HMCo #954s Mary Rose

"[1925-08-05] Wed 5: ... Mr. Brooks signed a contract for a 47' schooner [#954s Mary Rose].
[1926-06-09] Wed 9: [Thermometer] 55 - 70. Fine & warmer with N to NW [wind]. In forenoon went off in Mr. Brook's sch[ooner] - Mary Rose - [#954s]. Sailed well but rigging needs adjustments.
[1927-06-27] Mon 27: Very fine. Mod[erate] northerly [wind]. ... At 10-20 left for Newport with Harold V[anderbilt] in [express cruiser] Maintenon, met a few yachtsmen at clubhouse, then outside to see start of New York Y. C. 75 Annual [Regatta]. ...
[1927-06-28] Tue 28: ... [#954s] 'Mary Rose' won yesterday." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1925 to 1927. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"Nov. 4, 1914.
Layout for planking seams on #743 [Haswell].
-> Same in #954 [Mary Rose].
To define positions on frames for punching holes for planking bolts.
The layout for plank on [center symbol] (# 20 frame) is as follows.
Beginning at sheer height (marked S):
Plank sheer 1 3/4in
Sheer strake 6in then
4 strakes of 5 1/2in wide to seam A
6 strakes of 5 1/2in wide to seam B
4 strakes of 8 1/2in wide to seam C
4 strakes of 8 1/2in wide to seam D
Garboard 10 1/4in wide more or less.
It is expected to steal in a short hood under aft end of garboard, which should be about 8in wide at aft end and 11ft or 12ft long.
From [center symbol] aft fugures are given for the seam intermediat[e] between C and D which is marked cd. It is intended to steal in short hoods in the seams which are intermediat[e] between C and cd, als cd and D, and they would be 8ft or 9ft long, thus:
[Sketch]
Note: On account of the shrinkage and twisting of model since originally measured corrections on the scriveboard will have to be made when laying down the following measurements so to come to original lines. [Note by Maynard Bray from March 7, 2021: These instructions are for composite yachts whose steel frames have to be punched for the plank fastenings before they're erected, and probably before they're even bent. I expect there'd be a wooden batten that transferred NGH's directions from the lofting (aka the skrive board) to the piece of angle iron that, when bent, will become a frame. From the batten, the steel will be marked for punching. I don't know what HMCo's punching device looked like, but I expect much like a huge drill press, in which case holes would be punched with the pieces lying flat --- i.e. before any bending took place. After the frames are erected (rightside up, I presume for composite yachts), and a plank is clamped into place, its frame-to-plank bolt holes would be bored from inboard to outboard through the previously-punched holes. The holes will then be counterbored from the outside for the bolt heads. If all goes well, the bolts will land just as they should --- and as NGH instructed. I imagine NGH laid battens along the half model to establish seams A, B, C, and D just as he did for steel-plated hulls, only these wood-planked, composite hulls would be subdivided according to plank widths.]" (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene. [Handwritten note relating to #743s Haswell and #954s Mary Rose in offset booklet HH.4.175 for model 1902.] August 4, 1914. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"No. 954 Schooner for Mr. Brooks. Aug[ust] 1925.
Frame spaces increased to 19 1/2".
Both ends lengthened as per blue gigures [in offset booklet].
Rail height same as original.
Rake of rudder stock to be 30deg. with rudder port in same position to frame spacing.
Stern post and rudder thicknesses and rudder profile to be obtained from drawing and mould loft floor. N.G.H." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Pencilled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.175.] Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"May 10, 1926
Trial of 'Mary Rose' #954
Aux. Schooner for Mr. Harold Brooks
6-cyl. Scripps Model F engine 3 3/4in x 5in
Herreshoff folding propeller 24in x 14in
Upper 1/2 mi[le] course; tide ebb; wind S, 4 mph.
[Followed by tabulated trial run data with best average speed being 9.25 mph]." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten note in Experiments Booklet '1911 Trial Trips and Experiments' under date of May 10, 1926. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"Dear Mr. Rigg,
In reply to your kind note of 31st [January 1935]. I believe the three boats Flying Cloud [#703s], Haswell [#743s] and Mary Rose [#954s] (all three being alike, except the latter lengthened a little) to be very perfect models to combine good sailing qualities with cruising comfort. All are strongly built and fit for sea-going. Flying Cloud never was in racing hands, and has not the record she deserves. Haswell at first had no sailing record but was fortunate in falling into the smart Canadians hands --- [Aemilius] Jarvis --- , who got her rig in shape and made a brilliant record with her even winning with schooner rig allowance against the crack J-class yachts, and her next owner, on the Pacific Coast did wonders with her. As to Mary Rose, you probably know more about her than I do, as she was built after my retirement ... Of course you know that in ordinary racing success depends in the ability of the owner and skipper on average at about 3-1, and in ocean racing, the owner, skipper, and crew on average about 4-1 ..." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. Letter to [T. Linton?] Rigg. February 2, 1935. Offered for sale by Rulon-Miller Books, https://www.rulon.com/pages/books/56477/nathaniel-greene-herreshoff/two-page-autograph-letter-signed-on-personalized-stationary-n-g-herreshoff-bristol-r-i, retrieved December 27, 2020.)

