The ''Yampa'' was an American ocean-going cruising

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 ...

for pleasure use from 1887 to 1899. The yacht was originally built for Chester W. Chapin, a

rail baron ''Rail Baron'' is a railroad board game for 3 to 6 players. ''Rail Baron'' was initially published in the 1970s under the name ''Boxcars'' by the original designers R.S. Erickson and T.F. Erickson, Jr. It was soon acquired, renamed and reissued b ...

and

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from Massachusetts. It completed several ocean cruises with no accidents. It passed through several hands and ultimately was purchased by

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...

of Germany as a birthday present for his wife. He had another larger yacht built based on the design of the ''Yampa'', which was named the '' Meteor III.''

History

The ''Yampa'' was a yacht originally designed by naval architect Archibald Cary Smith for Chester W. Chapin, and the steel-keeled schooner was constructed in 1887 by the firm

Harlan and Hollingsworth Harlan & Hollingsworth was a Wilmington, Delaware, firm that constructed ships and railroad cars during the 19th century and into the 20th century. Founding Mahlon Betts, a carpenter, arrived in Wilmington in 1812. After helping construct many ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, four years after Chapin died. She was considered the best in her class until 1891. The ''Yampa'' was overall, at the water line, and her draft was . She had a registered tonnage of 162 tons net and 170 gross, with a beam of . She participated in various events related to the

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

, a trophy award for best in a

match race A match race is a race between two competitors, going head-to-head. In sailboat racing it is differentiated from a fleet race, which almost always involves three or more competitors competing against each other, and team racing where teams consi ...

between two sailing yachts of different countries. American banker

James Hood Wright James Hood Wright (known professionally as J. Hood Wright; November 4, 1836 – November 12, 1894) was an American banker, financier, corporate director, business magnate, and reorganizer of US railroads. He began as a bookkeeper but his mana ...

used the ''Yampa'' for pleasure cruising in the summer of 1894. Chapin sold her that November to Richard Suydam Palmer who had memberships in various yacht clubs, and he refitted her in December 1894. The ''Yampa'' sailed for Gibraltar on January 18, 1895, and from there she went to

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

and

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

in Africa. She then sailed to

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 other ports in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. She made several ocean cruises from 1894 through 1895 with no significant accidents, and sailors referred to this as "sea-kindliness." In February 1896, Palmer traveled with the ''Yampa'' for three months to the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, stopping at Bermuda, Barbados, Trinidad, St. Thomas, and Nassau. Cuthbert S. Thompson, who was a cousin of Palmer, committed suicide in Bermuda aboard the yacht while Palmer's guest in March on the West Indies trip. Palmer took her to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in England in 1897 on the occasion of

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria was officially celebrated on 22 June 1897 to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Queen Victoria's accession on 20 June 1837. Queen Victoria was the first British monarch ever to celebrate a Diamond ...

. From there, he went through the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and was towed to

Kiel, Germany Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

by way of the

Kiel Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the N ...

. There the yacht anchored close to the German Emperor's yacht SMY ''Hohenzollern''. The emperor liked the schooner and sought to purchase it. Palmer had left his business card on the SMY ''Hohenzollern'' and was informed that the emperor talked all day about how he liked the American vessel. The emperor immediately then took steps to acquire her for himself, and bought the yacht from Palmer in December 1897. The schooner was a birthday present for his wife Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. The ship went to Southampton to be refitted to the emperor's luxurious specifications. The German Royal family took many cruises on the ''Yampa'' which carried the Empress's flag; she was renamed ''Iduna'' and participated in several European

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

s. In 1898, she competed in the international Emperor’s Cup regatta. That same year, she was outfitted to race against the schooner ''Rainbow''. The emperor had another yacht built based on the design of the ''Yampa'', using Smith as the naval architect, and he had the yacht constructed in America instead of Germany. The new vessel ''Meteor III'' was an enlarged and improved version of the ''Yampa'', and was the end result of a sequence of previous vessels designed and built by Smith. ''Meteor III'' was built in New York harbor in 1902, and christened by

Alice Roosevelt Longworth Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. L ...

, the daughter of President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. When the ''Meteor III'' was ordered in 1901 the ''Iduna,'' previously the ''Yampa'', became the property of the emperor's wife. The ''Iduna'' participated in various races into 1909. The ''Induna'' and the ''Meteor III'' were sold in the early part of 1920 and the proceeds as a wedding present went to German crown prince Wilhelm, the heir to Kaiser Wilhelm II.

References

Sources

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yampa Royal and presidential yachts 1887 ships Ships built by Harlan and Hollingsworth Individual sailing yachts Schooners of the United States Sailing yachts built in the United States

History

See also

References

Sources

External links