HMCo #1399s [12 1/2 for Charles L. Eldred]

Particulars

Construction_Record_Title.jpgName: [12 1/2 for Charles L. Eldred]
Later Name(s): Peeper
Type: 12 1/2 Footer
Designed by: NGH
Contract: 1937-5-31
Construction: Wood
LOA: 15' (4.57m)
LWL: 12' 6" (3.81m)
Draft: 2' 6" (0.76m)
Construction Class and Number: #1393-6
Rig: Gaff Sloop
Sail Area: 140sq ft (13.0sq m)
Keel: yes
Ballast: Lead outside
Built for: Eldred, Charles L.
Amount: $790.00
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: #1393 and #1364 Classes not delivered as here listed. Numbers switched in shop and no record sent to office.
Current owner: Private Owner, Aquinnah, MA (last reported 2016 at age 79)

Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.

Model

Model #716Model number: 716
Model location: H.M.M. Model Room North Wall Right

Vessels from this model:
409 built, modeled by NGH

Original text on model:
"12 1/2' Buzzards Bay boy class 24 boats 1915 scale 1/10 size three [sic, i.e. four? #806, #813, #815, #817?] boats 1916
16' w.l. Oyster Bay "Fish Class" 23 boats 1916 scale 1/12 size sections 1/13 lengths 3 1/2 added at bow on deck" (Source: Original handwritten annotation on model. Undated.)

Model Description:
"12'-1/2' lwl Buzzards Bay 12 1/2-class of 1915, HMCo's most popular creation with some 360 boats produced. Also, with change in scale and proportionally longer bow, the Fish class sloops of 1916 and beyond." (Source: Bray, Maynard. 2004.)

Related model(s):
Model XA2-1_01 by NGH (1914?); sail
Buzzards Bay 12 1/2
Model XA2-1_02 by NGH (1914?); sail
Fish Class


Note: Vessels that appear in the records as not built, a cancelled contract, a study model, or as a model sailboat are listed but not counted in the list of vessels built from a model.

Offsets

Offset booklet number(s): HH.6.146-6

Offset booklet contents:
12 1/2-footer class, Fish class (Cape Cod Shipbuilding Embargoed)

Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)

Drawings

Main drawing Dwg 076-118 (HH.5.05569) Explore all drawings relating to this boat.

List of drawings:
   Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
   HMCo #1399s [12 1/2 for Charles L. Eldred] are listed in bold.
   Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
  1. Dwg 079-091 (HH.5.05900): Chain Plates & Mast-Band for Port Boat on "Roamer" (1902-05-03)
  2. Dwg 079-091 (HH.5.05901): Fittings for Port Boat on # 215 (1902-05-03)
  3. Dwg 130-124 (HH.5.10432); Sails > # 744 Design for Buzzard's Bay Boy's Boat (1914-10-11)
  4. Dwg 128-142 (HH.5.10269): Sails > Sails for No. 744 Class (1914-11-20)
  5. Dwg 081-111 (HH.5.06203): Spars for # 744 and Class (11 Boats), 12 1/2 Footer (1914-11-21)
  6. Dwg 081-111 (HH.5.06203.1): Spars for # 744 and Class (11 Boats), 12 1/2 Footer (1914-11-21)
  7. Dwg 065-064 (HH.5.04659); Rudder Hanging for # 743, Rudder and Hanging for # 744 Class (1915-02-15)
  8. Dwg 074-060 (HH.5.05348); Anchor for # 744 Class Made of Manganese Bronze (1915-03-30)
  9. Dwg 025-159 (HH.5.01916); List for # 744 Class, 12 1/2 Footers (1926-03-22)
  10. Dwg 148-000 (HH.5.12238); Construction Dwg > Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer (ca. 1931)
  11. Dwg 076-118 (HH.5.05569); Construction Dwg > Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer, 15'-8" O.A. x 12'-5" W.L. x 5'-10" Beam x 2'-5" Draft (1931-07-06)
  12. Dwg 076-118 (HH.5.05569.1); Construction Dwg > Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer, 15'-8" O.A. x 12'-5" W.L. x 5'-10" Beam x 2'-5" Draft (1931-07-06)
  13. Dwg 128-142 [057-001] (HH.5.10270): Sails > Sails Plan 12 1/2 Footer Class (1934-06-04)
  14. Dwg 142-090 (HH.5.11837): Compartment Details for 12 1/2 Footers (1934-07-18)
  15. Dwg 065-064 A (HH.5.04660); Rudder and Hangers for 12 1/2 Footers, # 744 Class (1935-03-22)
  16. Dwg 130-124 (HH.5.10433); Sails > 12 1/2 Footer Class Gaff Rig Sail Plan (1938-02-19)
  17. Dwg 076-118 C (HH.5.06086): 12 1/2 Footer Class Gaff Rig Spar Details (1938-02-23)
  18. Dwg 076-118 C (HH.5.06086.1): 12 1/2 Footer Class Gaff Rig Spar Details (1938-02-23)
Source: Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Together with: Hasselbalch, Kurt with Frances Overcash and Angela Reddin. Guide to The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass., 1997. Together with: Numerous additions and corrections by Claas van der Linde.
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.

