JFK's Honey Fitz Read online

  JFK’s Honey Fitz

  Historical Notes and Illustrated Guide for a Scale Model

  Dean A. Beeman

  Copyright 2014-2017 Dean A. Beeman

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the signed permission from the author. Excerpts made be used for review and promotional purposes.

  Limit of Liability/ Disclaimer of Warranty. As the author points out in the text, the instructions in this book involve the use of sharp and otherwise dangerous tools and other items. The author makes no representation that injury will not occur. The author does not guarantee that the results obtained will be acceptable to any person undertaking this or any related project. The instructions and images may not be suitable for any given situation. The author shall not be liable for any errors or omissions, loss of any amount of money including lost profit or any other personal or commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, personal injury or any other damages.

  Table of Contents

  Preface

  The Lenore II

  Tools and Materials

  Half-Mold

  Bow, Stem and Keel

  Stringers and Ribs

  Bulkheads

  Prelude to Decks and Houses

  Profile and Layout

  Superstructure

  Planking

  Decks

  Finishing Preparation

  Rails

  Interior Layout

  The Engines

  Main Deck(s)

  Exterior Finish

  Display Case

  Preface

  Until this point we’ve been building scratch models using (or at least illustrating) the techniques and technologies of wooden boats that still exist after many centuries of otherwise innovative uses of materials. Hydrodynamics being what it is, there haven’t been that many design improvements over logs, reeds and sealskins.

  And we’ve spent (wasted?) a lot of time on details that a disinterested visitor may not appreciate. But, so long as the details are worth sweating that shouldn’t matter.

  I think the time has come to change all that. It just might be interesting to turn this whole model-building series inside out. Letting it all hang out is probably too strong a catch-phrase so let's go with letting it all be seen.

  What I have in mind is a half model. Typically, these are something like a yacht or some other fore-aft rigged hull profile laid out on a plank and hung on a wall. Very easy to make, more difficult to make interesting and impossible to appreciate.

  I’m also reminded of a shadow-box- these invariably involve a scene of some sort. They hang on a wall, are unobtrusive, and are usually interesting up to the point of wondering what it looks like from the other side. The other side being the wall- same deal with half models.

  So, the next project is a floating half model. Floating in the sense that if you pick it up you can view the top, bottom, inside and outside. No stand, no wall plaque, no hanging- just everything all at once. I think that’s something I’d move out of a back bedroom. We’ll see how it goes.

  The Lenore II

  We’re headed into uncharted territory (again) so we might as well go all the way.

  Since the 20th century is now history, making me (and probably you, too) an historical figure, maybe it’s time to build a 20th century boat.

  Advances in materials and design tools are about the best you can say for any advances in the art of boat building during those 100 years. And since all the decent domestic woods were sacrificed to necessities like railroad ties and pallets, we’re a little short on wood as a building material.

  Probably the only wooden boat created during that century that will have any lasting design impact is (or was) the Chris-Craft barrel-back. That design has been immortalized in this century by the Hinckley Company (refer to our discussion of Phi). Hats off to Hinckley.

  The century was so obsessed with making unsinkable domestic and warships that steel and plastic are our only choice unless we venture into the world of art, or in other words, boats built for beauty and pleasure, which takes them out of the realm of the everyday. I can forgive myself of that sin since we’ve already dabbled in the lifestyle of the pharaohs.

  We could build a barrel-back, but then we’re stuck with an internal frame and presentation best crafted by furniture makers, and a boat that might have been cursed by viewer envy.

  In casting around for boats that stick () to our theme, the search finally boiled down to historic yachts.

  I must admit I spent a lot of time with the boats of Guy Lombardo. Whether you liked his music or not, he knew his boats and was popular as a normal sort of person. There are a lot of boats/candidates there, but again we’re stuck with the whole working man-money quandary.

  I have no idea what a “boat of the people” is or was or even could/should be, but “presidential yacht” sounds like something we the people paid for, so that might be closer to an ethical boat than expensive toys. OK- I used the word presidential, so the ice is pretty thin.

  There have been nine yachts that that can be considered presidential vehicles, starting with the USS Despatch that carried Grover Cleveland to the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886. Of these, four are still afloat.

  The USS Potomac, originally built as a Coast Guard cutter, was christened the Electra before her transfer to the Navy shortly after launch, and served FDR until his death. Once owned (and probably saved) by Elvis Presley, she is now a floating museum thanks to the Port of Oakland and rightfully concerned citizens. At 165 feet long, she was (an is) a graceful ship, and she is a worthy candidate for a different type of model.

  Harry Truman’s favorite, and probably the most celebrated in its time, is the USS Williamsburg. Originally built and launched as the 243-foot yacht Aras, she served as a patrol and escort gunboat during WWII. At 243 feet and 1,805 tons she is not the biggest (that laurel rests on the Mayflower) and she, too, was steel-hulled. She escaped the scrapper’s torch, and is quietly rusting to the bottom at a dock in La Spezia, Italy. Any restoration had better start soon and be funded to the tune of at least $70 million.

