''Coronet'' is a 131' wooden-hull
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
yacht
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
built for oil tycoon
Rufus T. Bush in 1885. It is one of the oldest and largest vessels of its type in the world, and one of the last grand sailing yachts of the 19th century extant. After numerous owners and decades of neglect, it underwent an extensive restoration at Newport, Rhode Island's,
The International Yacht Restoration School beginning in 2010.
History
The schooner ''Coronet'' was designed by William Townsend and built for
Rufus T. Bush by the
C. & R. Poillon shipyard in Brooklyn. Bush then put forth a $10,000 challenge against any other yacht for a transatlantic
race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
. The ocean race between ''Coronet'' and the
Caldwell Hart Colt
Caldwell Hart Colt (November 24, 1858 – January 21, 1894) was an American inventor and yachtsman.
Biography
Caldwell Hart Colt was born in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Samuel Colt, founder of Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Com ...
's yacht
''Dauntless'' in March 1887 made Bush and the victorious ''Coronet'' famous— ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' devoted its entire first page for March 28, 1887 to the story.
[
]
After winning the 3,000-mile race and the $10,000 purse, Bush decided to sell ''Coronet'' and listed the vessel in England for $30,000. Rufus and his son Irving T. Bush then
circumnavigated
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...
the globe on ''Coronet'' in 1888. ''Coronet'' was the first registered yacht to cross
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...
from East to West. After crossing the Pacific Ocean and stopping in Hawaii, ''Coronet'' made port in China,
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
,
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
and elsewhere.
''Coronet'' was sold before Rufus's death in 1890
The vessel then passed through six different owners (Arthur E. Bateman, John D. Wing,
Arthur Curtiss James
Arthur Curtiss James (June 1, 1867 – June 4, 1941) was a wealthy speculator in copper mines and railroads.
Early life
He was the son of Daniel Willis James and Ellen S. Curtiss. His grandfather was Daniel James, one of the founders of Phel ...
, Fred S. Pearson, John I. Waterbury, and Louis Bossert) by 1905. The ''Coronet'' circumnavigated the globe several times and was used for a Japanese-American scientific excursion during an
eclipse
An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
.
The Kingdom, a religious organization founded by
Frank Sandford
Frank Weston Sandford (October 2, 1862 – March 4, 1948)Shirley Nelson, ''Fair Clear and Terrible: The Story of Shiloh, Maine'' (Latham, New York: British American Publishing, 1989), 27. A second edition (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2016) includes r ...
, purchased the ship in 1905 for $10,000 and took it around the world on prayer missions, including to Palestine. ''Coronet'' took a poorly planned missionary voyage to Africa in 1911 which resulted in six persons on board dying of scurvy. After the voyage, The Kingdom kept the yacht moored at Portland, Maine as well as Gloucester, Massachusetts and owned her until 1995.
Restoration
The International Yacht Restoration School, in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
acquired the vessel in 1995 and began its restoration. IYRS added ''Coronet'' to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. In December 2006, IYRS conveyed title of the boat to th
Coronet Restoration Partnersin San Francisco to complete the restoration on IYRS's campus in Rhode Island, where restoration works started in 2010.
Coronet Gallery
Image:Coronet (yacht) 1885-01.jpg, ''Coronet'' interior, showing original woodwork
Image:Coronet (yacht) 1885-02.jpg, ''Coronet'' interior, hallway. Note curvilinear woodwork and etched mirror to left.
Image:Coronet (yacht) 1885-03.jpg, ''Coronet'' interior, berth
Image:Coronet_restoration.jpg, ''Coronet'' under restoration.
Image:Coronet Yacht Building.jpg, building at IYRS housing the Coronet during 2008 restoration
See also
*
List of oldest surviving ships
This is a list of the oldest ships in the world which have survived to this day with exceptions to certain categories. The ships on this list which include warships, yachts, tall ships, and vessels recovered during archaeological excavations all d ...
*
List of schooners
__TOC__
The following are notable schooner-rigged vessels.
Active schooners
Historical schooners
* '' A. W. Greely'', originally named ''Donald II''
* '' Ada K. Damon''
* ''Albatross''
*
* '' Alvin Clark''
* '' America''
* '' American Spi ...
*
References
External links
Coronet's History with "The Kingdom"Page that details Coronet's ongoing restoration*
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)
Museum ships in Rhode Island
Ships built in Brooklyn
Schooners of the United States
Individual sailing vessels
Museums in Newport, Rhode Island
Historic American Engineering Record in Rhode Island
National Register of Historic Places in Newport, Rhode Island
Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island
1885 ships
Former yachts of New York City