Documents

Other Modern Text Source(s)

"SN: ... You brought up the topic of your own 12 1/2, that would be PEEPER. Can you tell me how you came upon her? I think she was once owned by Gladys Brightman [Gladys May Brightman, 1924-2005, was born in Fall River, as daughter of Raymond S. and Gladys M. (Ballou) Brightman].
DS: Yes. The neighbors of my boat shop here on Burnside Street [in Bristol, RI] come by to look at 'Gladdie's boat.' She’s known as 'Gladdie’s boat', and she was owned by Gladys Brightman. And I was given the boat by her, I’d say, great-niece, who had inherited the boat and had … at the time she got it, she was not in very good condition, and was subject to, I think, several sort of halfinterested rebuilds, or repairs. And I saw her completely covered in the backyard. ... she was completely covered. But it looked like from the shape that inside it could be a 12 1/2. I asked her if it was, and she said 'Yeah, it was. It was owned by my great aunt, and boy, I wish something could happen to it.' So I popped up the cover and found her it to be completely decrepit, and almost felt an overwhelming sense of obligation to get her back on the water.
SN: This was what, about two years ago, something like that?
DS: It was, yes.
SN: Gladys, is she … she was related to Tom Brightman [general manager of HMCo who worked there from 1901 until 1946]?
DS: Yes, I’m digging into that. She may have been the daughter of Tom Brightman’s brother, but I can’t give you the exact here. Asked a couple of people who are asking a couple of people just how that…" (Source: Shea, Dan. Interviewed by Steve Nagy, November 17, 2010. Transcript at http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/oral_history/doc/Shea_Dan_2010-11-17_Rev0.pdf, retrieved September 29, 2016.)

"I write to update the registry description of Peeper, hull #1399, beautifully restored by Dan Shea of Bristol Boat Co. in Bristol RI, and acquired by me in 2014. Peeper sails on Menemsha Pond on Martha's Vineyard, part of a growing fleet of 12.5's there. She is marconi-rigged, having lost her original gaff-rig in the 1938 hurricane, when she was --- Dan Shea tells me --- deliberately scuttled to avoid being altogether lost. Anyway, she is a joy." (Source: Foster, Mark. Post to the Herreshoff Registry Forum on December 1, 2015. http://www.herreshoffregistry.org/forum/index.php?topic=727.0, retrieved February 17, 2019.)

Further Reading
  • Bray, Maynard. "Restoration of 12 1/2 Footers. Part I." Wooden Boat #56, January/February 1984, p. 93-101. (1,293 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text). Detailed Buzzards Bay 12 1/2 restoration step by step as performed by the Ballentine shop. Part I. Stem restoration, transom and frame replacement.
  • Bray, Maynard. "Restoration of 12 1/2 Footers. Part II." Wooden Boat #57, March/April 1984, p. 93-100. (1,036 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text). Detailed Buzzards Bay 12 1/2 restoration step by step as performed by the Ballentine shop. Part II. Keel timber and coamings replacement.
  • Bray, Maynard (with photos by Benjamin Mendlowitz). "12 1/2 Footers." Nautical Quarterly, no. 37, Spring 1987, p. 47. (608 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes, used with permission. Copyright holder: Maynard Bray (text), Benjamin Mendlowitz (photos). Short class portrait. Part of the larger article "Herreshoff Legacies."
  • Nagy, Steve. "The Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer. Evolution Of The Class." In: Herreshoff Marine Museum (publ.). Proceedings. The 6th Classic Yacht Symposium. May 2-3, 2014. Bristol, RI, 2014, p. 1-23. (4,425 kB)
    Document is copyrighted: Yes. Copyright holder: Steve Nagy / Herreshoff Marine Museum. Short class history of the 12 1/2 as built by HMCo, Quincy Adams, Cape Cod Shipbuilding and others. Different models: Gaff, marconi, wishboom, Fishers Island. Detailed description of changes in configuration and equipment as boats were built over time. Identification guide for 12 1/2s missing their builder's plate. Photos. Original promotional material.

Supplement

From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray

Month: May
Day: 31
Year: 1937
E/P/S: S
No.: 1399
OA: 15'
LW: 12 1/2'
Rig: Gaff
Amount: 790.00
Last Name: Eldred
First Name: Chas. L.

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.

From the 2007 12 1/2 Registry by Steve Nagy

Hull No.: 1399
Contract Date: 1937-05-31
Org. Owner: Charles L. Eldred
Org. Rig: Gaff
Home Port: Bristol, RI
Current Name: Peeper
Current Owner: Gladys Brightman

Source: Nagy, Steve. "The Herreshoff 12 1/2 Footer Registry." Version 2.0. August 2007. (http://h12.orrsford.com/H12_Registry_Ver_2-0.pdf, last visit May 23, 2008.)

Research Note(s)

"Sail area approximately 140 square feet by rule." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Yachts by Herreshoff. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company: Designers and Builders of Sailing and Power Craft since 1861. Bristol, Rhode Island, 1937.)

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

Note

We are always interested in learning more about this vessel. If you want to discuss it or can share any additional information or images or to discuss a copyright concern, please do not hesitate to send an Email to the link below!


Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, adaptation, or distribution of any part of this document or any information contained herein by any means whatsoever is permitted without prior written permission. For the full terms of copyright for this document please click here. Last revision 2024-01-16.
© 2024,

Citation: HMCo #1399s [12 1/2 for Charles L. Eldred]. Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné. https://herreshoff.info/Docs/S01399_12_1_2_for_Charles_L_Eldred.htm.