HMCo #555s [Unbuilt. Cancelled. Mashnee]
Particulars
Type: Fin Keel Raceabout
Designed by: NGH
Not built, not assigned, cancelled, etc.: 1901-2-4
Construction: Wood
LOA: 38' 8" (11.79m)
LWL: 21' (6.40m)
Beam: 8' 8" (2.64m)
Draft: 5' 7" (1.70m)
Rig: Gaff Sloop
Sail Area: 600sq ft (55.7sq m)
Displ.: 6,465 lbs (2,932 kg)
Keel: FK
Ballast: Lead outside
Built for: Emmons, Robert W.
Amount: N/A
Note(s) in HMCo Construction Record: Not built. Cancelled by agreement with J. B. Herreshoff.
Note: Particulars are primarily but not exclusively from the HMCo Construction Record. Supplementary information not from the Construction Record appears elsewhere in this record with a complete citation.
Offsets
Offset booklet number(s): HH.4.130
Offset booklet contents:
#555 [21' w.l. finkeel sloop - not built].
Offset Booklet(s) in Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection. Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections, MIT Museum, Cambridge, Mass. (Restricted access --- see curator.)
Drawings

List of drawings:
Drawings believed to have been first drawn for, or being first referenced to
HMCo #555s [Unbuilt. Cancelled. Mashnee] are listed in bold.
Click on Dwg number for preview, on HH number to see at M.I.T. Museum.
- Dwg 127-057 (HH.5.09925): Sails > Jib and Mainsail (1898-03-25)
- Dwg 080-088 (HH.5.06002): Hollow Mast for 21 Footers (1900-12-26)
- Dwg 079-064 (HH.5.05873): Boom Hanging for 21 Footers (1901-02-14)
- Dwg 076-030 (HH.5.05489); Construction Dwg > 21 Footer # 555 for Buzzard's Bay (1901-04-24)
- Dwg 091-085 (HH.5.07358): Metal List for # 555 (1901-04-24)
- Dwg 064-050 (HH.5.04525): Rudder and Stock for # 555 (1901-05-08)
- Dwg 076-050 (HH.5.05509); Construction Dwg > 21' W.L. Racing Craft for Buzzard's Bay (1903-10-19)
Note: The Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection is copyrighted by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. Permission to incorporate information from it in the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné is gratefully acknowledged. The use of this information is permitted solely for research purposes. No part of it is to be published in any form whatsoever.
Documents
Nathanael G. Herreshoff
"[1901-02-06] Wed 6: NW gale & cold. 8 plates on #551 [Constitution]. Mr. Emmons ordered a 21' raceabout for Buzzards Bay [#555s, not built. #569s Mashnee may have taken its place]." (Source: Herreshoff, Nathanael G. Diary, 1901. Manuscript (excerpts). Diary access courtesy of Halsey C. Herreshoff.)
"No. 555. B-3-m
Planking 3/4".
Timbers 1" at head, increase 3/32 per foot for full length, moulded way[?] sided 1"." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. [Penciled note in Offset Booklet HH.4.130.] No date [ca. late March 1901]. Haffenreffer-Herreshoff Collection, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA.)
Archival Documents
"[Item Description:] Mimeographed specifications titled 'Specification for 21 feet Water Line 'Race-about for Buzzards Bay. Shop Number, 555 [#555s MASHNEE (Unbuilt)]'. Marked in pencil across the entire page 'Countermanded'." (Source: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.. (creator). Specifications. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDW02_02400. Folder [no #]. 1901-02-14.)
1
"[Item Description:] Penciled pantograph hull sections titled ''No. 555 [#555s MASHNEE, unbuilt fin keel raceabout]. 1st trial (over)'. With calculations arriving at 99.5cuft [= 6368lbs]. Untitled (a 2nd trial of hull sections for the same design was drawn on March 28, 1901)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_04360. Folder [no #]. 1901-03-28 or earlier.)
