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According to the 1891 Record of American and Foreign Shipping, the steel-hulled steam yacht Alva was built in 1886 in Wilmington Del. by Harlan & Hollingsworth Co. for W. K. Vanderbilt. Its homeport in 1891 and 1892 was listed as New York.According to Wikipedia.org:
"William Kissam Vanderbilt II (March 2, 1878 – January 8, 1944) was a motor racing enthusiast and yachtsman and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family.
"Born in New York City, the second child and first son of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva Erskine Smith, he was known by the nickname "Willie K" and until his father died was labeled as Vanderbilt Jr. instead of the more formal Vanderbilt II. He was a brother to Harold Stirling Vanderbilt and Consuelo Vanderbilt. Born to a life of luxury, he was raised in Vanderbilt mansions, traveled to Europe frequently, and sailed the globe on yachts owned by his father. ...
"A skilled sailor, he participated in yacht racing, winning the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup in 1900 with his new 70-foot yacht he had named Virginia in honor of his new bride. In 1902, Vanderbilt began construction on his own country place at Great Neck on Long Island that he named "Deepdale." However, sailing would take second place to his enthusiasm for fast cars. In 1904, Willie K Vanderbilt set a new Land Speed Record of 92.30mph in a Mercedes at the Daytona Beach Road Course at Ormond Beach, Florida. That same year, he launched the Vanderbilt Cup, the first major trophy in American auto racing. An international event, designed to spur American manufacturers into racing, the race's large cash prize drew the top drivers and their vehicles from across the Atlantic Ocean who had competed in Europe 's Gordon Bennett Cup. Held at a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York, the race drew large crowds hoping to see an American car defeat the mighty European vehicles. However, a French Panhard vehicle won the race and fans would have to wait until 1908 when 23-year-old George Robertson of Garden City, New York became the first American to win the Vanderbilt Cup. ..."
Alva was wrecked in 1892. According to http://www.mwdc.org/Shipwrecks/alva.htm :
"Saturday, July 23, 1892, the Metropolitan Steamship Company freight steamer H.F. Dimock left New York at 6 pm laden with freight and a few passengers on a twenty hour trip to Boston via Long Island Sound. Captain A.B. Coleman was in command of the 300' long 2,625 GT Dimock and her crew of 27 officers and men.
"The Alva, named for William K. Vanderbilt's wife, was designed by St. Clare J. Byrne as a three-masted bark-rigged screw steamer with a steel hull. The Harlan & Hollingsworth Company built the Alva at Wilmington, Delaware, and launched her October 15, 1886. The Alva had an overall length of 285', and a length on the waterline of 252'. Her measurements were as follows, extreme beam 32.25', depth 21.5', and draft 17'. Her tonnage was 1,151.27 gross and 600.55 net.
"Late Saturday afternoon, the Alva departed Bar Harbor bound for Newport. Captain Henry Morrison, a sturdy Englishman, was in command of the Alva. The Alva's crew totaled 52 men, including officers. Proceeding South, Sunday morning, the Alva encountered a dense fog off Monomoy Point. Immediately, the Alva's crew sounded her steam whistle. The Alva anchored at precisely 6:30 am to wait for a clearing. Although he did not know it at that time, Captain Morrison had anchored the Alva in Pollock Rip Channel, about 4.1 miles East of Monomoy Point Lighthouse.
"At 8:20 am, a tremendous crash followed by the sound of flying timbers and deck fittings instantly brought everyone to the Alva's deck with little more than the clothes on their backs. Captain Morrison went forward to examine the damage and found a mortal wound in the Alva's port side. He gave the order to abandon ship. Eventually, everyone made it from the Alva to the Dimock, which had anchored about 500 yards from the Alva.
"At W.K. Vanderbilt's direction, the tug Rescue of the Merritt Wrecking Company steamed Eastward through Nantucket Sound and reached the Alva's side late Tuesday afternoon, July 26, 1892. On board the Rescue were a full wrecking crew under the command of Captain E. Sharpe, the company's chief wrecker and diver. They decided the Alva could not be saved and Thursday, August 4, 1892, the Alva was sold at auction for $3,500.00 to Perkins & White, contractors from Boston. Within a year, the Alva was declared a menace to navigation and blown up.
"More than a century after the first divers visited her, the Alva remains a wonderful dive site. Only reachable by boat, the run from Cape Cod to the Alva takes about an hour. After crossing Handkerchief Shoal and rounding the sometimes treacherous Southern tip of Monomoy Island, continue four miles Easterly toward the end of Pollock Rip Channel. Nearing Pollock Rip red nun No. 4, you are within a 1/4 mile of the Alva at latitude 41o -33 North and longitude 069o -54 West. ..."
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