"... In the rear of the [north] shop there is under construction a 65-foot overall auxiliary schooner for Harold W. Brooks of New York, in which is being installed a six cylinder Scripps engine. This yacht is designed by Mr. Herreshoff, and is 46 feet on the water line, 14 feet beam and 8 feet draft. She will be available for racing in the so-called auxiliary schooner division on the New York Yacht Club cruise next summer. ..." (Source: Swan, William Upham. "Busy Days at Bristol." Yachting, January 1926, p. 56-57.)

"The New Bedford schooner Harlequin [#934s] was launched Friday [April 23, 1926] from the Walker's Cove yard and taken up under the shears to have her masts stepped. In the shed, the Brooks 47 foot composite schooner [#954s Mary Rose] is in shape to be launched at any time, and the two New York 40's [#955s Marilee and #983s Rugosa II] are receiving their inside finish. About every space in the shop not occupied by something bigger, has a 12 1/2 foot water-line boat in some stage of completion, filling it up." (Source: Davis, Jeff. "Yachting Gossip." Providence Journal, April 25, 1926, p. ?.)

"... Mr. and Mrs. Howard Reed are the boating enthusiasts, and they come from Worcester, Mass.
Mr. Reed has retired from active business. He was formerly the head of the Coates Clipper and Manufacturing Company, the Rolled Thread Die, and the Reed Small Tool Works in his home city.
Mr. Reed has a real love for boats. Shortly after the recent hurricane, he discovered a trim craft battle-scarred from the storm at New Bedford. He saw possibilities in the boat, bought it, and took it to Boothbay Harbor with him. He worked long and carefully over the 63-foot schooner. It responded well to his care, and today it is as seaworthy as it was before the tidal wave cast it far up on a Massachusetts beach. Because the craft had withstood such a grilling and was so fresh and strong again the new owner renamed her the Gallant. ...[Note: Photos of Mary Rose after the 1938 hurricane in New Bedford when owned by Russell Stearns of Boston clearly show her with the name Gallant on her transom, indicating that the renaming story is nice but not true.]" (Source: Averill, Esther C. "Visitors Find Life Enjoyable in Winter Aboard. Retired Worcester, Mass., Man Makes Boat Home." Portland Press Herald, July 1940[, p. ?].)

"... The 64' 10" Herreshoff-designed schooner Gallant, from the fleet owned by the late E. Howard Reed at Boothbay Harbor, has been sold through Eldredge-Mclnnis to Walker Fielding, and Eustis Pennock. ..." (Source: Anon. "Short Ends". Yachting, 1944 [Vol. 75, p. 140].)

