July 6, 1895.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



15 



DEFENDER Taken Just After She Stopped on the Wats From a I-hoto by C. E. Bolles, Brooklyn. 



The programme, as arranged by the builders, was that no newspaper 

 man should see the yacht before she was underwater, and though 

 there was no canvas hung over her sides and the idea of attempting to 

 prevent the taking of photographs had been abandoned, it was ex- 

 pected that she would pass so quickly from the shop to the water that 

 nothing more than a single snap shot at most would be possible. This 

 time, fortune favored the minions of the Press; there lay the yacht, the 

 whole hull visible, while the tide, already beyond the turn, was each 

 moment laying bare more and more of the treasured secrets of the 

 designer. With a Samaritan-like spirit, too seldom seen in this sordid 

 age, the first to come to the rescue were the photographers, who, 

 without a moment's hesitation, hastened to heap figurative coals of 

 Are in the very practical shape of stout wet hawsers on the decks of 

 the unfortunate craft. Mr. N. G. Herreshoff, who was personally 

 directing every detail of the launch, was everywhere, around the yacht 

 in a yawlboat, on her decks and flying from place to place. Soon a 

 stout hawser was led around under her bows, held by slings from the 

 deck, and the two tugs were straining at the outer end. Still a third 

 tug was added, and without the least effect. The twenty or more men 

 on the deck were then sent forward and ordered to shake the boat, 

 which they did; but this was at once stopped by Mr. Herreshoff. 



The diver, who was still on the derrick, was sent down and came 

 up after a time with the report that the cradle was all rignt, resting 

 near the end of the ways, and no cause of the trouble visible. The 

 big steam yacht Conqueror was now called into requisition by Mr. 

 Vanderbilt; she ran off a little distance, directly ahead of the yacht, 

 dropped an anchor from her bow and ran out astern a heavy hawser 

 which was run along the deck, the bight being made fast to the stem- 

 head just forward of the outer gammon iron. A pull here seemed to 

 be a risky business, as it would have brought a heavy downward 

 strain on the end of the counter; before the Conqueror was started 

 up this plan was abandoned, and the hawser was passed around under 

 the bows, below water, supported by three sets of slings from the 

 deck. When the Conqueror started, the hawser first tautened, then 

 the slings settled down with a jerk to their places and the steam 

 yacht's capstans began to get in their work. A long pull and a strong 

 pull— then a snap— and the bits of deck had pulled out of the Con- 

 queror, the defender lying just where she had first stopped, over an 

 hour before. The tide had now fallen over a foot, many of the spec- 

 tators had left, the workmen had disposed of a generous feast in the 

 North shop, provided by Mr. Iselin. The derricks busied themselves 

 in getting ready shores and gear, as further proceedings were de- 

 ferred until the midnight tide. The owners of the yacht and their 

 friends had gone to a garden party in the town, in honor of the 

 launch; the yachts, small and large, slipped away, a strong breeze now 

 blowing; and the shipyard was practically deserted, the regular work 

 having stopped for the day. Mr. N. G-. Herresoff was still about the 

 yacht and pier. It had been intended to step the mast at once, and 

 during the evening it had been removed to the marine railway in the 

 cove just south of the works, but of course all thoughts of masting 

 and fitting out were abandoned before the one great problem of 

 safely, if not speedily, launching the boat. 



Late on Saturday afternoon a dispatch was sent by the builders to 

 the War Department at Washington, asking the loan of pontoons to 

 lift the yacht, the request being promptly granted. A message was 

 also sent to New Bedford to the big wrecking tug Right Arm, which 

 does most of the wrecking work about Nantucket Shoals, and she 

 reached the works at 10 P. M. Saturday. It was decided, however, 

 not to attempt the work by night, as the services of the diver might 

 be needed and he could only work by daylight. On Sunday morning 

 the Right Arm steamed into position just astern of the yacht and 

 dropped two heavy anchors, some 7,0001bs. in all, from her bows. A 

 heavy strap was passed around the yacht's bows and down around 

 the cradle, and from this a 12in. hawser from the Right Arm was 

 bent. The preparations were completed before noon, but the final 

 pull was delayed until high water. The yacht's consort, the familiar 

 flattie Palmer, put in an appearance during the morning, Mr. Iselin 

 sailed over to Colonia, and many yachts were present. At 1:20 the 

 Right Arm prepared for a long pull, a strong pull and a pull altogether, 

 her powerful steam windlass started up, and the cables and hawser 

 were hove taut, the strain being maintained until the port cable parted ; 

