The Launch of the Schooner Yacht Katrina, Built in Pelham, on Tuesday, May 29, 1888

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It was a magnificent yacht designed by famed marine architect A. Carey Smith for a pair of brothers:  Edgar Stirling Auchincloss and Hugh Dudley Auchincloss.  It was built in 1888 in the Pelham shipyard of Henrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras once located at the eastern end of Pilot Avenue (today's Pilot Street) on City Island.  It was named "Katrina."  The grand yacht launched from the rails of the Piepgras shipyard into the waters of Long Island Sound on May 29, 1888.

I have written extensively about the Piepgras Shipyard that once operated on City Island in the Town of Pelham.  For one example of such articles, see:  Tue., Dec. 08, 2015:  Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras and His Shipyard in the Town of Pelham on City Island.  

The launch of any large ship from rails on City Island during the 19th and early 20th centuries was a grand spectacle.  Spectators crowded the shores and lined the gunwales of yachts and ships that crowded the nearby waters for the event.  Shipyard owners hosted celebrations in their yards for the workers and even served kegs of beer and gave the workers time off for their jobs well done.  Sometimes yacht owners and their families and friends would crowd onto their new vessels before the launch and ride the vessels down the rails for the monumental splash as the large ships plunged into the waters of the Sound.  Nearly always, the new owner (or a member of the owner's family) would smash a bottle of champagne or wine against the bow of the ship as the ship is named aloud and launched, a tradition intended to invite good luck on the vessel and its future crew and passengers.

On May 29, 1888, about fifty members of the Auchincloss families and their friends were on board the steamboat Laura M. Starin to watch the launch.  Among those on board with them for the celebration were Albert Bierstadt and Mr. John Hyslop, the measurer of the New York Yacht Club.

A daughter of one of the owners cracked a bottle of wine over the bow of the sloop to begin its slide down the rails.  As the Katrina struck the water amid cheers from spectators and vessel passengers.  A host of steamship and sailing yachts gathered for the celebration with steamships blowing their whistles as the yacht slid effortlessly into the water.  According to one account, "all the steam whistles and cannon in the neighborhood echoed their approval." Many spectators witnessed the grand event, including famed American painter of the Hudson River School Albert Bierstadt.  Henry Piepgras gave his shipyard workers a half-day holiday that day and provided them with kegs of beer at the shipyard to celebrate the launch of the Katrina.  

Work on the Katrina began with the laying of the keel shortly after the Great Blizzard of 1888 that occurred March 12-13, 1888.  That storm was so massive that, as one account of the launch of the Katrina put it, "all dates are now B.B. [Before Blizzard] and A.B. [After Blizzard] in Westchester."  By the time of the launch, the schooner was nearly complete.  A little work still needed to be done including rigging the spars of Oregon pine and fitting the interior with white pine and mahogany facing.  

Construction of the yacht cost about $15,000 (the amount budgeted for the work).  This would be about  $505,000 in today's dollars.   

An image of the Katrina is included below.  Her dimensions reportedly were about 84 feet over all; 69 feet 6 inches length of water line, 20 feet 4 inches beam, 12 feet 7-1/2 inches depth of hold and draught 9 feet 3 inches aft.  

Immediately the yachting world began calling for a race between the Katrina and the recently launched Titania also built at the Piepgras Shipyard.  Pelham, for a time, was the center of the yacht-building world.

 

 Katrina, A Sloop Built for Edgar Stirling Auchincloss and

Hugh Dudley Auchincloss in 1888 at the Piepgras Shipyard

in the Town of Pelham.  Source:  Wikimedia Commons.

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

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"HAIL!  KATRINA!
-----
LAUNCH OF THE NEW SLOOP OF MESSRS. AUCHINCLOSS AT CITY ISLAND.

With the broad bosomed Sound nodding her white caps in welcome, the new yacht Katrina, iron hull and sloop rig, was launched yesterday at Piepgras' ship yard on City Island.

Her keel was laid shortly after the blizzard (all dates are now B.B. and A.B. in Westchester) and in a week or two, or perhaps a little longer, she will be sparred and rigged ready for service.

'It was a won'erful fine launch!' said . . . one old [fellow] who has lived on City Island sixty years.

'I never saw a finer launch!' remarked Captain Herman Golden of the Lurline, Mr. J. M. Waterbury's fleet winged craft.

The verdict among the fifty persons who composed the party on board the new born offspring of the lathe, chisel and mallet was that she went off 'very slippery,' and the local genius in water lore had hopes that 'she'll be a terrible smart boat.'

Not a mishap occurred to mar the event.  The owners, Messrs. Edgar S. and Hugh D. Auchincloss, were present, accompanied by half a hundred friends, on the steamboat Laura M. Starin, among whom were Mr. John Hyslop, the measurer of the New York Yacht Club, and Albert Bierstadt, the artist.  A daughter of one of the owners cracked a bottle of wine over the bow of the sloop as she struck the water, and all the steam whistles and cannon in the neighborhood echoed their approval.  The workmen in the shipyard were given a half-holiday and beer was provided for them by the keg.

The Katrina's contract specified a cost of $15,000.  She was designed by A. Cary Smith.  Her dimensions are about 84 feet over all; 69 feet 6 inches length of water line, 20 feet 4 inches beam, 12 feet 7-1/2 inches depth of hold and draught 9 feet 3 inches aft.  She is to be rigged with spars of Oregon pine and fitted with white pine and mahogany facing.

A yachting expert alleged that the bow of the Katrina resembles the Thistle.  The stern is fashioned somewhat after that of the Priscilla, although much lighter than the latter.

Among the yachts about the launch were Mr. Augustus Mott's Puzzle, a roomy and elegantly fitted steam vessel; the Priscilla, which, under the ownership of Mr. R. Lenox Belknap, is being transformed into a schooner; the Bo-Peep, and the Mischief.

The Mischief is the property of Messrs. Auchincloss, and her captain and crew will man the Katrina.  

A hope was expressed yesterday that the Katrina, when ready, and the Titania should be matched for a race to test the relative merits of the respective designers -- Smith and Burgess."

Source:  HAIL!  KATRINA! -- LAUNCH OF THE NEW SLOOP OF MESSRS. AUCHINCLOSS AT CITY ISLAND, N.Y. Herald, May 30, 1888, No. 18,909, p. 8, col. 6

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