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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Edwin Dennison Morgan III's Famed Racing Yacht "Constellation" Was Built in a Pelham Shipyard in 1889

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Yesterday's Historic Pelham article addressed the success of the Henry Piepgras Shipyard on City Island in the Town of Pelham during the latter half of the 1880s and efforts by Piepgras to expand the facility in 1888 and 1889.  See Wed., Dec. 13, 2017:  Henry Piepgras Made Improvements to His Pelham Shipyard in 1888 and 1889.  As noted in that article, at the very beginning of 1889, the Piepgras Shipyard was extremely busy.  On February 1, the keels of three yachts were already laid with plans to lay two more keels -- five at once.  All five vessels were steel-plated racing yachts intended to be finished in time for yacht races later that year.  One of the three steel-plated yachts under construction on February 1, 1889, was a yacht commissioned by Edwin Dennison Morgan III (E. D. Morgan).

Edwin Dennison Morgan III has been described as "The Greatest American Yachtsman."  According to one source he had a "long record in yacht racing, including the America's Cup."  He was a grandson of New York Governor and United States Senator Edwin Dennison Morgan and a distant relation of J. P. Morgan.  His father, Edwin Dennison Morgan II, died young.  Thus, when his grandfather died thereafter, the young Edwin Dennison Morgan III inherited from his grandfather an estate valued at about $12,000,000 (roughly $400 million in today's dollars).  He graduated from Harvard in 1877 and lived life thereafter as a "sportsman" -- primarily a yachtsman.

He served as Commodore of the New York Yacht Club in 1893-94 and served on that club's America's Cup Committee four times.  Yachting was central in his life.  His biography for his induction into the Herreshoff Marine Museum America's Cup Hall of Fame notes that "He owned some 17 vessels including steamers, schooners, sloops, America's Cup Defenders and many smaller yachts."  The biography further notes:

"After many years racing lesser yachts, Mr. Morgan came to particular prominence in yachting circles as the owner of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff's breakthrough yacht GLORIANA, which won all eight races in the New York Yacht Club's most competitive class in 1891. Thus began a legendary partnership in competitions over many years between E.D. Morgan as owner and manager and N.G. Herreshoff as designer and builder. The duo's accomplishments included very direct involvement with four Cup Defenders: VIGILANT in 1893 over VALKYRIE; DEFENDER in 1895 over VALKYRIE II; COLUMBIA in 1899 over SHAMROCK; and COLUMBIA in 1901 over SHAMROCK II with E.D. Morgan as syndicate manager."

Source:  Herreshoff Marine Museum / America's Cup Hall of Fame, "EDWIN DENNISON MORGAN, 2000 INDUCTEE" (visited Dec. 9, 2017).

Edwin Dennison Morgan III, Famous 19th Century Yachtsman.

During the late 1880s, E. D. Morgan hired Edward Burgess, one of the nation's premier yacht designers and maritime architects to design a massive steel-plated schooner exclusively for speed.  He also hired New York's premier shipbuilder, Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras of City Island in the Town of Pelham, to construct the massive racing schooner.

By February 1, 1889, the keel of the new schooner had been laid at the Piepgras Shipyard at the eastern end of Pilot Avenue (today's "Pilot Street") on City Island.  Although there are suggestions in some news accounts that Morgan hoped to race the new schooner in upcoming races in the Spring, work on the new schooner was delayed not long after the keel had been laid.  According to one report, Henry Piepgras was not satisfied with the quality of steel available to him for creating the steel plates for the hull and waited until he could obtain better quality steel.  By mid-February, 1889, Piepgras had the steel and arranged for work on the new schooner to proceed "in earnest" the week of February 23rd.

The yachting world was beginning to anticipate great things regarding the new schooner.  On February 16, 1889, a New York City newspaper reported a rumor that "the mainmast is to be 100 feet from tenon to masthead.  This looks as thought the yacht is to carry a big spread of sail."

By at least February 27, 1889, the new schooner under construction at the Piepgras Shipyard had a name.  The New York Herald of New York City reported that day that the "name of Mr. E. D. Morgan's schooner which Piepgras is building at City Island, will be the Constellation."

Work on the Constellation progressed slowly but steadily over the next six weeks.  By mid-April, the steel-plating was nearly complete with "only a little more" left to do.  The deck was expected to be laid "soon."  

As the Constellation slowly took shape at the Piepgras Shipyard slowly took shape during the next two months, it became increasingly clear that the schooner would be something very special.  It clearly would be the largest steel schooner yacht yet built in the world (136 feet overall, almost half the length of a modern football field).  In addition, it was being designed exclusively for speed.  

The Constellation, a centerboard schooner, had a rather revolutionary feature.  It was designed so that the centerboard did not rise above the cabin floor.  Reported measurements for the schooner differed slightly in various reports, but the vessel was about 136 feet long overall, 107 feet long on the water line, 24 feet 9 inch beam, and a draft of about 12 feet.  The ballast of the vessel was lead, "most of it being poured in hot."  The vessel also had a "pole bowsprit and set[] her jib flying cutter style" with a very large set of sails.  


By July 15, 1889, the Constellation was "rapidly approaching completion."  One newspaper reported that day that Morgan hoped to have the racing yacht ready for upcoming races of the New York Yacht Club.  

Though work on the yacht was not yet complete, over the next two and a half weeks, Morgan was able to take the vessel on "two or three trial spins."  The New York Herald reported on July 31 that Morgan was "quite satisfied with his new schooner Constellation."  It further reported that the trial runs gave Morgan "hope for great things when she gets into thorough racing trim.  In the forthcoming cruise of the New York Yacht Club her speed will be thoroughly tested, and some people think she will be a formidable candidate for the $1,000 Goelet Cup."  

That same day (July 31, 1889), the Constellation's designer, Edward Burgess, spent the day at the Piepgras Shipyard in Pelham giving Henry Piepgras instructions for a "few alterations in the rig" of the schooner "so as to have her in the best possible condition for the New York Yacht Club cruise" that would be held on August 8.  

On Thursday, August 8, the beautiful day broke with light breezes.  Edwin Dennison Morgan III and everyone else, frankly, expected great things of the Constellation during the New York Yacht Club Squadron Races from New London to Newport held that day. 

The Constellation raced among five other "First Class Schooners" including the Palmer, the Ramona, the Intrepid, the Norseman, and the Dauntless.  It won the race, beating all by about a minute.  See BEAUTIFUL GRAYLING LEADS THE FLEET, N.Y. Herald, Aug. 9, 1889, p. 4, cols. 1-3.  

Surprisingly, however, reaction to the Constellation and its performance in the race was somewhat negative among American yachtsmen.  The New York Herald reported the day after the race as follows:

 "The Constellation, the big schooner designed by Mr. Burgess for Mr. E. D. Morgan, comes in for a great deal of unkind criticism, and rather unjustly so, in my opinion.  She is a steel centreboard craft, 106 feet on the load water line, 24 feet 9 inches beam and 12 feet draught.  Constructed expressly for speed, her ballast is of lead, most of it being poured in hot.  She has a pole bowsprit and sets her jib flying cutter style.  Her sail plan is very large.  As to her beauty people are divided, but the point made against her is that she undoubtedly should have shown to better advantage."

