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