THE'T.W.SCRIPPS" 



By 



E. G. MOBERG AND J. LYMAN 



A wooden auxiliary-motor vessel of the 

 Gloucester-schooner type, the "E. W. Scripps" 

 was built at Sausalito, California, in 1924 by 

 J. H. Kadden and Son from designs by Lee, Brin- 

 ton, and Wayland, Inc., of San Francisco. She 

 was intended as a yacht for ocean racing and ex- 

 tended cruising and originally carried a gaff- 

 headed two-masted schooner rig with fidded top- 

 masts. "Aurora" was her original name, which 

 was changed to "Serena" under a later ownership. 

 As the "Serena" the vessel was purchased at Los 

 Angeles in April, 1937, by the late Robert P. 

 Scripps for donation to the Scripps Institution 

 of Oceanography to replace the motor vessel 

 "Scripps" destroyed by explosion and fire at San 

 Diego in November, 1936. The work of converting 

 the "Serena" for scientific purposes was under- 

 taken by the San Diego Marine Construction Com- 

 pany. On December 1, 1937, permission was re- 

 ceived from the Director of the Bureau of Marine 

 Inspection and Navigation to change her name to 

 "E. W. Scripps," in honor of Edward Wyllis 

 Scripps, father of Robert P. Scripps and one of 

 the founders of the Scripps Institution of Oceanog- 

 raphy. The vessel was formally transferred to 

 the Regents of the University of California later 

 in December and was ready for use in January, 

 1938. 



Construction and design . - The registered par- 

 ticulars of the "E. W. Scripps" are as follows: 



Tonnage, gross 108 



Tonnage, net 59 



Length, feet 93.7 



Beam, feet 21.1 



Depth, feet 11.9 



Official number .... 224055 



Signal letters KLNT 



On a draft of 12 ft. 3 in. her waterline length 

 is 86 ft. 2 in. and corresponding displacement 

 tonnage 135. The overall deck length is 104 ft. 



Figure 2 gives the hull lines of the vessel to 

 the outside of the planking. They show the hol- 

 low bilges, cut-away forefoot and raking keel of 

 the Gloucester-fisherman model, which is charac- 

 teristic of most large American schooner yachts. 



The following table gives details of her 

 scantlings: 



Position 



Dimensions 



Keel and forefoot. . 18" x 20" 



Stem 12" sided 



Propeller and 



rudder posts . . . 12" x 14" 

 Frames 3-3/4" sided 



Timber 

 Oregon pine 

 Apitong 



Apitong 

 Apitong 



Clamp 3-3/4" x 9-3/4" Oregon pine 



Position Dimensions Timber 



Shelf 3-3/4" x 22" Oregon pine 



Ceiling 2-1/2" Oregon pine 



Ceiling, 6 bilge 



strakes 3-3/4" x 7-3/4" Oregon pine 



Deck beams .... 3-3/4" x 6" Oregon pine 

 Beams at deck 



openings .... 5-3/4" x 6" Oregon pine 



Deck 2-3/4" x 2-3/4" Oregon pine 



Covering board . . 3-3/4" x 10" Teak 



Bulwarks 12" high Teak 



Outside planking . 2-3/4" Port Orford 



cedar 



The frames are double, spaced 16 in., and 

 mold from 8 in. at the heels to 4 in. at the 

 heads. Every fourth frame is double-sawed; the 

 rest are steam bent in one piece. Floors of 

 sawed frames are of apitong, 6 in. x 8 in. Floors 

 of bent frames are wrought iron, 1/4 in. x 4 in. 

 at ends to 1-1/2 in. x 4 in. on keel, and running 

 up 18 in. on the frames. They were galvanized 

 after fitting. The stern transom is framed with 

 Port Orford cedar and sheathed with teak. The 

 ceiling is fastened with two l/2-in. screw bolts 

 in each frame and edge-bolted between frames. The 

 outside planking ranges from 14-in. width at the 

 garboards to 6-in. in the topsides and is fas- 

 tened with 3/8-in. x 5-in. spikes. All fasten- 

 ings are galvanized iron. 



The vessel has 30 tons of cast-iron ballast 

 consisting of two sections bolted to the under- 

 side of the keel with twelve 1-3/8-in. bolts 

 passing through the metal floors and set up with 

 nuts. 



Eight hanging knees, 3 ft. 6-in.- x 4-in.- 

 sided, are worked in each side, and lodging knees 

 2 ft. 8 in. X 4 in. at all deck openings. The 

 joiner work is teak above deck and teak, mahogany, 

 and pine plywood below. 



Rigging . - Figure 3 on page 5, gives the sail 

 plan of the vessel. The headsails are the 

 original rig, the mainsail has been made smaller 

 by eliminating the gaff and shortening and rais- 

 ing the boom, and the foresail has been reduced 

 in hoist. The topmasts and all their gear have 

 been removed. The trysail shown in the plan is 

 generally set when hove to for work at a sta- 

 tion in any kind of breeze, since it aids in keep- 

 ing the vessel broadside to and also contributes 

 to an easier motion. 



Mainsail and foresail use wooden mast hoops, 

 rather than the more modern travelers and track. 

 The standing rigging is 7/8-in. wire rope, set up 

 to chain plates with rigging screws. The spars 

 are all solid sticks of Oregon pine, the mainmast 



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