The problem seems to have been one of expectations.  The Constellation was brand new with purportedly significant technological improvements.  Yet, it beat the last place Dauntless, a 24-year-old vessel, by only one minute and nine seconds.  Moreover, the remaining vessels that it also beat were a hodge podge of older ships with one even described as "old fashioned."  Indeed, the New York Herald reported "With such boats as these against her it is argued with some force that the Constellation ought to have made a more remarkable record.  Unkindly criticism of this kind ought, however, to be deferred until next season."

 Morgan himself seems to have been less than enthusiastic about the potential of the Constellation.  Barely two years later, on September 10, 1891, a local newspaper reported that he had sold the vessel to Mr. Bayard Thayer of Boston for $40,000, a price that was "much below the original cost of the yacht."  

Eight years later, in 1899, Bayard Thayer sold the Constellation to Francis Skinner of the Eastern Yacht Club.  The yacht eventually landed in the hands of Henry Sears, also of the Eastern Yacht Club.  According to the City Island Nautical Museum, "The yacht was the flagship and landmark at Marblehead Harbor and the Eastern Yacht Club until 1941, when the yacht was donated to the Navy for scrap metal, so much of Constellation went into the construction of war ships. Constellation was considered by many to be the most beautiful yacht in America during its lifetime."

The most beautiful yacht in America during the late 19th and early to mid-20th centuries was built in a Pelham shipyard by Pelhamite and City Island shipbuilder Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras.  The lovely yacht is pictured immediately below.

Edwin Dennison Morgan's Centerboard Schooner Constellation

Designed by Edward Burgess and Built at the Henry Piepgras Shipyard

on City Island in the Town of Pelham in 1889.  This Image Shows the

Yacht on August 10, 1892 in a Race Near Marblehead, Massachusetts

Which She Won in Her Class.  Source:  Wikimedia Commons.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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"YACHTING NOTES AND COMMENTS. . . .

I saw Mr. E. D. Morgan and Mr. Edward Burgess at City Island.  They had gone there to see how the big steel schooner is progressing.  There has been some little delay in getting the proper kind of steel for the yacht, but Mr. Piepgras has at last obtained what he wants and work will go on in dead earnest next week.  I hear a rumor that the mainmast is to be 100 feet from tenon to masthead.  This looks as thought the yacht is to carry a big spread of sail."

Source:  YACHTING NOTES AND COMMENTS, N.Y. Herald, Feb. 16, 1889, p. 8, col. 2.

"YACHTING TOPICS. . . . 

The name of Mr. E. D. Morgan's schooner which Piepgras is building at City Island, will be the Constellation. . . . ."

Source:  YACHTING TOPICS, N.Y. Herald, Feb. 27, 1889, p. 8, col. 2.

"YACHTING NOTES.
-----
A Great Deal of Activity in all the Local Shipyards. . . . 

Work is being rapidly pushed on Mr. E. D. Morgan's Burgess cutter Tomahawk and Burgess' schooner Constellation by Piepgras.  The former is nearly plated and her deck will soon be laid.  Only a little more plating is needed by the Constellation. . . ."

Source:  YACHTING NOTES -- A Great Deal of Activity in all the Local Shipyards, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Apr. 11, 1889, Vol. 49, No. 100, p. 1, col. 3.

"YACHTING TOPICS. . . .

Mr. E. D. Morgan's fine steel centreboard yacht Constellation, designed by Mr. Burgess, was launched yesterday afternoon from the yard of Mr. Henry Piepgras at City Island, on the Sound.  A large party of yachtsmen and ladies witnessed the launch, which was successful in every way.  Just as the yacht settled in the water Mrs. Morgan, wife of the owner, broke a bottle of wine over the yacht's prow, at the same time saying prettily, 'I christen thee Constellation.  Be speedy, victorious and safe.'  The yacht will be schooner rigged, is both keel and centreboard.  A feature of the centreboard is that it does not rise above the cabin floor.  The Constellation is 138 feet long over all, 107 feet on the water line and 26 feet beam and 16 feet depth of hold.  Her spars are in readiness at the yard of her builder, and she will probably receive them to-morrow."

Source:  YACHTING TOPICS, N.Y. Herald, Jun. 21, 1889, p. 8, col. 6.  

"YACHTING. . . .

Edwin  D. Morgan's handsome new schooner Constellation is rapidly approaching completion at Piepgras's yard.  Mr. Morgan hopes to have her ready for the cruise of the New York Yacht Club.  She will be classed with the schooners Dauntless, Roseman, Palmer and Ramona. . . ."

Source:  YACHTING, Utica Morning Herald [Utica, NY], Jul. 15, 1899, p. 3, col. 2.  

"YACHTING TOPICS.
-----

Mr. E. D. Morgan is said to be quite satisfied with his new schooner Constellation, which Mr. Burgess designed and Mr. Piepgras built.  He has given her two or three trial spins, and the way she goes through the water leads him to hope for great things when she gets into thorough racing trim.  In the forthcoming cruise of the New York Yacht Club her speed will be thoroughly tested, and some people think she will be a formidable candidate for the $1,000 Goelet Cup.  The Constellation is one of the largest centreboard schooner yachts afloat.  Her fittings are in excellent taste and cost a pile of money."

Source:  YACHTING TOPICS, N. Y. Herald, Jul. 31, 1889, p. 8, col. 6.  

"YACHTING TOPICS. . . . 

Mr. Edward Burgess spent some time yesterday at City Island giving Mr. Piepgras instructions for a few alterations in the rig of Mr. E. D. Morgan's schooner Constellation, so as to have her in the best possible condition for the New York Yacht Club cruise."

Source:  YACHTING TOPICS, N. Y. Herald, Aug. 1, 1889, p. 6, col. 4.

"THE CRUISE AND ITS LESSONS.
-----
How Yachtsmen Regard the Results of the New York Yacht Squadron Races.
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SOME FACTS ABOUT THE FORTIES.
-----
Minerva the Most Popular Boat in Her Class in Spite of Her Scotch Origin.
------

The problems which the cruise of the New York Yacht Club, with its glorious races, was expected to solve are as yet unsolved.  It is one of a yachtsman's salient characteristics never to admit that he is beaten, so the owners and designers of the vessels which sustained actual defeat are by no means satisfied that under different conditions their boats would not have come in at the head of the fleet.  Nearly all the yachtsmen have returned and are sweltering in their offices, trying to get on even terms with the immense amount of work which has accumulated during their absence.  They do not seem so happy, though, as they did at Newport or Cottage City, when with silken soul and body lashings of various brilliant hues they charmed the hearts of the girls and had a tip-top, glorious time.

