steam yacht corsair

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At Auction: Nautical Curiosities from J.P. Morgan’s Corsair

The second in a series of enormous steam yachts named Corsair was built for J.P. Morgan in 1890 by Neafie & Levy of Philadelphia, replacing an earlier craft used by the financier as a ferry between his Hudson River estate and office on Wall St. In 1897 the 241-ft. Corsair II became the flagship of the famed New York Yacht Club when Morgan was elected Commodore; in 1898 it was bought by the government and renamed the USS Gloucester , serving as a gunship in the Spanish-American War. Morgan, who commissioned an even larger Corsair to replace it, entertained great men of the day from Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Edison to Mark Twain aboard the floating mansions fitted with every possible luxury.

Corsair with a Flagship banner. Some 220 pieces of it will be included in an historic sale of nautical curiosities from the various Corsairs and more at Boston Harbor Auctions on May 1. Other items from Morgan’s collection include a silver Tiffany & Co. cigar cutter designed in the Corsair ‘s crescent and star motif; his mahogany poker set complete with ivory chips; Boston-made brass ship’s clocks; embroidered table linens; specially bottled Scotch whisky and engraved tumblers; canvas covered wicker provisions trunks; and even a classic wooden launch from the Corsair III (pictured below in front of the NYYC in Newport). Not a bad haul….

Jared Paul Stern is the editor of Driven .

All photos courtesy Boston Harbor Auctions.

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Comments on “ at auction: nautical curiosities from j.p. morgan’s corsair ”.

Cute house.

Amazing. The interior is a wonder, I’m sure. I’ve been on Victorian Yachts at the Museum in Newport. Pianos, red velvet sofas. I can only imagine what’s in there.

Very cool. Great find MW.

Sweet! Bit of fun: the on-line catalog of the Morgan Library is called “Corsair.”

Jamie Dimon should buy it all.

I love the simplicity of the poker chips.

Comments are closed.

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By John Steele Gordon

• June 2, 2002

The Last Great Race of Princes.

By Scott Cookman.

Illustrated. 298 pp. New York:

John Wiley & Sons. $24.95.

International yacht racing is not exactly a spectator sport. The ''playing field,'' after all, can be thousands of square miles in size. Today, with television unable to deal effectively with ocean racing, it gets little attention. But in an earlier time, when sports were conveyed to the public by the written word, ordinary people followed yacht racing in the newspapers. They reveled not only in the thrill of the contest but also in the lives of the participants, for there has always been one inescapable prerequisite to being a major-league yachtsman: you had to be very, very rich.

At the turn of the 20th century, when the American economy was in one of its epic periods of wealth creation, Europe still had an aristocracy worthy of the name, and flaunting wealth was much in fashion, yacht racing was in its golden age. In 1904, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, himself an ardent if not overscrupulous yachtsman, offered a solid gold cup for a trans-Atlantic race from Sandy Hook, N.J., to the Lizard, near the tip of Cornwall in England. The race began on May 18, 1905, so that the kaiser could present the cup to the winner at the Kiel Week regatta in mid-June. That suited his propaganda purposes as well; he was hoping to present the cup to himself, having entered his schooner Hamburg. But it meant racing across the always dangerous Atlantic in often tricky late-spring conditions.

The challenge quickly attracted 11 boats, ranging in size from the full-rigged ship Valhalla, at 245 feet over all and 648 tons, to the tiny (relatively speaking) Fleur de Lys, at a mere 108 feet and 86 tons. The owners of this fleet were as varied as the boats themselves, except, of course, for the fact that they were all rich. Besides the kaiser, the owners included two British peers: Lord Brassey, the son of a man who had made a vast fortune building railroads; and the 26th Earl of Crawford, the holder of one of the most ancient titles in Europe. Among the American owners were the meatpacking heir Allison Armour, the banker Edmond Randolph, the steel heir Edward Coleman and Wilson Marshall, the heir to a New York streetcar fortune.

The owners, needless to say, did not skipper these boats in a race so fraught with peril. They hired the finest racing captains they could find and paid them vast sums by the standards of the day. Like all who make their living being the first over a finish line, these men tended to be quirky and driven. They were entertaining copy then and they are just as entertaining today. Although in ''Atlantic'' Scott Cookman, the author of ''Ice Blink: The Tragic Fate of Sir John Franklin's Lost Polar Expedition,'' makes several incorrect statements regarding nautical matters, when dealing with the race itself the narrative has the ring of authenticity as the crews fight wind and water to make it to the Lizard first. The story of this epic race will be of interest to any sailor, real or armchair.

Unfortunately, the race itself takes up comparatively little of the book. With a text of 273 pages, the starting gun does not boom out until Page 212, although, to be fair, there are several short flash-forward chapters earlier. Much of the rest of the book is devoted to the social and economic scene in which the race is set and the characters who inhabited that scene. And here the author is, well, frequently at sea.

He gets numerous facts wrong. He lumps the very old-money Roosevelts in with the ''new money'' Astors and Vanderbilts. He places the New York baseball teams of the day in the wrong leagues. He dismisses The New York Herald as an ''upstart'' and jingoistic when it had become the greatest newspaper in the world.