"Wildfire [#891s], Gallant (ex-Mary Rose) [#954s], and other famous yachts for charter by the week during the summer of 1945.
Form your own group, or we will assist you in forming one. Because of the War, we cannot sell you boats, but you need not go 'landlubber' this summer.
For illustrated folder, write to:
Camden Cruises. Camden Shipbuilding & Marine Railway Co. Camden, Maine. New York Office Tel: Circle 5-8370." (Source: Camden Shipbuilding & Marine Railway Co. "Camden Cruises." Yachting, March 1945, p. 122.)

"On November 8, 2010, at 11 a.m., the 65', 1926 Herreshoff staysail schooner MARY ROSE broke free of her mooring and was carried down the bay. But as if the hand of Capt. Nathanael Greene Herreshoff was reaching out to protect her, she slowed, did a pirouette, and slid into a sand-flled crevice among the boulders directly in front of the old workshop where Herreshoff lived and worked. He named the building Love Rocks, and it is just yards away from the Herreshoff Mgf. Co.’s South Construction Shop, where MARY ROSE was built.
On this day, all her admirers were praying for her safety. She was standing upright, but we held our breath as we awaited the low tide at 2:44 p.m. Miraculously, she stayed put, with only 4' of her keel stuck in the sand and 5' of her hull below the waterline exposed. A number of people from the museum joined the vigil, and all of us dreaded that she might fall over onto the rocks as the tide ebbed. But there she stood in all her glory, remaining upright and attracting many amazed onlookers. No one had ever seen anything like it. Everyone waited, and if they were like me, they were doing a lot of praying, or at least crossing their fingers.
It became a waiting game until high tide. Tucker Roy Marine Towing Inc., summoned by her captain, Tom Bradford, arrived and began preparations. Marine surveyor Dana Collier called it 'one in a million' that the boat had picked the harbor’s only sandy spot to land in. A diver sent down to investigate reported that she wasn’t resting against rock; the only thing holding her up was the sand. The harbormaster arrived and concurred that awaiting the tide was the best plan. The Coast Guard was satisfed that no oil or fuel leakage was likely.
Finally, at 8 p.m., Conrad Roy’s crew, having buoyed the hull with air bags, started their tow. The crowd cheered as MARY ROSE glided off her sandy nest, looking glorious in the tug’s shining spotlight. As she slid into the starry night, I imagined that she waved regally, smiled, and blew a kiss to her creator, Capt. Nat. [With photo.¨]" (Source: Blue, Bonnie. "Offcuts." Woodenboat #219, March/April 2011, p. 16.)

"N/A"

