HMCo #495s Typhoon

"[1898-05-10] Tue 10: ... Turned over #495 Typhoon.
[1898-05-27] Fri 27: Rain last night. Clearing & warm in day. Thick in evening. Launched #495 Typhoon.
[1898-05-28] Sat 28: Fair. L[igh]t NE [wind] hauling to S in p.m. Tried Typhoon [#495s]. ...
[1898-05-29] Sun 29: Fair. L[igh]t S [wind]. Fog early. Off in Typhoon [#495s] and Kildee [#460s]. ...
[1898-05-30] Mon 30: Mod[erate] S [wind] ch[anging] to NW in evening & clearing. Off in Typhoon [#495s]. ...
[1898-06-06] Mon 6: Very fine. L[igh]t SE to SW [wind]. Delivered Typhoon [#495s] & [she] sail[ed] for Beverly. ..." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1898. Manuscript (excerpts). Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection.)

"Another of the modern type of knockabout boats was launched from the Herreshoff shops Friday [May 27, 1898]. Her name is Typhoon and she is twenty-one feet water line and she is rigged with a mainsail and jib. The latter are of the cross-cut style made by Herreshoff. She is painted white and has outside lead ballast as well as a centerboard. The latter fits into a slot in the outside lead keel and a pipe arrangement is used for hoisting and lowering the board. She is to be sent to Marblehead, Mass., and resembles in lines, with the exception of the centerboard, the sloop Onward [#487s], recently sent around Cape Cod for George Owen, Jr., of Boston. The Typhoon was given a trial trip in the harbor and bay Saturday [May 28, 1898] and left the Herreshoff pier about 2.45 o'clock. She was out for quite a while with Nat Herreshoff at the tiller, and during that time gave evidence that she is to be a fast one." (Source: Anon. "Yachting Notes." Bristol Phoenix, May 31, 1898, p. 4.)

"The following description of the new additions to the Boston raceabout fleet is from the Boston Globe:
The three Herreshoff boats in the 21ft. raceabout class are for W. O. Gay [#493s Jilt], ex-Com. William P. Fowle [#494s Sintram], of the Corinthian, and S. V. R. Thayer [#495s Typhoon], who last year raced the Herreshoff 30-footer Asahi [#463s] in the Y. R. A. races. The first two boats are keels, and the third is a centerboard. The arrival of Jilt, Mr. Gay's boat, has already, been told in these columns. Mr. Fowle's boat, Sintram, is now at Marblehead, and Mr. Thayer's boat is nearly ready for delivery. With three new Herreshoffers in the fleet the Boston-designed boats will be given a hustle." (Source: Anon. "The New Raceabouts." Forest and Stream, June 11, 1898, p. 471.)

"A most interesting fleet is that of the 21-foot race-abouts. There are a dozen new boats, and already the racing has shown that no one boat is to have a walkover, but that championship honors will be won only by the hardest kind of work. Herreshoff boats were last year beaten by Boston-designed boats, so this year the Bristol designer has made a special effort to recover the laurels won for him by Cock Robin [#461s], champion in 1896. Sintram [#494s], Jilt [#493s] and Typhoon [#495s] are his contributions this year, Sintram is owned by Ex-Com. William P. Fowle of the Corinthian club, and is a keel boat with all the characteristics of a fin-keel. She is as close to the minimum allowed water-line beam of the class --- 7 feet --- as she can be built, and is of 5 feet draught instead of 6, as were last year's boats. The Jilt, W. O. Gay, is much like the Sintram, but the Typhoon, built for S. V. R. Thayer, and sailed by Capt. 'Nate' Watson, is a centerboard of 7 feet 9 inches waterline beam; 3 feet 6 inches draught; and carrying 3,000 pounds of lead instead of 3,500 as by the keel boats. These are class restrictions, and all the boats are built as closely to them as possible. It promises to be an interesting contest between the keel and centerboard types as well as between individual boats." (Source: Robinson, W. W. "Racing Fleet of 1898, Yacht Racing Association of Massachusetts." Rudder, August 1898, p. 272.)

"... Jilt [#493s], W. O. Gay's Herreshoff design, which headed the record list last season, will again be raced, and her owner expects a fair share of wins even with a second-year boat. Typhoon [#495s], third on the list, has been sold by B. V. R. Thayer to 'Reggie' Boardman, and will be raced. Hazard [#480s], sold by H. M. Sears to Carl Hodges, will also be in the field, and should prove no mean antagonist in the latter's hands. ..." (Source: Anon. "Yachts and Yachtsmen. Continued Popularity of 21-Foot Raceabouts. Fleet of at Least a Dozen, New and Old, Assured for Season's Racing." Boston Globe, February 12, 1899, p. 15.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections and displacement curve titled '2nd trial. #495 [TYPHOON]. 1898'. With calculations arriving at a displacement of 79.5cuft = 5120lbs in sea water and a itemized weight listing arriving at a total weight of 5460lbs. On verso another set of penciled pantograph hull sections titled '1st [trial] #495. M[ar]ch 13 [18]98' with calculations arriving at a displacement of 85.5cuft = 5500lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_05160. Folder [no #]. 1898-03-13.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections, pantograph lead sections and displacement curves titled '3rd trial. No. 495. M[ar]ch 15 [18]98. Final. TYPHOON [#495s]. GADFLY [#497s]'. With calculations arriving at a displacement for the body part of 81.18cuft = 5165lbs plus 465lbs for the keel part for a total of 5630[lbs]." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_05240. Folder [no #]. 1898-03-15.)
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"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph lead sections titled 'No. 495 [#495s TYPHOON]. M[ar]ch 31 [18]97'. With calculations and note beginning with 'Disp[lacement] Body part 5165[lbs]. Keel part [465]. [Total] 5630[lbs] and concluding after '3rd trial 25in above base... 3000lbs will require top 25.65[in] above base using c.b. slot 43in long and 1 5/8in wide ...'." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Lead Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_09320. Folder [no #]. 1898-03-31.)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #495s Typhoon even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Typhoon (HMCo-made index card)
• Typhoon (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: Typhoon
Type: J & M
Length: 21'
Owner: Thayer, E. V. R.

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

• Typhoon
• 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: Typhoon
Type: 21' J & M
Owner: E. V. R. Thayer
Row No.: 701

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: Mar
Day: 4
Year: 1898
E/P/S: S
No.: 0495
Name: Typhoon
LW: 21'
B: 8'
D: 4'
Rig: J & M
K: y
CB: y
Ballast: Lead (o)
Amount: 2100.00
Notes Constr. Record: Moulds of 457 (crossed out)
Notes Bray: "Moulds of 457" crossed out. Note that 495 is listed as K & CB
Last Name: Thayer
First Name: E. V. R.

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.

"A note on the HMCo-made vessel index card for #495s Typhoon says she was 'wrecked', but does not provide a date for the incident." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. March 31, 2015.)

"Built in 84 days (contract to launch; equivalent to $25/day, 66 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Wrecked, as per an undated note on a HMCo-made vessel index card."

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