He refers to J. P. Morgan's steam yacht Corsair III as ''the third of four ever larger yachts of the same name he built to outdo'' other New York Yacht Club members. In fact, he built only the second and third Corsairs. He bought the first ready-made, and it was his son who built Corsair IV, long after his father's death. And Morgan, perhaps the most powerful banker ever, rarely felt the need to impress anyone.

Here we get to the heart of what is wrong with this book. The author's animus toward the sort of men epitomized by Morgan -- in other words, those capable of owning oceangoing yachts -- fairly drips off every page. He dismisses them as either rapacious and untutored exploiters or as moneyed dilettantes engaged in the endless pursuit of pleasure. Some of them were exactly that. Others most certainly were not. Lord Brassey, long a member of Parliament and deeply interested in naval affairs, was instrumental in helping reform the set-in-its-ways Royal Navy. Lord Crawford, a noted collector and bibliophile, had been a practicing astronomer and president of the Royal Astronomical Society. Lewis A. Stimson, who owned the Fleur de Lys, was a very distinguished surgeon.

THE problem lies partly in the author's choice of sources. He quotes Matthew Josephson's ''Robber Barons'' to the effect that Morgan laid out $100,000 for a ''small, but exquisite,'' Vermeer, but had to be told who Vermeer was. Morgan, very well educated in Europe (he spoke both French and German fluently), widely traveled, the greatest art collector of his time and the president of the Metropolitan Museum, knew perfectly well who Vermeer was. The painting in question, now at the Met, is not even small. With such excellent works as Ron Chernow's ''Titan'' and Jean Strouse's ''Morgan'' available, to turn to Josephson's tendentious and intellectually dishonest work, published in 1934, is inexcusable.

''Atlantic'' is also marred by the fact that it does not appear to have been edited. The author uses ''penultimate'' when he apparently means ''ultimate'' and ''incredulous'' when he means ''incredible.'' He spells ''ornithology'' as ''orinthology'' more than once. He writes of Charlie Barr, who skippered the winning boat, that because he was born in a Scottish fishing village, ''he had only two options for a livelihood: go to sea or stay ashore.'' That's a choice that pretty much describes the possibility for us all.

After the United States entered World War I, Wilson Marshall, whose yacht, Atlantic, had won the great race, smashed the gold cup he had won at a war rally. The kaiser's cup was revealed to be merely pewter, thinly plated with gold. ''Atlantic,'' alas, is much the same. It is a shame that such a good story has been so inadequately researched and badly published.

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J.P. Morgan's Corsair IV

When J.P. Morgan Junior took delivery of the Corsair IV   in 1930, she was the largest and most luxurious private yacht ever built in the USA. Morgan used her for a decade, mainly on the East Coast and in the Caribbean, before gifting her to the British Admiralty to help with the war effort.

After WWII she re-entered service as a cruise ship, plying routes in Alaska and from Long Beach California down to Mexico. The photo below shows her in Vancouver, 1948. Less than a year later she struck a rock and sank in shallow waters off Acapulco.

The story began in 1882 when J.P. Morgan Senior, one of the world's richest men and an avid yachtsman, bought the 185-foot steamship Corsair . He then commissioned the bigger, faster and more luxurious Corsair II   (which the US Navy conscripted into service as a gunboat during the Spanish-American War) and the 304-foot Corsair III ,  a superyacht that featured a full-beam library, cases of wine and brandy, and humidors stocked with Cuban cigars.

Each of these three yachts generated great publicity, but media attention was particularly intense when the Corsair III was launched in 1898. It was at this time that Morgan made one of the most famous comments ever recorded. When a journalist asked him how much it would cost to operate a yacht of this size, Morgan replied:

Sir, if you have to ask that question, you can't afford it.

J.P. Morgan Senior

The Corsair IV

The Corsair IV was commissioned by J.P. Morgan Junior and built at Bath Iron Works, Maine. When she was launched in April 1930 she measured 343 feet in length and was the largest private yacht ever constructed in the USA. Nicknamed the "Princess of the Sea", she was an object of beauty with her black hull, clipper bow and elegant teak interiors. Morgan adored her, and reveled in the privacy she afforded him. One of his annual guests while cruising in Europe was the UK's Archbishop of Canterbury, and on one memorable occasion the two of them sailed across the Mediterranean to the Holy Land.

Following the outbreak of WWII and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, most privately-owned yachts in America were requisitioned by the US Maritime Commission and converted for use as gunships or patrol boats. For reasons which aren't entirely clear, Morgan gave the Corsair IV not to the US Navy but to the British Admiralty. Based in Bermuda, she served out the war as a patrol ship in the Western Atlantic.

Life as a Cruise Ship

After the war there was a dearth of cruise ships on America's West Coast. Many of the great Canadian Pacific and Japanese liners that serviced this coastline in the 1920s and 1930s had been lost in sea battles or fallen victim to mines. To plug this gap, the Pacific Cruise Lines company was formed in 1946 and promptly snapped up J.P. Morgan's Corsair IV . The yacht was re-named Corsair and taken to Canada to be converted to a luxury cruise liner.

