Yampa (yacht)

The Yampa was a yacht originally designed by naval architect Archibald Cary Smith for Chester W. Chapin, {{cite news |author= |title= The Yacht Tampa [sic]: Mr. Chapin's Steel Schooner Receiving the Finishing Touches |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17156629/|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |page=16 |location=Brooklyn, New York |date= December 18, 1887|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} and the steel-keeled schooner was constructed in 1887 by the firm Harlan and Hollingsworth in Wilmington, Delaware, four years after Chapin died.{{sfn|Outing|1898|p=508}} She was considered the best in her class until 1891. {{cite news |author= |title=A Famous Schooner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17010961/akron_daily_democrat/ |work=Akron Daily Democrat |page=3 |location=Akron, Ohio |date=August 24, 1895 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203181557/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17010961/akron_daily_democrat/ |archive-date=February 3, 2018 }} The Yampa was {{convert|135|ft|abbr=on}} overall, {{convert|110|ft|abbr=on}} at the water line, and her draft was {{convert|13.8|ft|abbr=on}}. She had a registered tonnage of 162 tons net and 170 gross, with a beam of {{convert|27|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|McCormick|1898|p=38}} She participated in various events related to the America's Cup, a trophy award for best in a match race between two sailing yachts of different countries. {{cite news |author= |title=Amphitrite Winner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17413125/ |work= The Evening World, page 3 |location=New York, New York |date=August 14, 1895 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title=Getting in Line |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17441346/|work= Democrat and Chronicle, page 1 |location=Rochester, New York |date=August 15, 1895 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title=History of the Cup |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17413479/ |work= The Morning Astorian, page 4 |location=Astoria, Oregon|date=September 8, 1895 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title=Great Racers to Cross the Atlantic |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17413924/|work= Evening Bulletin, page 9 |location= Honolulu, Hawaii |date=March 25, 1905 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }}

American banker James Hood Wright used the Yampa for pleasure cruising in the summer of 1894. {{cite news |author= |title=A Famous Schooner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17413598/ |work= Akron Daily Democrat, page 3 |location=Akron, Ohio |date=August 24, 1895 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} Chapin sold her that November to Richard Suydam Palmer who had memberships in various yacht clubs, and he refitted her in December 1894. {{cite news |author= |title=Orders American Yacht |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17040117/ |work= Arkansas Democrat |page=5 |location= Little Rock, Arkansas|date= June 24, 1901 |via = Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} The Yampa sailed for Gibraltar on January 18, 1895, and from there she went to Tunis and Algiers in Africa. She then sailed to Malta and other ports in the Mediterranean Sea. She made several ocean cruises from 1894 through 1895 with no significant accidents, and sailors referred to this as "sea-kindliness."{{sfn|Kenealy|1902|p=128}} In February 1896, Palmer traveled with the Yampa for three months to the West Indies, stopping at Bermuda, Barbados, Trinidad, St. Thomas, and Nassau. {{cite news |author= |title=Yacht Yampa Arrives |page=1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17152408/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/ |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |location=Brooklyn, New York |date=May 6, 1896 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205072641/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17152408/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/ |archive-date=February 5, 2018 }} {{cite news |author= |title=Yachts and their owners |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17173540/ |work=New York Tribune |date=May 7, 1896 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} 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. {{cite news |author= |title=Suicide of Johnson in Bermuda |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17188593/ |work=Chicago Tribune |location=Chicago, Illinois |date=February 22, 1896 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title=General News Summary |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17187163/ |work= The Marion County News|location=Hamilton, Alabama |date=March 5, 1896 |via= Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title=SAD CRUISE OF YACHT YAMPA.; Cuthbert S. Thompson Shoots Himself in a Fit of Insanity |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1896/02/22/105742520.pdf |work=The New York Times |location=New York, New York |date=February 22, 1896|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }}

