HMCo #304p [Owner Launch for #722s Katoura]

"[1916-09-21] Thu 21: Launched and tried new launch for Katoura (#303) [sic, i.e. apparently #304p] and made just 25 miles in harbor course." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1916. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"26ft Launch.
Scale of model 3/4" = 1'.
Frame spacing 8".
Planking 7/16".
Timbers 7/8".
Keel 5" x 1 3/8".
Garboard 3/4" thick at rabbate.
[Sketch.]" (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled notes in Offset Booklet HH.4.047.] July 1916. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)

"Sept[ember] 22, 1916
#304, Katoura's new starboard launch with 75hp Sturtevant motor 4 cyl. 4 1/2in x 6in.
Length 63ft-0in, beam 6ft-0in
Keel and bottom perfectly straight.
Weight without equipment 2380lbs.
Trial with one on board; wind, light E.S.E.; lower 1/2 mile at Popasquash.
Propeller, 3 bl[ade] 17in x 22in.
[Followed by tabulated trial run data with best mean speed being 25.35mph]." (Source: Herreshoff, N. G. Handwritten note in Experiments Booklet '1911 Trial Trips and Experiments' under date of September 22, 1916. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum.)

"304
Phone from Mr. Tod, New London.
Running time from Bristol to New London was a little less than 2 1/2 hrs. Stopped at Newport 1/2 hour & found it so rough at Point Judith [that he] stopped in B[reak]/W[ater] for 1/2 hr arriving at slacp[?] yard net[?] at 12:45. Very rough up the beach but sent her through at 25 miles and jumped the seas, only once or twice did any heavy water come on board. Is a really good sea boat. Found that when slowed down to about 14 miles too much water slopped around[?] so let her go at 25 miles. Boat is very satisfactory and [Mr. Tod] is very pleased with it." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G.? [Untitled.] No date, probably early July 1917. Note laid in: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1917. Access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)

"N/A"

"[Item Transcription:] Handwritten (in ink) trials booklet titled '1911. Trial Trips and Experiments'. Relevant contents:
§24: #304p [OWNER LAUNCH FOR #722s KATOURA] Trial Run best mean speed 25.35mph (1916-08-22)." (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.)
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪ ⑫ ⑬ ⑭ ⑮ ⑯ ⑰ ⑱ ⑲ ⑳ ㉑ ㉒ ㉓ ㉔ ㉕ ㉖ ㉗ ㉘ ㉙ ㉚ ㉛ ㉜ ㉝ ㉞ ㉟ ㊱ ㊲ ㊳ ㊴ ㊵ ㊶ ㊷ ㊸ ㊹ ㊺ ㊻ ㊼ ㊽ ㊾ ㊿
① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨

Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #304p [Owner Launch for #722s Katoura] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.

• Sb launch for Katoura (HMCo-made index card)
• Sb launch for Katoura (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: Katoura
Type: Gasoline
Length: 26'
Owner: Tod, R. E.

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

• Starboard launch for Katoura
• 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: Katoura
Type: 26' gasoline tender for "Katoura"
Owner: Robert E. Tod
Row No.: 337

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.

Year: 1916
E/P/S: P
No.: 304
OA: 26' 0"

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.

"This launch was ordered only a few weeks after #302p. Both were intended as starboard launches for Katoura and they had become necessary after the burning of Katoura's old starboard launch on June 13, 1916 off the Indian Harbor Yacht Club (see New York Tribune of June 14, 1916, p. 2). The reason for contracting two starboard launches is unclear, but note that #304p used the engine for #302p, suggesting that #302p was never delivered or used on Katoura. Given the existence of trial photos of #302p it may be that #302p had been found unsatisfactory." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. February 9, 2009.)

"Built in 19 days (contract to launch; equivalent to 125 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.