View source for Valkyrie II

{{Short description|1893 British racing yacht}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Americas Cup Yacht
| title        = Valkyrie II
| image        = Cutter Valkyrie II-01.jpg
| caption      = ''Valkyrie II'' during the 1893 cup races.
| club         = {{yachtclub|Royal Yacht Squadron}}
| nat          = {{flag|United Kingdom|civil}}
| ac_year      = 1893
| type         =
| class        =
| designer     = [[George Lennox Watson]]
| builder      = [[D&W Henderson]], [[Partick]]
| launched     = April 29, 1893
| owner        = [[Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl|Lord Dunraven]]
| skip         = 
| crew         =
| wins         = 
| boats        = 
| fate         = Sank July 5, 1894 in the [[Firth of Clyde]]
| displacement = 140 tons
| length       = {{convert|35.84|m|abbr=on}} (LOA)<br />{{convert|26.06|m|abbr=on}} (LWL)
| beam         = {{convert|6.80|m|abbr=on}}
| draft        = {{convert|5.03|m|abbr=on}}
| sail         = 
| notes        =
}}
{{coord|55.614|-4.950|display=title|region:GB_scale:50000}}

'''''Valkyrie II''''', officially named ''Valkyrie'',{{refn|Although officially named ''Valkyrie'', [[Official number|ON]] 102581, the "''II''" was used to differentiate Lord Dunraven's three yachts of the same name.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mercantile Navy List|date=1894|publisher=Spottiswoode|location=London}}</ref>|group= n}} was a British racing yacht that was the unsuccessful challenger of the 1893 [[America's Cup]] race against American defender [[Vigilant (yacht)|''Vigilant'']].

==Design==
''Valkyrie II'' was a [[gaff-rigged]] [[Cutter (ship)|cutter]]. She was designed by [[George Lennox Watson]] and built alongside ''[[HMY Britannia (Royal Cutter Yacht)|HMY ''Britannia'']]'' at the [[D&W Henderson]] shipyard, Meadowside, [[Partick]] on the River Clyde, Scotland in 1893 for owner [[Windham Wyndham-Quin, 4th Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl|Lord Dunraven]] of the [[Royal Yacht Squadron]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Latham|first=George|entry=Valkyrie II|title=A Dictionary of Names, Nicknames and Surnames, of Persons, Places and Things|year=1904|publisher=George Routledge & Sons Press|pages=318|chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofname00lathuoft#page/318/mode/2up}}</ref>

''Valkyrie II'' had a steel frame, a wooden hull, and a pine deck.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ready for a great contest: Both Valkyrie and Vigilant in Fine Racing Trim|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/10/05/109730601.pdf |work=New York Times|access-date=30 July 2012}}</ref>

==Career==
''Valkyrie II'' was launched on April 29, 1893, a week after ''Britannia'', and sailed to the U.S. that October to compete in the eighth America's Cup where she faced ''Vigilant'' in a best three out of five races format sailed on alternating courses. The races were sailed October 7, 9, and 13, 1893 off [[Sandy Hook, NJ]] just south of New York. The first and third races were 15 miles to windward off Scotland Lightship and return to leeward, the second race was a 30-mile equilateral triangle.<ref name="32nd AC">
 {{cite web
  |title=Vigilant
  |url=http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/bateau.php?idContent=4692
  |work=32nd America's Cup
  |access-date=30 January 2012
 }}{{dead link|date=December 2014}}</ref><ref name=Quebec>
{{cite news
|title=Vigilant Wins!
|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=450&dat=18931014&id=CJdGAAAAIBAJ&pg=4559,7312613
|access-date=2012-04-22
|newspaper=The Quebec Saturday Budget
|date=Oct 14, 1893
}}</ref>

In the first race on October 7, ''Valkyrie II'' won the 11:25 am start by 15 seconds and one boat length. At the first mark, ''Vigilant'' held a nine-minute lead. ''Vigilant'' crossed the finish line 7 minutes ahead of ''Valkyrie II''{{mdash}}8 minutes 48 seconds in corrected time.<ref name="32nd AC"/><ref name=Quebec/>

In the second race on October 9, ''Vigilant'' won the 11:25 am start by 5 seconds, but ''Valkyrie II'' worked out to an early lead of 5 boat lengths in a building {{convert|24|mph|km/h kn}} breeze. By the first mark, ''Vigilant'' held a five-minute lead and worked out to a 9-minute lead at the second mark. At the finish ''Vigilant'' beat ''Valkyrie II'' by 12 minutes 30 seconds{{mdash}}10 minutes 35 seconds in corrected time.<ref name="32nd AC"/><ref name=Quebec/>

In the third race on October 13, 1893, he ''Valkyrie II'' led the windward leg, but lost a spinnaker at the two-thirds point of the downwind run. At the finish, ''Vigilant'' beat ''Valkyrie II'' by 40 seconds in corrected time to successfully defend the cup. The World reported it as the fastest race ever sailed, over a course of 15 miles to windward and return under reefed sail and a gale.<ref name=HISTORY>{{cite web
|title=This Week in Herreshoff History
|url=http://herreshoff.org/news/herreshoff_history.html
|publisher=Herreshoff Marine Museum	
|access-date=2012-04-22	
}}</ref>

''Valkyrie II'' existed for barely a single year. On July 5, 1894, this Cup contender was struck amidships by A. D. Clarke's cutter yacht ''[[The Satanita|Satanita]]'' at the start of the Mud Hook Regatta on the [[Firth of Clyde]]. Lord Dunraven and all his crew and guests were rescued, though one crewman was severely injured and subsequently died. ''Valkyrie II'' broke up and sank nine minutes later.<ref>
{{cite news
|newspaper=[[New York Times]]
|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1894/07/06/106911287.pdf
|title=The Yacht Valkyrie sunk
|date=6 July 1894
|access-date=2012-04-22
}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Valkyrie Sunk|work=The Times|issue=34309|date=6 July 1894|location=London|page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Yachting|work=The Times|issue=34311|date=9 July 1894|location=London|page=7}}</ref> Dunraven successfully sued Clarke for breach of contract under the rules of the Yacht Racing Association (now the [[Royal Yachting Association]]) and Clarke was held liable for damages.<ref>[https://www.australiancontractlaw.com/cases/clarke.html Clarke v Dunraven (The Satanita)], Australian Contract Law, updated 2 September 2018, accessed 31 August 2021</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist | group=n}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web
|url=http://www.glwatson.com/
|title=G. L. Watson, ''Valkyrie II''{{'}}s Designer
}}
*{{Cite web
 |url   = http://32nd.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/circlinggalaxy/bateau.php?idContent=4640
 |title = America's Cup's AC-clopaedia: ''Valkyrie II''
}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{cite web
|url=http://jsjohnston.org/~valkyrie_iii.html
|last=Johnston
|first=John S
|author-link=John S. Johnston
|title=Photography of ''Valkyrie II'' and ''Valkyrie III''
}}

==See also==
{{Commons category|Valkyrie II (ship, 1893)}}
* [[Valkyrie III (yacht)]]
* English law case ''[[The Satanita]]''
{{America's Cup Yachts}}
{{America'sCup}}
{{1894 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valkyrie Ii (Yacht)}}
[[Category:America's Cup challengers]]
[[Category:Individual sailing vessels]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Firth of Clyde]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1894]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]
[[Category:1893 in sports]]