R.M.S. TITANIC: Original marine architects design drawing by...

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£2,000 - £3,000

R.M.S. TITANIC: Original marine architects design drawing by Frederick Hoyt, a First-Class passenger on Titanic, highly regarded yachtsman and naval architect. The Hoyts were initially listed as lost—on April 17, 1912, the Brooklyn Daily Times carried the headline "L. I. Yachtsmen will miss Frederick M. Hoyt"—but in fact both were rescued; he was pulled aboard Collapsible Lifeboat D, which already contained his wife.

Hoyt's rescue is one of the more remarkable among the Titanic survivors. He was a longtime friend of Captain Edward Smith and according to the Paterson Morning Call of April 23, 1912, after seeing his wife safely into the lifeboat, Hoyt ascended to the bridge, where he had a drink with Captain Smith before climbing to a lower deck to take his dive into the ocean. In a letter written nearly two months later, Hoyt tried to explain the sinking: "...why they did not see the ice I cannot tell you... I have known Captain Smith well for the past sixteen years... he never took unnecessary chances... The only explanation for their not seeing the ice that I can imagine, is this -- the sea was absolutely calm, not a ripple in the water, a brilliant star light in which you could see the reflection of every star; and I think the stars reflected from the ice just as they did from the sea and that the lookouts and bridge officers did not see the damn thing until they were right on top of it." Hoyt’s observation is particularly cogent. He was a world-class navigator and no stranger to sailing the North Atlantic: seven years prior to sailing on the Titanic, Hoyt navigated the schooner Atlantic (Hoyt's winter sail plan for the vessel is part of the lot) under the famously maniacal skipper Charlie Barr in the famous trans-Atlantic Kaiser Cup race of 1905 and therein set a new mono-hull record that would stand for nearly 100 years.

Hoyt, who lived until 1940, graduated from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1895. He was a member of the Larchmont and New York Yacht clubs, owned his own racing yachts (including the Norota, the Syce, and the Isolda), and was sought after as a sailor as well as a designer. Hoyt studied under William Gardner, the designer and builder of the Atlantic.

He has noted alongside the drawing Hull No 126 Body plan Frederick M. Hoyt NA 50 East 42^nd Street NYC. 31cm x 28.5cm.