 the yacht meanwhile being immovable. Then the tug backed in and 

 steamed ahead rapidly, trying the effect of a sudden jerk, 

 two or three of these attempts having no other result than to 

 snap tue 12in. hawser; bringing the proceedings to a temporary stop 

 while repairs wereTmade. Divers were sent down during the morning 

 and reported that everything was apparently all right, and the fore 

 end of the sliding ways about two feet over the end of the ground 

 ways. A telephone message was sent, ordering pontoons, as the 

 attempt at hauling off seemed hopeless. 



Nothing more was attempted until Monday afternoon; then, the 

 pontoons not having arrived, the Right Arm ran out four heavy 

 hawsers to the yacht and backed in close, the slack of the hawsers 

 being coiled down in a yawlboat. When all was ready the tug started 

 ahead at full speed, attaining headway before the 200ft. of slack in the 

 hawsers was taken up. The effect of the jerk was to pull yacht and 

 cradle clear of the ways and then to pull the cradle from under the 

 yacht, leaving her floating easily in the space between the pier heads. 

 So far as could be ascertained, she is entirely uninjured, and none the 

 worse for her unpleasant experience. The mast was brought up from 

 the marine railway and stepped at once, and the work of preparation 

 will now go on very rapidly, but it is a question whether she can be 

 ready for the race set for July 10. 



The dimensions of the defender are still a matter of doubt, and will 

 be in all probability for some time; the exact beam will not be known 

 until some reliable and disinterested person shall put a steel tape 

 across her, and it may be even longer before the true draft is known. 

 The over-all length is given as 124ft., but even if correct this means 

 nothing as a basis of comparison with Colonia, Vigilant and Navahoe, 

 or even with the yachts of other designers, because the^two ends are 



treated in a very different manner from the other Herreshoff boats, 

 to say nothing of Fife or Watson. 



The fore overhang is comparatively short, and the over-all length is 

 lessened further by the very straight line about the stemhead; if the 

 sweep of the stem from the waterline to the stemhead were carried 

 out fair, the length on deck would be from 1 to 2ft. greater. The 

 same is true of the after end, if the lines of the deck and counter 

 were carried out to the same pieplate finish as Colonia and Vigilant, 

 some 4 or 5ft. would be added. The fore overhang does not look to be 

 as long as in Colonia, even apart from the snubbing in of the line of 

 stem near the deck; but the counter is quite as long as in the other 

 Herreshoff boats, except that the extreme end is cut off to make a 

 different finish. 



The keel of the> yacht could only be seen for a moment just as it en- 

 tered the water, but from what was visible, taken with the hull itself, 

 it would seem that the new yacht is in most respects much less of an 

 "improved Colonia," as she is generally called, than a modified Val- 

 kyrie II. The midship section shows much greater draft on about 

 the same proportionate beam, and the sides of the keel are narrowed 

 in, swelling out lower down into a wide bulb. In the body of the boat 



proper the section shows a more regular sweep from the planksheer 

 down to the hollow of the keel, the rather straight topsidea, strong 

 bilge and straight rising floor of Valkyrie H. being replaced by a flow- 

 ing and continuous curve from the rail downward. There is nothing 

 whatever of Vigilant or Colonia in the keel contour, their long straight 

 keels being replaced by a continuous curve from the heel of the keel, 

 very slight at first, but rising much as in Valkyrie II., crossiog the 

 waterline at about the same angle, but, as stated, snubbed in abruptly 

 as it nears the deck at the stemhead. The rake of the rudder post 

 could hardly be gauged in the short time the rudder was visible, only 

 some 2ft. of it being out of water when the boat stopped. It is. 

 however, very great, probably almost as much as Valkyrie II., and 

 the rudder was set well under the boat to about the same extent, in- 

 stead of just touching the waterline, as in all the older boats. 