Discussion as to the merits of each and every boat in the squadron may be heard at all the haunts of yachtsmen.  There are two factions -- Burgess and anti-Burgess -- and the way they clapperclaw each other is a caution to snakes.  The Constellation, the big schooner designed by Mr. Burgess for Mr. E. D. Morgan, comes in for a great deal of unkind criticism, and rather unjustly so, in my opinion.  She is a steel centreboard craft, 106 feet on the load water line, 24 feet 9 inches beam and 12 feet draught.  Constructed expressly for speed, her ballast is of lead, most of it being poured in hot.  She has a pole bowsprit and sets her jib flying cutter style.  Her sail plan is very large.  As to her beauty people are divided, but the point made against her is that she undoubtedly should have shown to better advantage.  She had against her the Dauntless, a boat twenty-four years old, whose shape and spars have been described until they are quite familiar.

Competing against her also was the Intrepid, a wooden keel schooner, designed in 1878 by Mr. A. Cary Smith for ocean work entirely, with inside ballast of iron and lead, and rigged with flying jib-boom in the old style.  Her dimensions are 100 feet 8 inches load water line; beam 24 feet 1 inch; with a plumb sternpost, a deep bilge and flat floor, with nothing modern about her.

Another of her rivals was the Palmer, a wooden schooner, lately rebuilt by Piepgras and transformed into a keel yacht by Poillon.  She is 104 feet 3 inches on the load water line, 24 feet 2 inches beam and 12 feet draught.  Her ballast is of lead, about forty tons of it on the keel.  She has a pole bowsprit.  She carried away her foretopmast on the run to Vineyard Haven, and sailed without it during the rest of the cruise.  Consequently she could not set her spinnaker or jibtopsail is a great help to speed in windward work.

With such boats as these against her it is argued with some force that the Constellation ought to have made a more remarkable record.  Unkindly criticism of this kind ought, however, to be deferred until next season, when she will be in full racing condition, and then she may turn out the best centreboard racing schooner of her size in the world.  Yachtsmen who have seen the fast keel schooner Yampa, designed by Mr. A. Cary Smith, whose fine achievements in deep water have been from time to time chronicled in the HERALD, would very much like to see the two boats in an ocean race.  The Iroquois, a good, seaworthy cruising craft, from the design of Mr. A. Cary Smith, successfully weathered the memorable blizzard and did very well indeed on the cruise.

If Mr. Burgess made a partial failure with his schooners this year, all hands must congratulate him on the peerless work of his smart sloop Titania.  This boat, with the exception perhaps of the Puritan, is undoubtedly the very best yacht Mr. Burgess has ever turned out.  The Volunteer is excepted for many reasons obvious to well informed yachtsmen.  The brilliant all round work of the Titania must make her celebrated in the annals of American yachting.  There is not a yachtsman on this side of the Atlantic who does not believe that the Titania could walk away with the Valkyrie with great ease under any conditions of weather.  The general impression goes that if Valkyrie had only proved herself just a wee bit smarter in her races the Royal Yacht Squadron would probably have taken a different view of the New Deed of Gift.

The Titania, therefore, seems to be facile princepa in her class.  The owners of the Katrina have had tests enough and they must fain admit that the Burgess boat is the better.  As for the Bedouin she might, with a few alterations, have done more creditably, but the good old cruiser has been out-built.  Nevertheless she is still staunch and sound as a roach and for a good all round boat, perfectly safe and seaworthy and one that can weather a gale of wind in fine style, commend me to Archie Rogers' fine old cutter.

The next class which commands attention is that of the forty footers -- those purely racing machines concerning which the HERALD has had something to say since they first originated.  Boats with great beam, large displacement, deep draught and enormous sale area, they were sprung with a rush upon American yachtsmen.  The result cannot be truly said to have been satisfactory.  All of them which have tried conclusions with the Scotch cutter Minerva have come woefully to grief.  Burgess, Cary, Smith, Gardner and McVey have trotted out their finest and choicest designs and young Fife of Fairlie has beaten them with a last year's boat."

Source:  THE CRUISE AND ITS LESSONS, N. Y. Herald, Aug. 25, 1889, p. 7, col. 6.

"E. D. MORGAN'S SCHOONER SOLD. -- The famous schooner yacht Constellation, built two years ago by Piepgras of City Island, for Mr. Edwin D. Morgan, of New York, the owner of the Gloriana, has been sold to Mr. Bayard Thayer of Boston.  The price paid for the schooner is said to be $40,000.  This is much below the original cost of the yacht.  She is of Burgess design, built of steel, fitted with a centreboard below the cabin floor and rigged in the strongest manner.  Her dimensions are:  131 feet over all, 166 [sic] feet water line, 24 feet 9 inches beam and 12 feet draught.  She is just the kind of vessel in which to make a cruise around the world."

Source:  E. D. MORGAN'S SCHOONER SOLD, Queens County Sentinel [Hempstead, NY], Sep. 10, 1891, Vol. 35, No. 15, p. 3, col. 2.  

"VICE COMMODORE MORGAN'S ITUNA. . . .

Yachtsmen here who had given the subject consideration during the winter and early spring wondered a little what Vice Commodore Morgan would do this year for a large boat.  He had disposed of the schooner Constellation to Mr. Bayard Thayer, of Boston. . . ."

Source:  VICE COMMODORE MORGAN'S ITUNA, N.Y. Herald, Jun. 8, 1892, p. 11, col. 4.  

"NEWS FOR YACHTSMEN. . . .

B. B. Crowninshield reports that he has sold the schooner Puritan, the former cup defender, for J. Malcolm Forbes to J. O. Shaw, Jr. Eastern Yacht Club, and the steel schooner Constellation for Bayard Thayer to Francis Skinner, Eastern Yacht Club.  The Constellation is one of the largest and finest schooners in the fleet; was designed by Burgess and built by Piepgras in 1889.  The yacht's dimensions are 131 feet over all, 107 feet water line, 25 feet beam, and 12 feet draught. . . ."

Source:  NEWS FOR YACHTSMEN, N. Y. Times, Mar. 12, 1899, p. 8, col. 4.

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Henry Piepgras Made Improvements to His Pelham Shipyard in 1888 and 1889

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Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras purchased the David Carll Shipyard at the eastern end of Pilot Avenue (today's "Pilot Street") on City Island in the Town of Pelham in about 1885.  (To read more about the origins and history of the David Carll Shipyard, see Mon., Nov. 16, 2015: David Carll's Shipyard in the Town of Pelham on City Island.)  Henry Piepgras was a talented and masterful shipbuilder and ship architect.  He brought the art of iron and steel ship construction to Pelham after having become an expert in crafting lead keels (and building hollow masts for such ships) while working as a shipbuilder in Germany and, later, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. 

Previous Historic Pelham articles have dealt with Henry Piepgras and his Pelham shipyard.  See, e.g.:

Mon., Nov. 27, 2006:  The 19th Century Ejectment of Henry Piepgras from Land Beneath the Waters Surrounding City Island.

Mon., Sep. 7, 2009:  More on the Ejectment of Henry Piepgras from Land Beneath the Waters Surrounding City Island.

Tue., Dec. 08, 2015:  Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras and His Shipyard in the Town of Pelham on City Island.

Thu., May 19, 2016:  Descriptions And Rare Drawings of Shipyards in 1892 on City Island in the Town of Pelham.

Wed., May 10, 2017:  More on 19th Century Efforts To Eject City Island Businesses from Land Beneath Waters Surrounding the Island.