"[Item Description:] Typed 'Specifications For, And Forming Part Of The Contract For An Auxiliary Cruising Schooner Yacht [#954s MARY ROSE] ... For Mr. Harold W. Brooks of New York" including a 'Memorandum to be Added to the Specifications for Mr. Harold Brooks' Schooner' dated September 8th, 1925. With penciled note in upper margin 'Drafting Room. #954'. 6 pages." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Specifications. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.020. Box HAFH.6.1B, Folder Hull No. 954s. No date (1925-08-05).)
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"[Item Description:] HMCo Plan HH.5.12157 (146-043). Blueprint sailplan titled '164-43 [sic, i.e. 146-43] #954 [MARY ROSE] Sailplan. Oct 27, 1925'." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Blueprint. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item WRDT06_00980. Folder [no #]. 1925-10-27.)
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"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (in ink) trials booklet titled '1911. Trial Trips and Experiments'. Relevant contents:
§56: #954s MARY ROSE Trial Run best average speed 9.25mph (1926-05-10)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator) and Herreshoff, A. Sidney deW. (creator). Trials Booklet. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE07_04280. Folder [no #]. 1911-06 to 1926-05.)
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"[Item Description:] will add your new supplementary condition in the deed of gift [of the Herreshoff Medal], spent 3 days on #719s VAGRANT II with her new staysail rig, wonderfully closewinded, rig discussion, #954s MARY ROSE sailed through harbor with only sails between her masts which convinced me of the new rig, MARY ROSE jib seemed too large for strong winds" (Source: Cormack, George A. Letter to N.G. Herreshoff. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_18140. Correspondence, Folder 49, formerly 76. 1926-06-14.)
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"[Item Transcription:] [Printed circular, two sheets of paper:] New York Yacht Club The Cruise 1927
Additional Racing Instructions Run From Huntington To New London—16Th August
In case of no wind at Huntington at the proposed time of the Start on the 16th August, the following signals will be made by the Flagship: etc. ... [Plus printed circular:] New York Yacht Club
List of yachts, measurement certificates of which were on file with the Race Committee on August 1, 1927, which will be valid for the Cruise.
SCHOONERS: C Class
C 2 OHONKARA [#827s]
C 7 VAGRANT [#719s]
C 3 VANITIE
D Class: D 25 ADVANCE
D 7 CONSTANCE
D 22 WILDFIRE [#891s]
D 5 LYNX
E Class: E 4 AURELIA
E 9 QUEEN MAB [#698s]
E16 SHAWNA
F Class: F3 CURLEW
F 4 MARY ROSE [#954s]
F 1 PLEIONE [#714s]
F 11 CACHALOT
G Class: S.C. 11 CLYTIE
S.C. 12 NADJI
S.C. 9 NOKOMIS
S.C. 6 SEVEN SEAS
G 1 WANDERER IX
G 7 MALABAR VII
H Class: H 3 FLYING FISH
H 2 ADVENTURER
KETCH: H 7 ANGELICA
SLOOPS
J Class: J 1 KATOURA [#1050s]
L.0. Class: L.0. 1 GEORGIA
L.0. 4 GREY DAWN
L.0. 5 MIRAGE
L.0. 3 NIMBUS
M Class: M 5 CAROLINA [#721s]
M 3 CHIORA [#713s ex-IROQUOIS II]
M 38 DOLLY
M 4 IBIS [#715s ex-GRAYLING]
M 1 PRESTIGE [#1058s]
M 6 SPARTAN [#712s]
10 Meter Class: 10M 9 BLAZING STAR
10M 7 BRANTA
10M 4 CYTHERA
10M 11 DRAGON
10M 8 ESQUILA
10M 6 NARCISSUS
10M 14 NAUTILUS
10M 10 RAEBURN
10M 12 REDHEAD
10M 10 REVENGE
10M 13 SHAWARA
10M 3 SYNTHETIC
10M 1 TWILIGHT
10M 5 VALENCIA
N Class: N 2 ALICE
P Class: P 1 BUTTERFLY [#586s ex-NELLIE]
50 Class: N. Y. Y. C. 52 ANDIAMO [#716s ex-SAMURI]
40 Class: N. Y. Y. C. 42 COCKATOO [#775s ex-DOLLY BOWEN]
N. Y. Y. C. 50 MARILEE [#955s]
N. Y. Y. C. 46 MISTRAL [#774s]
N. Y. Y. C. 47 PAMPERO [#781s ex-PAMPARO]
N. Y. Y. C. 45 TYPHOON [#773s ex-MAISIE]
N. Y. Y. C. 49 ROWDY* [#776s]
30 Class: N. Y. 1 ALERA [#626s]
N. Y. 7 ALICE [#632s ex-TABASCO]
N. Y. 9 AMORITA [#635s ex-ADELAIDE II]
N. Y. 15 BANZAI [#640s]
N. Y. 4 INTERLUDE [#629s ex-MAID OF MEUDON]
N. Y. 5 LENA [#630s ex-PINTAIL]
N. Y. 11 ORIOLE [#637s]
N. Y. 13 PHANTOM [#648s ex-MINX]
N. Y. 17 PHRYNE (Rig changed to jib-headed mainsail.) [#643s]
Q Class: F. I. S. 3 CHANCE [#1059s]
F. I. S. 1 CYRILLA II [#1054s]
F. I. S. 2 JUDY [#1055s]
F. I. S. 4 MAMEENA [#1060s]
YAWLS M Class: N. Y. 51 REVERY [#720s ex-ACUSHLA]
