Nathanael Greene Herreshoff


Nathanael Greene Herreshoff was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893-1920.

Biography

Herreshoff was born on March 18, 1848 in Bristol, Rhode Island and was named after General Nathanael Greene. He was one of seven brothers, behind Lewis and John B., and the elder of John B. F. and Julian L.
He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1870 with a three-year degree in mechanical engineering. After graduation, he took a position with the Corliss Steam Engine Company in Providence, Rhode Island. At the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he oversaw operation of the Corliss Stationary Engine, a, dynamo that powered the exhibition's machinery.
In 1878 Herreshoff returned to Bristol where he and his older brother John B. formed the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Herreshoff provided the engineering expertise and his brother provided the business expertise, managing the firm's personnel and interacting with clients. Together, they grew the business from about 20 employees to over 400. In 1888, a serious accident occurred while Herreshoff was supervising speed trials of a, steamboat named Say When. After a safety valve opened to release over-pressure, Herreshoff closed it so the boat could achieve its anticipated maximum speed. But a boiler exploded, fatally injuring a member of the crew. Consequently, Herreshoff lost his steam engineer's license.
Herreshoff was an accomplished sailor, and was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011. Two of Herreshoff's sons, Sidney Dewolf Herreshoff and Lewis Francis Herreshoff, also became yacht designers.
He died on June 2, 1938 in Bristol, Rhode Island.

Yacht building

While the firm's early work centered on steam-powered vessels, by the 1890s the Herreshoffs turned to the design and construction of yachts for wealthy American clients, including Jay Gould, William Randolph Hearst, John Pierpont Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt III, Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, William Kissam Vanderbilt II, Harry Payne Whitney and Alexander Smith Cochran. Herreshoff boat production incorporated power tools that increased productivity at a high level of quality, using craftsmen that received the highest boat-builder wages in the state of Rhode Island.
Herreshoff was noted as an innovative sailboat designer of his time. His designs ranged from the 12½, a 16-foot sailboat for training the children of yachtsmen, to the 144-foot America's Cup Reliance, with a sail area of 16,000 square feet. He received the first US patent for a sailing catamaran. The firm built the America's Cup winning Cup yachts Enterprise - 1930, and Rainbow - 1934. Every winning America's Cup Yacht from 1893 to 1934 was built by the Herreshoff yard.
The 123-foot Defender featured steel-framing, bronze plating up to the waterline and aluminum topsides to achieve a lighter and faster boat. This combination of materials had been pioneered in the French fresh-water racing yacht Vendenesse, which had been described in a New York Times article and caught the attention of the Vanderbilt Americacup syndicate. In salt water, Defender was subject to galvanic corrosion, which limited its durability in water. Defender won the America's Cup in 1895 over Lord Dunraven's Valkyrie III, and she was used as an effective trial-horse for Herreshoff's new Cup defender Columbia in 1899. She was broken up in 1901.
Those of the 2,000-plus designs by Herreshoff that survive are sought by connoisseurs of classic yachts. Herreshoff S-Class sailboats, designed in 1919 and built until 1941, are still actively raced in Narragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay and Western Long Island Sound. His 12½ design of 1914 is still being built and raced in New England as well. The New York 30 is well regarded as a one-design racer/cruiser.
The Herreshoff Marine Museum preserves Herreshoff's legacy at the former site of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.

Notable vessels

Steam vessels

In the last quarter of the 19th century, Herreshoff constructed a double-hulled sailing boat of his own design. The craft, Amaryllis, raced at her maiden regatta on June 22, 1876 and performed exceedingly well. Her debut demonstrated the distinct performance advantages afforded by catamarans over the standard monohulls. It was as a result of this event, the Centennial Regatta of the New York Yacht Club, that catamarans were barred from regular sailing classes, and this remained the case until the 1970s.
Herreshoff designed and built the following America's Cup contenders. All won the series against their challengers. Herreshoff was the helmsman of Vigilant.
According to his son's biography, Herreshoff's achievements include:
  1. Built the first torpedo boat for the U.S. Navy.
  2. Developed bulb and fin keels for large boats.
  3. Updated the sail track and slide.
  4. Invented the crosscut sail, with panels running at right angles to the leech, in order to combat cotton canvas' tendency to distort under load.