Thu., Aug. 03, 2017:  Brief 1894 Account Shows Devastating Impact on City Island from Ejectment Action Pursued by Elizabeth De Lancey.

By 1889, Henry Piepgras had converted the old Carll Shipyard into a modern marvel.  That year it was described as "[o]ne of the principal features of City Island" with "better facilities than any other ship builder in the State of New York; in fact, with a few more improvements, would no doubt have the best of any on this continent."

When busy, as it was in 1889, the Piepgras Shipyard employed up to one hundred men -- the largest employer in Pelham.  The shipbuilding industry at the time likely was the second largest industry in Pelham, led only by the oystering industry that involved hundreds of small family-owned vessels.  

The economic impact of shipbuilders such as Henry Piepgras on such a small community as Pelham, of course, was substantial.  According to the same account quoted above, "[t]he benefits to be derived from this establishment to the store keepers and other men of business on this island can hardly be estimated."

By 1889, the Piepgras shipyard machinery alone was valued at $90,000 (about $3.1 million in today's dollars).  Piepgras had been engaged in extensive improvements to the yard calculated to expand the business.  For example, at about this time he used a steam dredger around the dock of the shipyard so that at low tide there still would be eleven feet of water allowing enough clearance for yachts of virtually any size of the day.  He also extended the shipyard one hundred feet further down the sloping "basin" that led to the water at that location to provide room for "more facilities for building purposes."  In addition, Piepgras had solidified all abutments at the water (and in the water) by building "crib work" around each abutment and filling that crib work with stone to secure the abutment.

At the very beginning of 1889, the Piepgras Shipyard was extremely busy.  A local newspaper reported on February 1 as follows:

"At present there are the keels of three yachts laid, one of which is all plated up.  The work is progressing as rapidly as workmen can be obtained.  There are now employed at this yard 82 men, and Mr. Piepgras expects shortly to have work enough for over 100 men.  Preparations are going on for the laying of two more keels, which will make five down at once.  All will be steel plated vessels and it is hoped that they will be all finished in time to take part in the coming spring races."  

Significantly, Piepgras clearly envisioned further expansion of the shipyard.  On November 1, 1889, Piepgras published notice that he intended, on December 24, 1889, to apply to the Commissioners of the Land Office of the State of New York in Albany "for a grant in perpetuity of certain lands under the waters of the Long Island Sound on the east shore of and adjacent to the upland now owned and occupied by said applicant."

Sadly, the application and the subsequent grant of such rights to Piepgras set into motion a series of events that virtually broke Piepgras and his shipyard.  Elizabeth De Lancey and other members of her family eventually sued Piepgras Shipyard and other City Island businesses, successfully obtaining court orders ejecting them from such land beneath the waters of Long Island Sound.  See the numerous articles cited and linked in the list above for more information about the extensive ejectment dispute that lasted throughout a large portion of the 1890s.

For a shining moment in the late 1880s, however, the Piepgras Shipyard on City Island in the Town of Pelham was a shining example of the best of the shipbuilding industry.

Henry Piepgras in an Undated Photograph (Detail from Advertising

Brochure for his Shipyard). Source: Ancestry.com Genealogical

Data for Heinrich Carl Christian Piepgras (Paid Subscription Required).

NOTE: Click Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

"City Island.

Scarlet fever is quite prevalent here at present.  Mr. Robert Newman lost two children with that dreaded disease inside of two weeks, and fears are entertained by the people that it will spread all over the island.  Diphtheria is also raging here.

The Ben Franklin, an oyster sloop, was wrecked on the Sound during Sunday's gale.  The crew are supposed to be lost.  This fact was reported by Mr. Horton, a City Island pilot.

Those wanting summer homes on the Sound will do well to call on Mr. Reynolds, at his pharmacy, City Island.

A sociable was held at Mr. S. D. Horton's last night and a good time was spent by all present.

One of the principal features of City Island is Mr. Piepgras's ship yard.  At present there are the keels of three yachts laid, one of which is all plated up.  The work is progressing as rapidly as workmen can be obtained.  There are now employed at this yard 82 men, and Mr. Piepgras expects shortly to have work enough for over 100 men.  Preparations are going on for the laying of two more keels, which will make five down at once.  All will be steel plated vessels and it is hoped that they will be all finished in time to take part in the coming spring races.  Mr. P. has been using the steam dredger around the dock so that at low water, there will be 11 feet, and yachts of any size can lay up.  The yard has been extended 100 feet down into the basin, giving more facilities for building purposes.  The yard has been made perfectly solid at abuttments [sic] by building crib work and filling in with stone to properly secure it, and the earth taken from the basin has been used to fill in the 100 foot extension above mentioned.

It is said by those well posted in ship building, that Mr. Piepgras has better facilities than any other ship builder in the State of New York; in fact, with a few more improvements, would no doubt have the best of any on this continent.  The machinery alone in this yard has cost in the neighborhood of $90,000, not speaking of many other improvements that have been made since Mr. Piepgras took possession, about three years ago.

The benefits to be derived from this establishment to the store keepers and other men of business on this island can hardly be estimated.  It is well worth the while of those who have never seen a place of this kind to pay it a visit, and from the genial disposition of Mr. Piepgras, plenty of useful information can be obtained.

Quite a little interest is being manifested on City Island and in the neighborhood, over a case that is going through the Court here.  It is a case of cruelty to children.  The victim is a child only seven months old.  The grandmother of the infant testified on oath that the mother had brought the child to her and shown her its body covered with black and blue marks and had said that the father, Jonathan Bean had given it a severe whipping.  At the trial, however, Mrs. Bean claims that she did not say anything of the kind, and that she had never seen the father whip the child.  She had told the grandmother previously that she was afraid to have the father arrested for fear of the people.  The case was to come on again yesterday, but too late for us to repost it in this issue.  We hope, however, to have full particulars by our next."

Source:   City Island, The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Feb. 1, 1889, Vol. XX, No. 1,164, p. 3, col. 4.  

"NOTICE is hereby given that the undersigned applicant will apply to the Commissioners of the Land Office of the State of New York, at their office in the City of Albany, in said State, on the twenty-fourth day of December, A. D., 1889, at ten o'clock in the forenoon or as soon thereafter as said Commissioners may meet, for a grant in perpetuity of certain lands under the waters of the Long Island Sound on the east shore of and adjacent to the upland now owned and occupied by said applicant, and described as follows, viz:  All that certain piece or parcel of land under the waters of Long Island Sound, in front of and adjacent to uplands owned by Henry Piepgras situated on the easterly shore of City Island, in the Town of Pelham, County of Westchester, State of New York, described as follows:  Beginning at the most easterly corner of a grant to David Carll of December 3rd, 1863; the said point being distant three hundred feet north eighty-six degrees and forty-five minutes, east (true) from high water mark where the same is intersected by the southerly line of the upland of the said Henry Piepgras, and running thence north three degrees and fifty minutes west, (true) four hundred and forty three feet along the most easterly line of the said grant of December 3rd, 1863, and a grant to David Carll dated October 21st, 1875; thence north eighty-six degrees and forty-five minutes east, (true) two hundred and twenty-five feet; thence south three degrees and fifty minutes, east, (true) four hundred and forty-three feet; thence south eighty six degrees and forty-five minutes west, (true) two hundred and twenty-five feet to the place of beginning; containing two acres and twenty-nine one hundredths of an acre of land under water.  The upland adjacent thereto is owned and occupied by said applicant and is bounded as follows:  North by lands of the Duryea Estate, east by the Long Island Sound; south by lands of Benjamin F. Wood, and west by lands of George Horton and lands now or late of David Carll.  The soundings taken once in every fifty feet on the whole exterior water line of the land under water above described commencing at the most easterly corner of grant to David Carll above mentioned, are as follows:  eight and a half feet, ten feet, twelve and a half feet, thirteen feet, thirteen and a half feet, fourteen and a half feet, fifteen feet, fourteen and a half feet, fourteen and a half feet, fourteen feet, thirteen and a half feet, twelve and a half feet, twelve and a half feet, eleven feet, nine and a half feet, eight and a half feet, eight and a half feet, eight feet.  The mean rise of the tide is seven and a half feet.