  The USS Sequoia was privately restored and is back in DC. After refusing to do the morally correct thing by restoring the Williamsburg, Congress was rebuffed in their attempt to re-purchase the Sequoia from her private owner. Take your pick as to why Congress preferred a Bristol yacht to a tough restoration effort. The Sequoia is obviously a top choice, and although I guess we can forgive Churchill for not drinking on board while he smoked a Cuban cigar, after Nixon got done drilling hundreds of holes in her brightwork, the blush came off the rose for me. The fact that she also served as a bureaucratic solution to a simple problem didn't help swing my vote.

  The Honey Fitz, on the other hand, was not nearly as pivotal in US history as her sister ships, but she was an important part of JFK’s family lifestyle, and did make many appearances beyond Foggy Bottom- those aspects of her history are a big plus. The fact that she was not featured as an outlandish duck decoy (the Sequoia) adds another check mark to her resume, as did her restoration. Having actually seen wartime duty might add something, too, but this yacht is definitely not government issue. Besides, anything that Jimmy Carter thought to be imperial must make her sensible, too.

  So, there’s the logic, now let’s have a little fun with history.

  Built in 1931 by the DeFoe Shipbuilding Company, a synopsis of her life can be found at Bowling Green State University. Follow this link: http://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/vessel/view/004251

  She was built to the specifications of S
ewell Avery (1873-1960) and named after his daughter Lenore or after his wife’s middle name- or both, since she was actually christened the Lenore II. Mr. Avery did very well in the world of gypsum monopolies, but failed miserably when he attempted to steer Montgomery Ward through the bare-knuckle jungle known as competition. He essentially created the corporate model for the Bell System and a few others who followed his lead, and fittingly, can best be viewed in a famous photograph as he was carried out of his headquarters by a couple of Army sergeants.

  Much like the whaleboat and whales, that shouldn’t have any effect on our affection for the Lenore.

  As a matter of fact, the best historical synopsis of her life as a presidential yacht can be found at the JFK library: http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Miscellaneous-Information/Honey-Fitz.aspx

  After many presidents, many name changes and a museum-quality restoration in 2011, she was re-commissioned as the Honey Fitz, and has returned to her roots as a ward of the wealthy. That shouldn’t trouble us one bit, since our government gave her up for dead.

  While we’re at it, it should be noted that she was an interesting and innovative boat in her own right. The use of a metal/wood hybrid frame was well-known (a little research on the tea clippers will bring you up to speed here). And harking back to our discussions of hogging frames, her original main frame supports were steel (beams, thwarts and bulkheads) that supported her twin Winton diesels.

  A journey through the history of the Winton bicycle, automobile and engine companies is another side road worth taking. As it turns out, Navy submarines, most modern locomotives and more than a few power plants were initially powered by Winton engines. Alfred Sloan enters the mix when, at the suggestion of Ransom Olds, purchased the Winton Engine Company that evolved into what we later knew as Cleveland Diesel. In their heyday, the marine engines were the power plant of choice (over coal), and even though the land-based monsters were sized in the range of 15,000 cc’s and weighed in at over 50,000 pounds, their design was brilliant, efficient and rugged.

  If you doubt that, visit the web site of the yacht Portola. In a note of passing, the Williamsburg was also powered by twin Winton diesels.

  With what amounted to a steel/wood hybrid skeleton, she was fairly light. This and her powerplant explain an extended speed of 24 knots, making her one of the fastest commuter yachts of her time.

  The DeFoe Boat and Motor Works of Bay City, Michigan built the original yacht- by the time she was built, DeFoe had a solid history of building both steel and wooden hulled ships. Whether huge or more modest like the Lenore, the yachts of the auto barons shared very common lines, so the Lenore bears an uncanny resemblance to the larger Reomar III, designed and built for Ransom Olds. This and more history of those men and boats can be found at http://www.gphistorical.org/pdf-files/tonnancour/autoyachts.pdf

  In case you are somewhat confused by that last paper, rest assured that Cox and Stevens, masters of the fast cruiser, never called Detroit home. And, contrary to some sources, didn’t design the Lenore. Most of their work was built within a day sail of their offices in downtown Manhattan, and you probably and correctly associate them with Phil Rhodes, of Rhodes 19 fame. You may not associate them with the 1946 Lincoln Continental, but even if you do, you should probably revisit the biography of E.T. “Bob” Gregorie. Finally, if you know your way around the Mystic library you can gain an appreciation for Cox and Stevens' other work.

  While photographs and other documents of the Lenore are widely available, I am grateful to Bob Graham, Archivist, Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Jerome Library, Bowling Green State University for digging and providing copies of critical original drawings of the Lenore. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that she was designed by none other than Thomas D. Bowes.

  Thomas D. “Tugboat” Bowes, designed over 800 boats ranging from club sailing sloops to minesweepers. His work and his colorful history are preserved at the Independence Seaport Museum as part of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections. This link will take you to the historical and anecdotal record: http://clir.pacscl.org/2010/08/23/thomas-d-bowes-m-e-associates-records/ . His biography is far more colorful and entertaining than Mr. Avery’s.

