''Coronet'' is a 131' wooden-hull schooner

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's yacht ''Dauntless'' in March 1887 made Bush and the victorious ''Coronet'' famous— ''

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'' 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 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 Ramí ...

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 ...

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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, 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. 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, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

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 Partners
in 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

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

History

Restoration

Coronet Gallery

See also

References

External links