HMCo #478s [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel]

"[1896-06-24] Wed 24: Have order for 15-footer, (#478) [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel].
[1896-06-27] Sat 27: Set up frames of #478 [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel].
[1896-07-21] Tue 21: Delivered 1/2-rater to Mr. Drexel [#478s]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1896. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"A new fin keel sloop, built for John R. Fell of Philadelphia at Herreshoff's, was launched Tuesday [July 21, 1896], and was given a satisfactory trial in the harbor. Her dimensions are 18 foot waterline, 23 feet overall, 5 foot beam and 4 feet 6 inches draught, including fin. Mr. Fell came to Bristol in steam yacht Barracouta of Philadelphia and towed the new fin keel boat down to Newport astern of the steam yacht. [Barracouta was a brigantine-rigged steam yacht, 134.7ft LOA, built in 1869 by Nillus & Son in Havre, France and owned by Mrs. Sarah Drexel Fell, as per the 1896 American Yacht List. Sarah Drexel (1860-1929) was Anthony J. Drexel's daughter and the wife of John R. Fell.]" (Source: Anon. "Bristol and Vicinity." Bristol Phoenix, July 24, 1896, p. 2.)

"... A Herreshoff half-rater owned by Colonel A. J. Drexel has been added to the fleet of the Corinthian Yacht Club. ..." (Source: Anon. "The Margarita Has Sailed." New York Herald, August 27, 1896, p. 13.)

"N/A"

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #478s [Half-rater for A. J. Drexel] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Half rater (HMCo-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.

Type: J & M
Length: 14'5"
Owner: Drexel, A. J.

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

• Half rater
• 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: N/A
Type: 14' 5" J & M
Owner: A. J. Drexel
Row No.: 799

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: June
Day: 24
Year: 1896
E/P/S: S
No.: 0478
Name: 1/2 rater?
LW: 14' 5'
B: 4' 7"
D: 3' 9"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead
Amount: $1100.00
Notes Constr. Record: Moulds of 419
Last Name: Dupel?
First Name: A. J.

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.

"Osprey was apparently ordered by the Cuban American banker Fernando Yznaga (October 16, 1850 – March 6, 1901) for William Kissam Vanderbilt Jr. (26 October 1878 – 8 January 1944) who would have been sixteen when she was launched. Yznaga was a well known New York society man as per his New York Times obituary of May 1, 1905 and a very close friend of W. K. Jr.'s father William Kissam Vanderbilt (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920). Just why the Construction Record lists 'T. Yznaga' as having ordered this boat is not clear. Was the name in the Construction Record mispelled and meant to read 'F. Yznaga'?
W. K. Vanderbilt Jr. would subsequently own the sloop Carmita from 1898 to 1900, followed by the Herreshoff-built New York 70 Virginia, named for his wife and launched in 1900 which he owned until 1908. Unlike his younger brother Harold Stirling (Mike) Vanderbilt who owned and successfully campaigned numerous Herreshoff boats, it appears W. K. Vanderbilt Jr. was not a happy Herreshoff customer. He was reported to have been disgusted at his half-rater Osprey after she had lost a well-publicised match race against the W. P. Stephens-designed half-rater Ideal and he refused to have the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company repair and strengthen his New York 70 Virginia, after all boats of the class had proven to be too lightly built and were to be strengthened at HMCo at the owner's expense to which he objected." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. May 25, 2021.)

"Built in 27 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $41/day, 45 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

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