Dated November 1st, 1880.

HENRY PIEPGRAS, Applicant.

A. B. CHALMERS,
Attorney for Applicant, 117 Nassau street, New York City."

Source:  NOTICE [Legal Notice], The Chronicle [Mount Vernon, NY], Nov. 15, 1889, Vol. XXI, No. 1,246, p. 1, col. 4.

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Descriptions And Rare Drawings of Shipyards in 1892 on City Island in the Town of Pelham

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"City Island is celebrated for the number of fast yachts

it has launched.  Indeed the construction of yachts is

almost the sole industry of the place.  It has at least a

half dozen firms, engaged in this work, and City Island

may truly be said to be one great shipyard."

-- The Evening World, Aug. 22, 1892.                             

On August 22, 1892, The Evening World of New York City published a lovely account of unidentified shipyards located on City Island in the Town of Pelham.  The reporter interviewed shipyard owners on City Island without identifying them.  One purported reason for the secrecy was the construction of a top secret racing yacht at one of the shipyards with the code name "Still Alarm."  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham blog attempts to identify this mystery steam yacht.

Henry Piepgras is a Shipyard Owner Quoted in the Article

The article contains a host of clues confirming that one of the shipyard owners interviewed for the article was Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras.  For example, the article notes that the Bedouin was built at the unidentified shipyard.  We know that the Bedouin was built at the Piepgras shipyard in 1882.  The article also notes that the unidentified owner of the yard considered the steam yacht Wanda to be among his greatest works.  The steam yacht Wanda was built by Piepgras at his Pottery Beach shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in 1880 before he moved the shipyard to City Island.  

Henry Piepgras was a talented and masterful shipbuilder and ship architect.  He brought the art of iron and steel ship construction to City Island after having become an expert in crafting lead keels (and building hollow masts for such ships) while working as a shipbuilder in Germany and, later, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  I have written extensively about Piepgras and his shipyard.  See Tue., Dec. 08, 2015:  Heinrich Carl Christian "Henry" Piepgras and His Shipyard in the Town of Pelham on City Island.  

The Mystery of the Steam Yacht Code-Named "Still Alarm"

The mystery of the unidentified yacht described by The Evening World has been solved.  The super-fast steam yacht code-named "Still Alarm" later was christened the "Fieseen," and became the fastest steam yacht in the world for a time.  

The article published in The Evening World described the unidentified vessel as follows:

"'She is 80 feet long,' he continued, 'with an extreme width of 9 feet, and is 6 feet 6 inches in depth.  The bottom forward is round, but aft, from the centre, becomes gradually flat.  She will have  700-horse-power quadruple expansion engine, and is intended to attain a speed of thirty miles an hour.  'She was designed by William Gardner and C. D. Mosher, of New York, and is owned by William P. Coggeswell [sic], of Syracuse.' . . . Carved on both sides of the prow is the head of Neptune."

Although the measurements differ very slightly, the information and timing of construction clearly align with the steam yacht Fieseen built on City Island from the fall of 1891 until the spring of 1893.  The steamer became the fastest in the world, clocked at 31.6 miles per hour on one occasion.  See ATHLETIC SPORTS, New Zealand Herald, Nov. 25, 1893, Vol. XXX, No. 9367, p. 6 ("Advices from America state the famous little steam yacht Fieseen, which is only 78 feet long, has beaten the world's record by a run of 7-1/4 miles against a flood tide in New York Bay at the rate of 31.6 statute miles per hour.  The record is supposed to have been held previously by the Russian torpedo boat Adler, 145 feet long, which made a mile in slack water at the rate of 31.1 per hour.").  

According to one account, "[t]he builder would allow no one except his workmen to gaze upon the boat while she was in course of construction."  Although, again, there is some confusion in various news reports of the time, the builder of the ship seems to have been A. B. Wood & Son on City Island.  See OVERHAULING THE YACHTS -- WORK IN THE CITY ISLAND YARDS ON THE STEAMERS AND CUTTERS, N.Y. Times, Apr. 2, 1893 (detailing ships being worked on in City Island shipyards and noting, while discussing ships at A. B. Wood & Sons, "The Coggswell steamer, still unnamed, will be finished in time to take part in the coming naval parade.  Her high-speed engine, said to represent one of the finest pieces of workmanship ever made for any steam yacht, has been put in place by her designer, Lysander Wright of Newark, N.J.").   See also article quoted below.

The Fieseen (occasionally misspelled as "Frieseen") became a very famous steam yacht and became the subject of notable judicial decisions based on maritime insurance law.  Its history after its launch is fascinating in its own right.  William B. Coggswell of Syracuse, manager of Solvay Process Company, was owner of the steam yacht.  He had it built specifically for speed in the hope of racing and beating two other notable steam yachts:  the Norwood and the Vamoose.  

Not long after the launch of the Fieseen in 1893, it set its record and became the world's fastest steam yacht.  Then, on September 9, 1893, while steaming off the coast of Brooklyn, the Fieseen sprang a leak.  It soon became apparent that the yacht would not make it to port and a distress signal was sent.  To add to the Fieseen's embarrassment and humiliation, its rival, the Vamoose, responded to the distress signal and attempted to tow the Fieseen toward shore.  While towing the leaking yacht with a single hawser, the Fieseen began to swerve from side to side to such an extent that the yacht collided with the Old Dominion steamer Gulandotte.  The big steamer struck in her bulkheads and making a hole into which the water rushed rapidly.  The Fieseen sank in forty feet of water.

The circumstances of the sinking led to a litigation with a number of judicial decisions, including:  Coggswell v. Chubb, et al., 1 App. Div. 93 (1st Dep't, Jan. 24, 1896) (holding that the insurance policy covered the steam yacht Fieseen when operated only on "inland waters of the United States and Canada" and that the site of the sinking was noth within such inland waters).  