The strongest point of difference from the old craft and of likeness 

 to Valkyrie and Britannia is on the bow and entire f orebody. It would 

 surprise no one to learn that the full waterllnes and round framelines 

 of Vigilant had been relegated to the domain of the has-been,' but the 

 new yacht goes far beyond Colonia and in the direction of the Watson 

 boats in the lines of the bow; clean, sweet and powerful, but free from 

 the suggestion of force and effort that so characterized Vigilant and 

 in a lesser degree Colonia. The boat is in-and-out plated, and the lines 

 of the edges, themselves fair and true, show the clean and easy sweep 

 of the diagonals; while the waterlines. both in the topsides and below 

 water, show the same freedom from an excessive fullness. The after- 

 body is carried out in the same manner, a counter that would be called 

 full, but at the same time not forced to an extreme. 



Those who are familiar with Mr. N. G. Herreshoff 's work in 

 Gloriana, Wasp, Colonia and Vigilant appreciate the fact that he takes 

 up the problem of designing as an engineer rather than as an artist; 

 and, having certain definite and probably original ends in view, that 

 he works directly for them with little regard to fairness of form, forc- 

 ing a line into a hard curve here and a fiat spot there to gain power 

 above everything else. It has been frequently said that his yachts 

 show their origin in the carved model and not in the paper design, and 

 we understand that he uses the model to a greater extent than any 

 modern designer, ascertaining the displacement and center of buoy- 

 ancy from it by immersion in a tank. How true this may be we know 

 not, but the majority of his boats indicate that the ordinary weights 

 and splines have played but a secondary part in their origin. In the 

 new boat there is more fairness of form, less apparent forcing of cer- 

 tain parts and more thorough harmony between middle body and ends 

 than in the other big boats, the result being a craft in every way pleas- 

 ing to the eye save in some superficial matters. 



It may be that experience with the smaller fin-keels, in which power 

 is of less importance and form more than in the large yachts, has led 

 to this change; but it is also probable that two seasons' sailing in com- 

 pany with Valkyrie It and Britannia has had a share in it. Be the 

 cause what it may, and the dimensions right or wrong, the new boat 

 has certainly a model that will compare favorably with anything yet 

 launched at Bristol. 



The stem we have already described, the stern is shaped much like 

 Isolde and Niagara. The sterns of Vigilant and Colonia, as yachts- 

 men know, were formed simply by carrying out all the lines of the hull 

 until they intersected the deck, practically coiniug together at an 

 acute angle, the deck line being elliptical. It is not necessary to com- 

 pare such a stern to that on Valkyrie II. or Britannia to realize bow 

 inartistic and ugly it is; but at the same time there is no avoiding the 

 conclusion that it is strong, simple of construction, and in everything 

 but appearance an excellent stern. In the new boat, what would be 

 practically the same stern is cut off, the lines no longer continued un- 

 til they meet, but joined by a transom, as in most modern yachts. 

 This transom is like those of Isolde and Niagara, an improvement on 

 the straight and awkward ends of Wenonah, El Chico and Dacotah, 

 but lacking in that bold and decided sweep necessary to give charac- 

 ter to the end of the counter. It curves a little, but it falls far short 

 of what it might be — an ornament and finish to the whole yacht. 



The freeboard is moderate and the sheer slight, the deckline shows 

 a pleasing round carried down through each successive waterline, 

 and the yacht promises to be an exceptionally handsome craft save 

 for the short and awkward fore end and the finish of the stern. 



The length on the waterline is of no importance just now, as it may 

 be safely assumed that it will come out very close to 90ft. when the 

 yacht is in measuring trim. It would be indeed unfortunate if either 

 yacht should exceed this limit; but with the care that has been taken 

 to this end by both Herreshoff and Watson, there is little danger of 

 such a mishap. The extreme beam is still unknown, though Mr. Ise- 

 lin is credited with the statement that it is 24ft. ; others insist that it 

 is 23ft. 3in, The draft too is unknown, though safely fixed between 

 the limits of 18 and 19ft., probably nearer the latter. The bottom of 

 the yacht, from a foot below the top of the lead keel up to Ahe water- 

 line, is plated with Parson's Manganese Bronze, manufactured by 

 Cramp & Co., at Philadelphia. The topsides are plated with alum- 

 inum, manufactured by the Pittsburgh Reduction Co., of Pittsburgh. 

 All the plating is in-and-out, there beiDg five strakes to a side in the 

 hull proper. The plating, caulking and finishing is very well done. The 

 bowsprit will ship in two heavy steel tubes strengthened with angle 



VALKYRIE m. From a Photo 