1
"[Item Description:] Two sets of penciled pantograph hull sections. One marked 'M[ar]ch 25, 1901. 2nd Trial' and with calculations arriving at a displacement of 98cuft = 6300lbs. The other marked marked '#555 [#555s MASHNEE, unbuilt fin keel raceabout]. 3rd Trial. Final. M[ar]ch 28 [19]01' and with calculations arriving at 94.7cuft = 6070lbs." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Pantograph Hull Sections. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE04_04350. Folder [no #]. 1901-03-28.)
1
"[Item Description:] Penciled sailplan titled 'MASHNEE. #555. To have extra structure. July 1901. Not built - Countermanded'. With notes." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Penciled Sailplan. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Acc. 2004.0001.0360. WRDT04, Folder 32, formerly MRDE09. 1901-07.)
1 2 3
"[Item Transcription:] Order book with carbon copy duplicates of instructions given by NGH titled 'Herreshoff Mfg. Co. Orders from N.G. Herreshoff'. Relevant contents:
§10: Work Order [For] #551s, #555s. [When wanted] Early in May. Hollow spars by Spaulding St. Lawrence Boat Co. (1901-03-01)." (Source: Herreshoff, N.G. (creator). Order Book. Halsey C. Herreshoff Collection at the Herreshoff Marine Museum Item MRDE08_03460. Folder [no #]. 1900-02 to 1909-10.)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125
Note: This list of archival documents contains in an unedited form any and all which mention #555s [Unbuilt. Cancelled. Mashnee] even if just in a cursory way. Permission to digitize, transcribe and display is gratefully acknowledged.
Supplement
From the 1920 and earlier HMCo Index Cards at the MIT Museum
- Note: The vessel index cards comprise two sets of a total of some 3200 cards about vessels built by HMCo, with dimensions and information regarding drawings, later or former vessel names, and owners. They were compiled from HMCo's early days until 1920 and added to in later decades, apparently by Hart Nautical curator William A. Baker and his successors. While HMCo seems to have used only one set of index cards, all sorted by name and, where no name was available, by number, later users at MIT apparently divided them into two sets of cards, one sorted by vessel name, the other by vessel number and greatly expanded the number of cards. Original HMCo cards are usually lined and almost always punched with a hole at bottom center while later cards usually have no hole, are unlined, and often carry substantially less information. All cards are held by the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collections of the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Mass. and permission to display is gratefully acknowledged.
From the 2000 (ca.) Transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Vermilya/Bray
Month: Feb
Day: 4
Year: 1901
E/P/S: S
No.: 0555
LW: 21'
B: 8' 8"
D: 5' 7"
Rig: J & M
K: FK
Ballast: Lead O.
Notes Constr. Record: Not built. Cancelled by agreement with J.B.H.
Last Name: E.
First Name: R. W.
Source: Vermilya, Peter and Maynard Bray. "Transcription of the HMCo. Construction Record." Unpublished database, ca. 2000.
Note: The transcription of the HMCo Construction Record by Peter Vermilya and Maynard Bray was performed independently (and earlier) than that by Claas van der Linde. A comparison of the two transcriptions can be particularly useful in those many cases where the handwriting in the Construction Record is difficult to decipher.
Link to the Herreshoff Registry
The Herreshoff Registry, founded by Steve Nagy and later administered by Teeter Bibber, can be particularly useful for researching the provenance of Herreshoff-built sailing vessels. Permission to link to the Registry is gratefully acknowledged! Note: The Herreshoff Registry was offline in Spring of 2022. As a temporary measure here is a link to a backup file from January 2021. It is unclear how much the Registry has been updated since then.
Research Note(s)
"Sail area 600sqft as per maximum allowed in Raceabout rule." (Source: van der Linde, Claas. December 22, 2021.)
Note: Research notes contain information about a vessel that is often random and unedited but has been deemed useful for future research.
Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, adaptation, or distribution of any part of this document or any information contained herein by any means whatsoever is permitted without prior written permission. For the full terms of copyright for this document please click here. Last revision 2025-05-09.
© 2025,