The Fieseen was salvaged and sold.  In late 1893, the Fieseen was incorporated as a rebuilt ironclad torpedo ship to be used by the Brazilian Navy.  According to a news account at the time:

"The steam yacht Feiseen, which has the fastest record in the world, was bought yesterday by Flint & Co. from W. B. Coggswell.  She will be placed on the deck of El Cid for use as a torpedo boat.  The work is being done by Gardner & Mosher, builders of the yacht.  It will probably be finished in two weeks.  The cabin of the yacht is being removed, and the best steel plates are being put in.  In place of the ordinary pilot house, a coning [sic] tower will be built, and in the bow of the yacht will be a torpedo tube placed forward on a pivot, on which it will be capable of traversing an arc of 180 degrees.  Aft a one-pound rapid-fire gun will be carried."  (See below.)

The Evening World Article About City Island Shipyards

The Evening World story that referenced the mystery steam yacht code-named the "Still Alarm" is fascinating in its own right.  Among other things, the article included several drawings of shipyard scenes on City Island including a drawing of a marine railway as it is being operated by several men to remove a ship from the waters of Long Island Sound.  

The article also includes a drawing showing the famed racing yacht "Titania" laid up for the season.   Additional images show yachts lined up offshore at City Island awaiting repairs as well as an owner inspecting his new launch.

Steam Yacht Fieseen in 1893.

Source:  John S. Johnston [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

(visited May 15, 2016).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

"THE FEISEEN, DESIGNED BY C.D. MOSHER, NEW YORK."

"After the success of the Norwood, Mr. Mosher came to New

York and designed two larger yachts, the Feiseen and the Nada,

which were built by Wood & Son, at City Island, New York in

1893.  The Feiseen, built for W. B. Cogswell, of Syracuse, N.Y.,

was 85 feet over all and the same on the waterline, with 9 feet 8

inches beam and 3 feet 6 inches draft, with engines 9 1/2,

13 1/2, 18, and 24 inches by 10 inches, developing 600 i.h.p.

when making 600 turns, the Mosher boiler working at 250 pounds."

Source:  Stephens, W. P., "The High-Speed Steam Yacht As A Factor

In Torpedo-Boat Design" in The Engineering Magazine, Vol. XV, No.

5, p. 792 (Aug. 1898).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

Immediately below is the text of a number of articles regarding the topic of today's posting.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.  The first article transcribed below is the article from The Evening World that described work at various unidentified City Island shipyards.
"OCEAN'S NEW BRIDE.
-----
Building a Yacht Which Is to Make Thirty Knots.
-----
Scenes at City Island, Where Sea-flyers Nest.
-----
Talk with Superstitious Tars, Who Are Shy of a Boat That Carries Only Lemonade.

'What d'ye think o' that, sire!  She's a smart one, I tell ye.  Why, shiver my timbers if there's a craft this side o' Davy Jones's locker 'll hold a candle to her when she's started.'"

These and many other enthusiastic bursts of nautical eloquence escaped the lips of an old City Island tar -- lips rendered elastic and mobile by the long use of tobacco.

He was referring to a boat lying on her stocks, almost ready to be launched in one of the ship-yards on City Island.

And, truly, the boat was a remarkable one -- constructed expressly to outspeed the celebrated racing yachts Norwood and Vamoose.  She not only combined every qualification necessary to accommodate this, but was built, also, with a view to beauty and gracefulness, which fully justified the old tar's voluble admiration.

"THE TITANIA LAID UP FOR THE SEASON."

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

The fame of this vessel had long ago gone abroad and hundreds of persons interested, in one way or another, in the contemplated contest of speed between her and the old favorites had gone to City Island from far and near to view her, but were turned away disappointed.

The builder would allow no one except his workmen to gaze upon the boat while she was in course of construction.  And it was only as she neared completion that an EVENING WORLD reporter with an artist was allowed the privilege of being the first outsiders to look upon this beautiful and admirable craft.

'Her name?  Well, I don't know what [continued beneath image below]

"YACHTS IN THE SOUND AWAITING REPAIRS."

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

they'll call her when she's launched,' said the builder.  'But the secrecy observed in her construction procured her the provisional name of 'Still Alarm.''

'She is 80 feet long,' he continued, 'with an extreme width of 9 feet, and is 6 feet 6 inches in depth.  The bottom forward is round, but aft, from the centre, becomes gradually flat.  She will have  700-horse-power quadruple expansion engine, and is intended to attain a speed of thirty miles an hour.

"INSPECTING HIS NEW LAUNCH."

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge.

'She was designed by William Gardner and C. D. Mosher, of New York, and is owned by William P. Coggeswell, of Syracuse.'

The builder then feasted his eyes for awhile upon the noble vessel, and concluded by saying:  

'I am willing to rest my reputation as a ship builder on her.  Just see, she is built of mahogany throughout, but with the 30,000 wooden rivets in her frame I think she is any day as strong for seafaring purposes as if she were made entirely of steel.  Ah, you should see her when she is finished.  She will be polished like a piano and will be not only the swiftest, but the most beautiful and symmetrical craft afloat.'

Carved on both sides of the prow is the head of Neptune with a dauntless expression of countenance, depicting that sea god as he must have appeared lashing the waves into calmness when they threatened to submerge the Trojan fleet.

'They ought to call her Neptune,' suggested the tar.

City Island is celebrated for the number of fast yachts it has launched.  Indeed the construction of yachts is almost the sole industry of the place.  It has at least a half dozen firms, engaged in this work, and City Island may truly be said to be one great shipyard.

It was here that Titania was built, the 70-foot steel sloop which was recently sold by Oliver O. Iselin, of New Rochelle, to Mr. Inman, of the Inman Steamship Company.

This boat's record has never been beaten by any vessel of her size.  Her beam is 22 feet and her draught of water 10 feet 6 inches.

The Titania, which is a centre-board boat, is no lying on stocks in the shipyard of her building in City Island.

"PULLING UP A LAUNCH ON MARINE RAILWAY."

NOTE:  Click Image to Enlarge. 

Archibald Rogers's seventy-foot cutter Bedouin was also built at this place.  She is the Titania's most formidable rival.  She is a wooden boat with a coppered bottom.

The Bedouin is also laid up for the season.  

One of the most remarkable boats ever built on City Island is the Lasca.  She is a steel schooner yacht, built for John E. Brooks of New York.  The Lasca is a ninety-foot boat.  She beat every schooner of her size during the recent cruise of the New York Yacht Club.

'But the Wanda,' exclaimed one of City Island's most considerable builders with exultation.  'Ah, she is after all the greatest piece of work I have done!

'She is steel, 140 feet over all, 127 feet on the water line, 18 feet in beam and 10 feet deep.  Her owner, James Stillman, of New York, may be proud of her.'

The largest steel schooner-yacht in America is the Constellation, built in the same shipyard for E. D. Morgan, of New York.  She is 106 feet on the water line, 138 feet over all, 24 feet beam and 13 feet deep.  Not long ago the Constellation made a trip fro Cottage City to Marblehead, Mass., in a little over nine hours, beating all previous records.

The 'tars' who lounge along various docks of City Island are all suspicious fellows.

'That yacht there,' said one of them, point to a pretty forty-footer lying anchored within an easy stone's throw, 'is a smart little craft.  She's a good sailor; but I'm hanged if I'd like to ship in her.  Never a drop stronger than lemonade gets between decks there.'

'They say her crew gets water-logged every cruise they make,' observed another.