Palmer took her to Southampton in England in 1897 on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. {{cite news |author= |title=Yachting Notes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17173674/ |work=The Sun |location=New York City |date=July 26, 1897 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} From there, he went through the North Sea and was towed to Kiel, Germany by way of the Kiel Canal. There the yacht anchored close to the German Emperor's yacht SMY Hohenzollern. The emperor liked the schooner and sought to purchase it.{{sfn|Outing|1898|p=508}}{{sfn|Leslie|1901|p=540}} 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.{{sfn|Leslie|1901|p=540}}{{sfn|Kenealy|1902|p=128}} The emperor immediately then took steps to acquire her for himself, {{cite news |author= |title=Downey Describes Yacht |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17024293/newyork_tribune/ |work=New-York Tribune |page=11 |location=New York, New York |date=February 26, 1902 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203181439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17024293/newyork_tribune/ |archive-date=February 3, 2018 }} and bought the yacht from Palmer in December 1897.{{sfn|Outing|1898|p=508}}{{sfn|Kenealy|1902|p=128}}{{cite news |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17154045/ |title=No new yacht for the Kaiser.; The Yampa Rechristened and Transferred to the German Flag. |date=March 5, 1898 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |page=3|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}} The schooner was a birthday present for his wife Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein.{{sfn|Koesling|2012|p=32}} The ship went to Southampton to be refitted to the emperor's luxurious specifications.{{sfn|McCormick|1898|p=38}} 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 regattas.{{sfn|Outing|1898|p=508}}{{sfn|SA|1902|p=141}} In 1898, she competed in the international Emperor’s Cup regatta.{{cite news |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vUVOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA39 |title=Yachting: The Emperor's Cup |work=Country Life Illustrated |date=July 17, 1897 |volume=2 |pages=39–40 |access-date=February 4, 2018}} That same year, she was outfitted to race against the schooner Rainbow.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17212876/ |title=FOREIGN RACING SCHOONERS.; The American Yacht Yampa Will Be Fitted to Race Against the New Schooner Rainbow |date=January 27, 1898 |work=The New York Times |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}}}}

The emperor had another yacht built based on the design of the Yampa,{{sfn|SA|1902|p=141}}{{sfn|Stephens|1902|p=121}} using Smith as the naval architect, and he had the yacht constructed in America instead of Germany.{{sfn|Kenealy|1902|p=128}} {{cite news |author= |title=Meteor III |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17246164/ |work= Quad-City Times, page 1 |location=Davenport, Iowa |date=February 26, 1902 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title= Picture of the Meteor|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17301298/ |work= The Sabetha Republican-Herald, page 6 |location= Sabetha, Kansas |date=March 6, 1902 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} The new vessel Meteor III was an enlarged and improved version of the Yampa,{{sfn|Leslie|1901|p=540}}{{sfn|SA|1902|p=141}}{{sfn|White|1902|p=568}} and was the end result of a sequence of previous vessels designed and built by Smith. {{cite news |author= |title=The Meteor's Evolution |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17215181/ |work=The Indianapolis Journal |location= Indianapolis, Indiana|date=February 2, 1902 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} Meteor III was built in New York harbor in 1902,{{sfn|Seitz|Miller|2011|p=319}} {{cite news |author= |title=Kaiser's American-Built Boat |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/17302092/ |work= The Jennings Daily Times-Record, page 3 |location=Jennings, Louisiana |date=March 10, 1902 |via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} and christened by Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt.{{sfn|Hallock|1902|p=194}}{{sfn|Navy and Army|1905|p=234}}{{sfn|Thompson|1907|p=435}} When the Meteor III was ordered in 1901 the Iduna, previously the Yampa, became the property of the emperor's wife. {{cite news |author= |title= Will Have A Yankee Boat /Emperor William of Germany Orders a Schooner Yacht from A. Cary Smith of New York|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49139924/ |work= The Boston Globe |page= 4 |location=Boston, Massachusetts|date= July 17, 1901|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title= Captain Karpf in Command Meteor |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49140791/ |work= The Washington Times |page=11 |location=Washington, District of Columbia|date= February 2, 1902|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title= Greatest Yacht Owner:the Kaiser |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49141351/ |work= Buffalo Morning Express |page= 12 |location=Buffalo, New York|date= October 9, 1904|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} The Iduna participated in various races into 1909. {{cite news |author= |title= Billy is Strong on the Sea / The Kaiser aims at Yachting Supremacy |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49142239/ |work= The Nebraska State Journal |page=18 |location=Lincoln, Nebraska|date= October 9, 1904|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} {{cite news |author= |title= Emperor's Motorboat Wins at Kiel |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49138539/ |work= The Philadelphia Inquirer |page=11 |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |date= June 30, 1909|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }} 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. {{cite news |author= |title= Wilhelm the Bridegroom |url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49158170/ |work= New York Tribune |page=64 |location=New York, New York|date= November 5, 1922|via=Newspapers.com {{open access}} }}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Hallock|first=Charles |title=German Emperor's New Schooner |work=Forest and Stream |publisher=Forest and Stream Publishing Company |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dtwwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA194 |date=March 8, 1902}}

• {{cite book|editor-last1=Sleicher|editor-first1=John Albert |work=Leslie's |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=maErAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA128 |year=1902 |publisher=F. Leslie |first1=A.J. |last1=Kenealy|title=Kaiser William's New Yacht }}