M 1 RUGOSA II [#983s]
... August 1, 1827. [Compared to the equivalent list from 1924 the number of boats has increased from 49 to 73, while the number of Herreshoff-built yachts has shrunk from 37 to 32 or 44%.] [Incl envelope from Race Committee NYYC to NGH, labeled in red 'Rating & allowance' and postmarked August 4, 1927.]" (Source: NYYC. Correspondence (circular) to Members. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MR_73330. Measuring and Measurement Rules (Box 2), Folder B2F07, formerly MRDE15. 1927-08-01.)
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"[Item Description:] Handwritten notebook titled on outer cover 'Droughting Room. Blue Prints Record' providing a list of drawings with information in columns titled 'Issued To', 'For Job', 'Date', 'Date Returned', '[Date] Destroyed', and 'Remarks'. Vessels mentioned are #1266s BELISARIUS, #1267 FROSTFISH, #395p Owner Launch for St.Y. VIKING, #1265s NITRAMON, #1204s SILVERHEELS, #1233s RAINBOW, #1276s PRIM, #1275s MITENA, #907s PLEASURE, #931s NASSAU, #711s VENTURA, #900s IRIS, #982s WATER LILY, #891s WILDFIRE, #1147s WEETAMOE, #954s MARY ROSE, #880s JOSEPHINE, #788s MANATEE, #1146s ENTERPRISE, #1212s TRONDA, #1282s 12 1/2 for H. V. Reed, #1302s Amphicraft for N. F. Ayer, #1304s Amphicraft for Charles A. Welch, #1286s 12 1/2 for Mr. Maitland Alexander, #1311s Amphicraft for Dr. Seth M. Milliken, #1313s Dinghy for #663s RAMALLAH ex-ISTALENA, #1314s HMCo Yard Skiff, #408s PELICAN, #1315s BRENDA, #396p Power Tender for FONTINALIS, #397p Power Tender for FONTINALIS, #329p CAROLA, #1318s Sailing Dinghy for Henry S. Morgan; #1316s NOVA, #1319s Tech Dinghy, #1317s MANDOO II, #405p Surfboat, #1379s Fish Class for H. M. Lautmann (MERRY HELL), #1385s TINKER TOO, and #1384s AVANTI. 23 pages were used. Undated, the dates range from October 1934 to September 1936." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. (creator). Notebook. MIT Museum, Hart Nautical Collections, Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection Item HH.6.106. Box HAFH.6.3B, Folder Blue Print Record Book. No date (1934-10 to 1936-09).)
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"[Item Description:] Spreadsheet listing original contracts (from 1923 to 1940) by HMCo in the collection of HMM (apparently from the gift of Everett Pearson). Listed boats are: #380p, #381p, #388p, #389p, #391p, #392p, #393p, #395p, #886s, #933s, #934s, #954s, #955s, #962s, #983s, #999s, #1002s, #1017s, #1054s, #1055s, #1057s, #1074s, #1078s, #1122s, #1125s, #1130s, #1131s, #1147s, #1152s, #1153s, #1154s, #1156s, #1157s, #1164s, #1170s, #1173s, #1174s, #1175s, #1175s, #1176s, #1177s, #1179s, #1180s, #1191s, #1192s, #1193s, #1195s, #1196s, #1198s, #1199s, #1200s, #1201s, #1202s, #1203s, #1206s, #1207s, #1208s, #1209s, #1210s, #1211s, #1212s, #1213s, #1214s, #1215s, #1216s, #1217s, #1218s, #1219s, #1220s, #1222s, #1224s, #1236s, #1226s, #1227s, #1228s, #1230s, #1232s, #1234s, #1237s, #1238s, #1240s, #1241s, #1243s, #1244s, #1245s, #1246s, #1247s, #1248s, #1249s, #1250s, #1251s, #1252s, #1253s, #1254s, #1255s, #1256s, #1257s, #1258s, #1259s, #1260s, #1261s, #1262s, #1263s, #1264s, #1265s, #1274s, #1275s, #1277s, #1279s, #1280s, #1281s, #1282s, #1283s, #1284s, #1285s, #1286s, #1287s, #1302s, #1303s, #1315s, #1508s." (Source: Rickson, Norene (creator). Table. Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection Item LIB_4220. HMM Library Rare Books Room (HMCo Contracts), Folder [no #]. No date (2010s ?).)
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Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #954s Mary Rose even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Taglang, Jacques. Mariette and the Herreshoff Schooners. Two vols. Eynesse, 2010.
  Vessel biographies, large-scale sail and lines plans reproduced from original HMCo plans. The definitive book on Herreshoff schooners.
• Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. [Contract for #954s Mary Rose, schooner (including specifications).] Herreshoff Marine Museum Collection. Bristol, RI, August 5, 1925. (2,597 kB)
  Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Herreshoff Marine Museum. Original building/sales contract. Vessel description, scantlings, payment terms, delivery date. Includes detailed vessel specifications.

