Clara Clarita
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Clara Clarita was a fast screw steamer originally built as a luxury steam yacht for New York City financier Leonard Jerome (grandfather of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill). On her trial trip, Clara Clarita's original engine proved so ineffective it was removed before the vessel entered service and replaced by machinery from a different supplier. Jerome sold the yacht after only a short time and she was converted into a towboat, becoming the fastest such vessel in New York Harbor, before being converted into a fireboat in the same locality.
Clara Clarita after conversion to a passenger steamer, c. 1870 | |
History | |
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Namesake | Leonard Jerome's wife and/or daughter |
Owner |
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Builder | Lawrence & Foulks (Brooklyn, NY) |
Cost | $125,000 |
Launched | 1863 |
Completed | July 1864 |
In service | 1864–1908 |
Refit | |
Identification | Official No. 4873 |
Honors and awards |
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Fate | Abandoned, 1908 |
General characteristics | |
Type |
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Tonnage | 125 GRT; 62 NRT |
Length |
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Beam | 22 ft 8 in (6.91 m) |
Depth of hold | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Sail plan | Originally two-masted schooner |
Crew | 10 (merchant service) |
Armament | 1864: 2 × 12-pounder (5.4 kg) Wiard steel boat-howitzers |
In the 1870s, Clara Clarita underwent a third conversion, into a passenger steamer, in which role she set an all-time speed record for a steamer on Penobscot Bay. Her final conversion was into an oceangoing tug, some time after which her crew and captain were presented with a heroism award for a rescue at sea. The vessel was abandoned in 1908 after a long and varied 44-year career.