• {{cite book|last=Koesling|first=Theo-Peter|location=Bremen|title=Amphitrite |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xLXlOjgVO8gC&pg=PA32 |date=April 2012 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand|language=de|isbn=978-3-95427-067-5}}

• {{cite book|last=Leslie|first=Frank |work=The American Magazine |volume=53 |title=An Imperial American Yacht |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8RZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA540 |year=1901 |publisher=Frank Leslie Publishing House |quote= ... the Emperor desired an American ... |page=540}}

• {{cite book|last=McCormick|first=L. M.|title=Emperor William's American Yacht|work=The Illustrated American |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BlLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA38 |year=1898 |publisher=Illustrated American Publishing Company}}

• {{cite book|last=Navy and Army|title=Under the Burgee|work=Navy and Army Illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Kg_AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA234 |date=May 20, 1905}}

• {{cite book|last=Outing|title=Yachting |work=Outing|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=oBegAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22+The+German+Emperor+saw+the+American+schooner+Yampa+last+summer+in+the+Baltic%2C+and+fell+in+love+with+her.+The+result+was+that+he+purchased+her+from+Mr.+R.+S.+Palmer%22&pg=PA508|year=1898|publisher=Outing Publishing Company|quote=The German Emperor saw the American schooner Yampa last summer in the Baltic, and fell in love with her. The result was that he purchased her from Mr. R. S. Palmer"}}

• {{cite book|last=SA|title=The Emperor's Yacht {{ndash}} Meteor III |volume=86|date=March 1, 1902 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q6kzAQAAMAAJ&dq=%E2%80%9CMeteor+III+which+was+designed+by+Cary+Smith+%26+Barbey%2C+of+New+York%2C+is+an+improved+and+enlarged+Yampa%E2%80%9D&pg=PA141

|publisher=Scientific American, Incorporated|quote=“Meteor III.,” which was designed by Cary Smith & Barbey, of New York, is an improved and enlarged “Yampa”—the latter, a very successful schooner that was designed by Mr. Smith and spent a great deal of her time in European waters. The “Yampa” eventually passed into the hands of the German Emperor, and under the name of “Iduna” has figured largely in the foreign regattas. The Emperor was so well pleased with the “Iduna” that last fall he placed an order with these architects for the construction of a larger and faster yacht, which should embody the best features of the “Yampa" }}

• {{cite book|last1=Seitz|first1=Sharon |last2=Miller|first2=Stuart |title=Other Islands of New York City: A History and Guide |chapter=Prall's Island, Shooter's Island, and Isle of Meadow |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zRjMPZW4heMC&pg=PA319 |page=319 |date=2011 |publisher=Countryman Press |isbn=978-1-5815-7886-7}}

• {{cite magazine|editor1-last=Bigelow|editor1-first=Poultney|title=The Yachting Outlook |magazine=Outing |first1=W.P. |last1=Stephens |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P1NhAAAAIAAJ&dq=%22The+noble+schooner+yacht,+Meteor+III.,+just+launched+at+Shooters%27+Island,+in+Newark+Bay,+is+the+legitimate+outcome+of+a+practical+study+of+the+American+schooner,+begun+by+Mr.+Smith+in+Prospero%22&pg=PA121 |year=1902 |publisher=Outing Publishing Company |quote=The noble schooner yacht, Meteor III, just launched at Shooters' Island, in Newark Bay, is the legitimate outcome of a practical study of the American schooner, begun by Mr. Smith in Prospero as long ago as 1877. She is largely a bigger and finer edition of the ocean cruiser Yampa, designed by him in 1887, and now owned by the Emperor under the name of Iduna.}}

• {{cite book|editor-last1=Day|editor-first1=Thomas Fleming |title=The Rudder, Volume XVIII |first1=Winfield M. |last1=Thompson |chapter=Royal Yachts and Yachtsmen |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6CojAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA435 |page=435 |year=1907 |publisher=The Rudder Publishing Company |location=New York}}

• {{cite book|last=White|first=Trumbull |title=The German Emperor's American Yacht |work=Our Wonderful Progress |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixgBoRvrwmoC&pg=PA568 |year=1902|publisher=Trumbull White}}

{{Commons|Category:Iduna (ship, 1887)|Iduna, previously known as Yampa }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yampa}}

Category:Royal and presidential yachts

Category:1887 ships

Category:Ships built by Harlan and Hollingsworth

Category:Individual sailing yachts

Category:Schooners of the United States

Category:Sailing yachts built in the United States

Category:Ships built in Wilmington, Delaware

Category:Wilhelm II