With accommodation for 82 passengers and a crew of 76, the new Corsair exuded luxury. Staterooms were not only bigger and better equipped than rival ships, they were fitted with carpets and air-conditioning (almost unheard of at the time), and included furnishings made from the finest materials. The Corsair debuted in September 1947, offering two-week cruises from California to Acapulco. Ticket prices were high, but in booming post-war America, so was the demand.

The Corsair was a great success. Her cruises sold out well in advance and her popularity exceeded anything her new owners had imagined. Before long she switched from Mexico to Alaska and became the first ship to offer luxury cruises to the Inside Passage. Soon after she reverted to Mexico, the Panama Canal and across the Caribbean to Havana. And then tragedy struck: in November 1949 the Corsair hit a rock off the coast of Acapulco and sank. Fortunately none of her 55 passengers or crew were harmed.

Made in China: the Nero

In the early years of this century, British entrepreneur Neil Taylor began hunting for a classic yacht to restore and re-model along the lines of the Corsair IV . When he couldn't find what he wanted, Taylor set up his own company, Corsair Yachts, and commissioned a near replica of J.P. Morgan's yacht from Yantai Raffles Shipyard in China. Launched in 2008, the sleek, black-hulled superyacht was christened Nero . The following year she triumphed in the "Best Motor Yacht Over 75 Metres" category at the ShowBoats Design Awards.

In 2014 the Nero was bought by Irish billionaire Denis O'Brien. Two years later he had her refurbished in Spain, requesting that she be brought up to European standards and given a classic, contemporary elegance. The Nero is now available for summer charters in the Mediterranean and winter service in the Caribbean & Bahamas. Since her introduction to the charter circuit she has won praise for her fusion of old-world charm and tasteful styling, with many clients commenting positively on her spacious interiors, Ralph Lauren decor and relaxed living environments.

Pinnacle Marine New Zealand

We have years of practical experience dealing with luxury yachts and are supported by a network of contacts throughout the industry. If you would like more information about luxury yachts, or anything else connected to the world of yachting, please feel free to contact us.

Grace, Michael (2008), The Tragic Life of the Corsair IV , New York Social Diary

Merl, Risa (2017), Nero: Inside the 90m Modern Classic Superyacht's MB92 Refit , Boat International

Viju, Mathew (2016), Eight Ways J.P. Morgan Defined the Good Life , Robb Report

Wisner, Bill (1975), The Golden Age of Yachts , Motor Boating and Sailing

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CORSAIR yacht       J. P. Morgan's yacht      

To escape the often tempestuous financial scene, J.P. Morgan found solace on the sea and owned a series of yachts during the course of his lifetime. He purchased his first luxury vessel in 1881, a 185-foot steamer christened Corsair. Nine years later, Morgan commissioned his first yacht -- the 241-foot Corsair (II). The Corsair yacht employed both sail and steam for propulsion. It was with the Corsair yacht that Morgan became commodore of the New York Yacht Club from 1897 to 1899.

A haven from the public eye, the yacht Corsair was a pelagic playground for an elite few. Included among the onboard opulence was handmade bone china by Minton, Tiffany cigar-cutters, and a set of poker chips carved from ivory.

The Corsair yacht served eight years for J.P. Morgan before she was purchased for $225,000 by the US Navy for service in the Spanish-American War.  She was renamed USS Gloucester. The last commander of the famous USS Maine, Lt. Richard Wainright, commanded her.

"I thought the work was exceptional and the model beautiful. The only feedback I would provide is that the Corsair yatch flag is missing and we couldn't find reference to the name or which version of the Corsair this model represents. I think it's the second one, but not sure.  Other than that, it was really great! Many thanks again. Warm regards, Jean Elliott Director, Corporate History Program JPMorgan Chase Bank July, 2011 "  

Steam Yacht "Corsair" of 1930, Ship Model in Wood Display Case with Table

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About the Item

• Dimensions : Height: 57 in (144.78 cm) Width: 56 in (142.24 cm) Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)
• Materials and Techniques : Brass , String , Wood , Hand-Carved , Hand-Painted , Varnished
• Period : 20th Century
• Date of Manufacture : circa 1900s
• Condition : Good Condition reports are opinion and should not be taken as fact. Please contact the store for condition concerns.
• Seller Location : Norwell, MA
• Reference Number : Seller: 31416-526WT 1stDibs: LU174123752042 View Invoice
• Retrieving quote... Ships From: Norwell, MA
• Return Policy A return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery. See Details

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Corsair Steam Yacht Of JP Morgan

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Monumental model of JP Morgan's private steam yacht Corsair. The model has mahogany cabins with raised panels, countless skylights fitted with protective brass bars, planked decks, brass fittings including searchlights, bridge telegraphs, binnacle, anchor winch, davits etc. Five lifeboats and launches with ribs and floorboards hand form davits. Hull is painted black above the waterline and green below. Mounted on two brass pedestals into a mahogany display case with table. 

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