  In case you miss it in his biography, much of Mr. Bowes’ work was implemented in the works of the John H. Mathis Company in Camden, NJ. Mathis at the time also employed another designer (and its president in 1939) by the name of John Trumpy, Sr. Mr. Trumpy was a Norwegian schooled in Germany, and when it comes to yachting history, he was to power yachting what Nathaniel Herreshoff was to sailing. If it floated and was owned by any family that you associate with great wealth, one of these two men designed and built it.

  From 1891-1950, the most important magazine in the world of yachts and yachting was “Rudder” (it is published under that name today by the Antique and Classic Boat Society). Mr. Bowes’ work, along with that of DeFoe, Mathis, Trumpy and Herreshoff was regularly featured. While you’re spending time at the Mystic library with Cox and Stevens, the Seaport Museum’s list of designers and builders who were featured on the pages of “Rudder” is a good introduction to that world.

  Getting sidetracked is often a lot of fun, but back to the Lenore.

  The original hull was (reportedly) double-planked cedar laid on formed ribs spaced on 8-inch centers- again, very light, strong and flexible. As fast-boat technology evolved into what it is today, you can substitute balsa or foam for steel and an epoxy composite for cedar, and the structure of the Lenore is being recreated (with a chop gun) in some boat factory as I am writing this.

  We have several choices in terms of the Lenore’s decades of use. Over time she was updated to the point of near-oblivion. Her tonnage was increased in 1971 to reflect some major renovation, as we shall see, but this does not effect the dimensions of the build, so I’m going to pick 1961 as a reasonable date, and build her as something that JFK would have recognized. After all, he was the one who named her the Honey Fitz.

  In terms of scale, I’m going with HO (1:87). This should make it easier to obtain decorating pieces and parts that you might want to add. Model railroaders get together quite often for swap meets, so if you plug into one of their networks you can visit a few of these as a way of avoiding the work involved when we fabricate parts from scratch.

  For any purists, by HO I mean 1:87.1, or 1 foot of actual equals 3.5mm of model. The model that follows will be just about 12 inches long (LOA= 12.142857 inches or about 320mm) by a little over 1-inch wide (1 11/128 or 28mm), but feel free to change the scale if you want to make this into a coffee table or a bar front.

  Let’s get on with the boat

  I’m going to provide a set of model drawings as we go, but the bareboat hull is based on this general set of drawings and photos:

  The first image is from her days as a charter yacht, probably on Long Island Sound, probably in the 1990’s. I left off the upper deck because we’re focusing on the hull for now.

  The second drawing was created by F. Chevalier in 2011 (probably during her restoration by Moore’s Marine). This was a good attempt to remove 30 or 40 years of neglectful additions and subtractions that are obvious in the first photo, but compared to her original drawings is not the Lenore. I have purposefully left off the upper-deck electronics.

  The third is one of a series of photographs of the Lenore that were probably shot sometime in the 1930’s.

  The last drawing is derived from her original (Feb. 13, 1931) blueprints. I am also using notes from the Eisenhower library, since Ike was at least partly responsible for her mid-1950’s retrofit, and hosted family, friends and guests (even when playing golf at Newport) onboard.

  I’ve probably overlooked a library or two.

  The perpendiculars are slightly off, and I’ve added the emphatic lines. (After overlaying all four and fading them against each other I split them apart again so the comparison could be made in an online image.)

  It is obvious and entirel
y possible that someone who spent some time wandering around the Trumpy yards in Eastport (Annapolis) decided to try to make a DeFoe look more like a Trumpy. If the irony gods are on my side, this person also participated in screwing up the Constitution.

  Comparing the numbers between these, there are some other physical differences that may be the result of dates, but we’re trying to maintain scale and aspect here. Based on the Bowling Green synopsis, The Honey Fitz gained 6 tons (net 4) between 1931 and 1971. If you exercise your caliper and do the ratios on the rendering, she also lost about 14 feet. (If you would rather build a shorter, fatter Lenore, apply the lessons of this build to the Sequoia and build a Trumpy instead of a DeFoe. Or, if you prefer the Lenore, adjust as we go.)

  The science of hull displacement hasn’t changed since Archimedes, so our choices are limited in terms of explaining 6 tons of buoyancy without any change in hull dimensions.

  (My experience with sailors is that they don’t entertain theories about conspiracies, so the explanation of any difference in measurements between 1931 and 1971 begins and ends with the fact that in 1931 they measured her LOA at 88 feet and in 1971 someone used a better ruler and corrected that to 94 feet (93”6”). The gross tonnage falls out of those measurements. If you come up with a different number, feel free to deposit it in your checking account.)

  At a minimum, this is a composite view of how the bare hull section of our project should turn out. Pick and choose the details as we go along, and to save repeating myself at every subsequent step, pick and choose the details as we go along.

  Based on Mr. Bowes’ notes, the unnamed yacht that was christened Lenore II had a LOA (length overall) of 91’-6”. Her length at the waterline (LWL) was 90’- “0”, and her maximum width (beam) was 15’-9”. She enjoyed a shallow draft of 4’-3”.

  My scale model plan is to create a hull profile based on the original drawing and photo of the Honey Fitz with a nod to her restoration, and that’s that