• Mary Rose (MIT Museum-made index card)
• Mary Rose (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: Mary Rose
Type: Schooner
Length: 46'
Owner: Brooks, Harold W.

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

• Mary Rose
• 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: Mary Rose
Type: 47' 8" aux. schooner
Owner: Harold W. Brooks
Year: 1926
Row No.: 416

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: Aug.
Day: 05
Year: 1925
E/P/S: S
No.: 0954
Name: Mary Rose
OA: 64 1/2'
LW: 46 1/2'
B: 14'
D: 8' 3"
Rig: Schooner
Amount: 40,500.00
Last Name: Brooks
First Name: Harold W.

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.

"[See also:] Specifications for an auxiliary cruising schooner yacht... for Mr. Harold W. Brooks. In: Technical and Business Records pertaining to the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, Series VI, Folder HH.6.20 (Hull No. 954), Box HAFH.6.1B." (Source: Hasselbalch, Kurt and Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin: Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997, p. 63-79.)

"Note that an earlier schooner, also named Mary Rose, had been designed in 1923 by John Alden for Harold W. Brooks. Its very similar dimensions were 62' 2" LOA, 42' 8" LWL, 14' beam and 8' draft. According to Robert W. Carrick 'John Alden and His Yacht Designs', Camden, Maine, 1983, p. 421 it had been built by Robert Jacobs on City Island, NY in 1923. However, according to Lloyd's Register of American Yachts, 1925, p. 173 Geo. Lawley & Son of Neponset, Mass. had been the builder. A photo of this schooner was published in Motor Boating of January 1924, p. 56." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 14, 2014.)

"Mary Rose's first owner Harold Wilson Brooks was born on December 22, 1887 in Santiago de Cuba. He was a member of the class of 1909 at Yale. In 1910 he was employed as a real estate broker in New York City (as per the Manhattan, New York, census of 1910) followed by a career in the investment business in New York City. He served for eleven months of World War I as an ensign on the U.S. destroyer Davis, based at Queenstown, Ireland. A socialite who was frequently mentioned in the newspaper social gossip columns he lived in New York City, Southampton on Long Island (Brookwood) and Newport, Rhode Island (Brooks House). Before Mary Rose Brooks owned a similar sized John Alden-designed schooner of the same name. After Mary Rose's sale in 1936 he acquired the 10mR sloop Dragon, followed in 1938 by the 12mR Iris. Brooks died on December 21, 1969 in Newport, Rhode Island." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 17, 2014.)

"Date of delivery 'on or about May 1st, 1926' from original contract in collection of Herreshoff Marine Museum." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 15, 2015.)

"Built in 278 days (contract to trial; equivalent to $146/day, 230 lbs displacement/day)." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. January 16, 2024.)

"Sail area 2567sq ft from pencilled note on plan 146-43. (Others notes indicate sail areas of 2318sq ft and 2543, respectively.)" (Source: van der Linde, Claas. June 2, 2014.)

"Displacement 998 cu. ft. (=63872 lbs) from pencilled note on construction plan 76-155 (originally planned displacement was 956 cu. ft (= 61184 lbs) but water line was raised 3 inch on May 3, 1926). The same plan also notes that by 1933 she had a displacement of 1118 cu. ft. (=71,552lbs) as per a letter by N.Y.Y.C. measurer Harold Webb on a waterline of 48.25ft." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. November 16, 2014.)

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