'Well,' ventured a third, 'they're treated all right, anyhow.  The owner doesn't let his men want for anything, even if you never do hear the bang of  champagne cork in his cabin.'

The vessel indicated was the Banshee, owned by Mr. Scribner, of New York.  She is being scraped and fitted up for an early cruise to Halifax."

Source:  OCEAN'S NEW BRIDE -- Building a Yacht Which Is to Make Thirty Knots -- Scenes at City Island, Where Sea-flyers Nest -- Talk with Superstitious Tars, Who Are Shy of a Boat That Carries Only Lemonade, The Evening World [NY, NY], Aug. 22, 1892, p. 2, cols. 6-7 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link.).

"FASTEST YACHT AFLOAT
W.B. Coggswell is Building a Great Boat -- 
To Be Completed This Spring

A steam yacht with a speed of thirty miles an hour is being completed for W. B. Coggswell, manger of the Solvay Process Company, at Wood's City Island yard near New York.  Her captain will be Peter Cronley, the well-known navigator of Oswego.  The boat is perfect in beauty of line and will be furnished in an elaborate manner throughout.  The machinery is of the best make, the engine having taken six months to build.  The boat is seventy-eight feet long with a nine foot beam.  An idea of her wonderful machinery can be obtained from the fact that the steel forging for the crank shaft weighed 2,012 pounds and the finished shaft weighs 414 pounds.  The amount of pressure to propel the boat at full speed will be 250 pounds.  From the design it is understood Mr. Coggswell's yacht will be able to beat either the Norwood or the Vamoose, the fastest steam yachts afloat.  She will be used on Lake Ontario and also on Onondaga.  Mr. Coggswell has not announced the name and will not do so until the boat is completed.  The machinery was constructed in Newark, N.J. and will be placed in the hull as soon as the warm weather permits.  The yacht will probably be brought to Onondaga lake early this summer."

Source:  FASTEST YACHT AFLOAT -- W.B. Coggswell is Building a Great Boat -- To Be Completed This Spring, Daily Times [Oswego, NY], Feb. 22, 1893, p. 6, cols. 3-4.  

"NEW AND FAST STEAM YACHTS.
-----
The Still Alarm to be Launched To-Day -- Dimensions of the Little Anemone.

The steam yacht that has been styled the Still Alarm, on account of the mystery that has enshrouded her building, is actually approaching completion.  She is at Wood's yard at City Island.  This boat was designed by Gardner & Mosher for MMr. C. W. Coggeswell [sic].  She is intended to beat the Vamoose and Norwood.  Work was commenced on her in the Fall of 1891.  The hull was soon made, but there were long delays in getting the engine set up.  The boat has been covered up on the beach in front of Wood's shop for several months.  She will be launched to-day, and then her boilers will be put in.  After that she will be hauled out again and have her engine put in.

The boat is 78 feet in length, 9 feet 6 inches beam, and draws about 3 feet.  The hull is built of mahogany, polished bright.  She is modeled very much like the Norwood, her stem being straight and sharp, and her stern being flat, to prevent her squatting.  She has much more accommodation than the Norwood, and will be useful for cruising as well as for speeding.  Aft of the engine room is a saloon 12 feet in length and extending the full width of the boat.  It is to be furnished with a handsome sideboard, settees, and lockers.  Aft of the saloon on the port side is a lavatory, and on the starboard side is a large clothes press.  In the forecastle there are ample accommodations for five men.  There is a good-sized pilot house and a roomy cockpit.

The engines are the most interesting part of this boat.  It is expected that they will drive the boat through the water at about thirty miles an hour.  They were built by Lysander Wright of Newark and are of the quadruple compound type.  The cylinders are set in a straight line and are supported over an elliptical base of wrought iron by means of slender steel vertical pillars, each pair of which are braced with straining rods in the form of an X split down through the point of crossing and provided with a screw by which the braces can be strained until all racking is obviated.  The cylinders are 9 1/2, 13 1/2, 18, and 24 inches in diameter and the stroke 10 inches.  They are jacketed with sheet brass.

In constructing the engine, lightness has been the chief consideration, combined with strength.  It is said to weigh less than 3,600 pounds.  All the working parts have been reduced to the smallest practicable dimensions, or else relieved of superfluous metal by centre boring.  The rock shafts have one-inch holes through them.  The piston and connecting rods are hollow, and the big crank shaft has been bored out.  This shaft now weighs 414 pounds, and it was turned out of a sold steel forging that originally weighed 2,012 pounds.  It took six months to make this shaft.  The engine occupies fourteen square feet of floor space.  It is of 600 horse power, and will make between 500 and 600 revolutions a minute.  The boiler is of the Mosher type.  It is a tabular one, and will stand a pressure 250 pounds to the square inch.  It is expected that this boat will be ready for her trial trip by June 15. . . ."

Source:  NEW AND FAST STEAM YACHTS -- The Still Alarm to be Launched To-Day -- Dimensions of the Little Anemone, N.Y. Times, May 4, 1893.  

"TO DAVY JONES LOCKER
-----
The Steam Yacht Feiseen [sic] Sunk in a Collision.
-----
She Sprang a Leak and Was Being Towed Up the Bay When She Was Struck by the Gulandotte and Went Down Off Norton's Point -- All Hands Saved.
-----

The steam yacht Feiseen, the property of William Coggsell of Syracuse and said to be the fastest boat of its kind in the world, lies in forty feet of water off Norton's point, as a result of a collision down the bay late yesterday afternoon with the Old Dominion line steamer Gulandotte.  While steaming leisurely up the bay it was discovered that the Feiseen had sprung a leak, and it was feared that the vessel could not make port without assistance.  Distress signals  were accordingly sent and the steam whistle loudly blown.  The fast steam yacht Vamoose happened to be in the vicinity and responded, taking the Feiseen in tow.

While being towed by a single hawser, the yacht swerved from side to side to such an extent that she collided with the Old Dominion steamer Gulandotte.  The big steamer struck in her bulkheads and making a hole into which the water rushed rapidly.

The tug Carrie Ramsey then came to the rescue and took the Feiseen in tow, trying hard to get the vessel to shore before she should go down.  But the effort was in vain.  Off Norton's point she went down in forty feet of water.  All on board were transferred safely to the Carrie Ramsey, no one being injured except Charles Smith, the engineer, who, when the collision occurred, was badly scalded and received a scalp wound.  In his pain and excitement he jumped overboard, but was rescued by N. Nerion of 387 South Seventeenth street, this city.  Smith was landed at Pier A, North river, and transferred to Chambers street hospital.

The dimensions of the Feiseen are length, 68 feet 9 inches; beam 9 feet 8 inches, draft 3 feet 1 inch.  Her horse power is 600 and her displacement 13 tons.  The engines are of the Mosher build, quadruple expansion type.  The hull and deck are planked with mahogany, as well as the interior fittings.  The main saloon is 12 feet long and the full width of the boat.  She has a roomy pilot house, large cockpit aft, crew's quarters forward for six men, and a large ice chest, etc.  During a recent race with the fast steamboat Monmouth of the Sandy Hook line the Feiseen traveled at the rate of 31.6 miles an hour.  The yacht will be raised and taken to the yard of her builder, W. M. Tebo, at South Brooklyn, for repairs."

