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Feiseen is not listed in the 1893 or 1895 List of Merchant Vessels of the United States. (Does anyone have the 1894 edition?)
According to the article "The House of Wood" by Tom Nye featured in th eSummer 2006 issue of Restoration Quarterly magazine (a publication of the International Yacht Restoration School), the power yacht Feiseen was built by Benjamin Franklin “B.F.” Wood from the designs of William Gardner at the Wood Yacht Yard at City Island, NY.
The issue also notes:
"Feiseen, Wood / Steam Powered Express Cruiser, Year built: 1893, Length overall: 78 feet 9 inches, Beam: 9 feet 8 inches, Draft: 3 feet 1 inch, Designer: William Gardner and Charles Mosher, Builder: Benjamin Franklin (B.F.) Wood, Wood Yacht Yard, City Island, NY.Owner: William B. Coggswell, Saracuse, NY.
"Feiseen was commissioned by William Cogswell to beat the express yachts Norwood and Vamoose and set a new world speed record. William Gardner and Charles Mosher were chosen to design the yacht and engine, respectively. The yacht was built in a shroud of secrecy and called Still Alarm before launching. Completely planked in mahogany, the yacht displaced 13 tons and was powered by a 600-hp quadruple expansion steam engine. Although this was an early effort in yacht building by B. F.Wood, he clearly had complete confidence in his work, indicated by his quote in a newspaper article published during the yacht’s building: “I am willing to rest my reputation as a shipbuilder on her. Just see, she is built of mahogany throughout, but with 30,000 wooden rivets in her frame I think that she is any day as strong for seafaring purposes as if she were made entirely of steel.... She will be polished like a piano and will not only be the swiftest but the most beautiful and symmetrical craft afloat.” Feiseen was all that Wood promised she would be. On August 25, 1893, she set a new world speed record at 31.6 mph. Within a few months, and after serving her purpose, the yacht was sold and rebuilt by Wood for the Brazilian Navy, extending the hull by 12' and adding an armored deckhouse and deck-mounted guns."
<Thanks to Bob Birmingham.>
According to www.sportfishingmag.com, Feiseen was a 78-foot-long, 9 1/2-foot-wide mahogany powerboat, designed by Charles Dell Mosher in 1893, which achieved almost 32 mph with a single 600-hp steam engine.
Tom Nye adds:"FEISEEN - 1893 - Wood / Steam Power, Express Cruiser - L.O.A.: 78'9" x L.W.L.: ' " x Beam: 9'8" x Draft: 3'1"
Designer: William Gardner (Gardner & Cox) / C. D. Mosher - Builder: B. F. Wood, City Island - Owner: Mr. W. B. Cogswell, Syracuse, New York
In 1893 Feiseen became the fastest boat in the world setting a record of 31.6 m.p.h. . Several months later the yacht was sold lengthened and converted as a patrol/torpedo boat for the Brazilian Government. Feiseen was built of mahogany at a cost of $30,000.00 and incorporated over 40,000 wood rivets."