Source:  TO DAVY JONES LOCKER -- The Steam Yacht Feiseen [sic] Sunk in a Collision -- She Sprang a Leak and Was Being Towed Up the Bay When She Was Struck by the Gulandotte and Went Down Off Norton's Point -- All Hands Saved, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Sep. 10, 1893, Vol. 53, No. 250, p. 1, col. 2 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link.). 

"HARD AT WORK ON EL CID
-----
FAST FREIGHTER WILL SOON BE A BRAZILIAN CRUISER
-----
Admiral Maurity and the Brazilian Minister, Dr. Salvador de Mendonca, on Board Yesterday  Much Interested in What Was Being Done -- Will Have a Powerful Armament -- Yacht Feiseen Bought for a Torpedo Boat -- The New-York to Sail for Rio de Janerio.

There is no longer the slightest doubt of the uses to which El Cid, the steamship which was purchased through Flint & Co. from C. P. Huntington, will be put.

The steam yacht Feiseen, which has the fastest record in the world, was bought yesterday by Flint & Co. from W. B. Coggswell.  She will be placed on the deck of El Cid for use as a torpedo boat.

The work is being done by Gardner & Mosher, builders of the yacht.  It will probably be finished in two weeks.  The cabin of the yacht is being removed, and the best steel plates are being put in.

In place of the ordinary pilot house, a coning [sic] tower will be built, and in the bow of the yacht will be a torpedo tube placed forward on a pivot, on which it will be capable of traversing an arc of 180 degrees.  Aft a one-pound rapid-fire gun will be carried.

The Feiseen has made seven miles at the rate of 31 5/8 miles an hour.  She cost $30,000.  Mr. Gardner refused to tell what was paid for her by Flint & Co.

Admiral Maurity who is at the head of the Brazilian Commission to the World's Fair, was aboard El Cid yesterday, looking at her and sizing up her capabilities as a war vessel, and later in the day a reporter for The New-York Times found Dr. Salvador de Mendonca, the Brazilian Minister to this country, on board.  He was making a suggestion as to what should be done to the steamship.

Dr. Mendonca was very courteous, but when questioned about the destination of the vessel, he refused to say a word, nor would he tell anything about the armament that would be put on the steamship.  It was learned, however, that El Cid would be fitted up as a fast cruiser as one of a fleet of four powerful wr vessels to be commanded by Admiral Maurity.

This fleet will be a most formidable one and will be able to give Admiral Mello and his command a hard fight should they come to close quarters.  The Government of Brazil, in addition to El Cid, will have three new vessels, two of which will be ironclads of the latest and most effective class.

One of these ironclads is being turned out by the Armstrongs in England and the Richeuala is another.  The Richeuala is now at Toulon, where she is being fitted out.  There also is the cruiser Benjamin Constant, which has been bought for Brazil.  

Admiral Maurity, who will command these war ships, was formerly a monarchist and  friend of Mello.  Now, however, he is  Republican and will give the heartiest support to Peixoto and the Government.  He is one of the best naval officers in the service of Brazil.  In addition he is the youngest Admiral in the service and is a graduate of the Brazilian Naval College.  During the Paraguayan war he was placed in command of a vessel of the monitor type and did good service against the Paraguayans.  He was badly wounded in an engagement.

El Cid yesterday morning was towed from Pier 38, North River, down to the Erie Basin, where a large force of workmen was put at work getting her ready to be cleaned and painted.  Her bottom will be painted with anti-fouling paint.  The ships' carpenters were at work measuring and making calculations as to where and how her guns would be placed.

When El Cid is armed she will be able to do effective service.  In her bow on the main deck will be the dynamite gun, and near by will be two thirty-three pound guns.  On the forward deckhouse will be placed twelve rapid-fire guns.

The dynamite gun is constructed by the Pneumatic Torpedo and Construction Company, and is much the type of a gun that was used on the Vesuvius at the trials at Port Royal, S.C., last Spring.  This gun throws a projectile that is more of an aerial torpedo than anything else.  Its progress cannot be stopped by a netting.  The velocity reaches from 500 to 900 feet per second.

The charges explode when a solid object or the water is struck.

This gun was tested at Fort Lafayette in September, 1886, and the Coast Survey schooner Silliman was blown up after three shots had been fired.  The projectiles were charged with nitro gelatine.  The gun will throw four sizes of projectiles.  The first shell weighs 500 pounds and is charged with 500 pounds of explosive.  The next one weighs 500 pounds, the shell weighing 300 pounds and the explosive with which it is charged 200 pounds.

The other two projectiles weigh 300 and 200 pounds, respectively.  The shells can be projected 2,800, 4,200, 5,000, and 6,000 yards, respectively.  The larger shells can be fired at the rate of twenty rounds an hour and the others at thirty rounds.  One of these guns was sent to England two years ago and exhaustive tests were made of its accuracy of fire.  The accuracy developed was remarkable.

Five shots were fired, and the shells all dropped in a rectangle 7 rods by 5.  Two of them dropped in the same hole.

Admiral Maurity was very much pleased when the workings of the gun were shown him, and he watched with great interest the preparations that were being made to have it placed on board.  Part of the upper deck will have to be cut out, and as the gun and carriage weigh forty-three tons, it will be a difficult job to get it in position.

Admiral Maurity left for Chicago at 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon.  He is so much occupied with the Brazilian exhibit at the exposition that he has only been able to give four days to the details necessary for the purchase and fitting out of El Cid.  For this reason the Brazilian Minister, Dr. Mendonca, has been compelled to call upon gentlemen who are experts in naval architecture to superintend the fitting out of El Cid and to take charge of the metamorphosis that is now turning her from a peaceful freighter into a cruiser.

In addition to the armament already described, El Cid will be fitted out with Howell torpedoes which have been adopted by the United States Government.  A telegram from Providence last night stated that the Hotchkiss Ordnance Company was getting several torpedoes ready, presumably for the use of El Cid.  The officers of the company, however, refused to say anything about what the destination of the torpedoes was.

It is not known how long it will take to fit out El Cid.  No attempt will be made to armor any part of her.  The Brazilian Government has need of the fleet at once, and it is expected that the three men-of-war on the other side will sail very shortly.  Whether they will come to this port to sail for Brazil in company with El Cid is a question which not even the Admiral who will command the Government fleet can answer.

Capt. H. Baker, formerly of the Brazil line of steamers, has been made Captain of El Cid.  The vessel was intrusted to his care yesterday."

Source:  HARD AT WORK ON EL CID -- FAST FREIGHTER WILL SOON BE A BRAZILIAN CRUISER -- Admiral Maurity and the Brazilian Minister, Dr. Salvador de Mendonca, on Board Yesterday  Much Interested in What Was Being Done -- Will Have a Powerful Armament -- Yacht Feiseen Bought for a Torpedo Boat -- The New-York to Sail for Rio de Janerio, N.Y. Times, Oct. 29, 1893, p. 5, cols. 3-4 (NOTE:  Paid subscription required to access via this link.).  

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