helenhuntington

This photo is depicted in The sun., July 02, 1916, Page 7 with the caprtion: "Mrs. Vincent Astor christening the high power hydroaeroplane presented by a group of citizens of New York to the Second Battalion, New York Naval Militia. The ceremony took place at the headquarters, Fifty-second street and the bay, Brooklyn. Vincent Astor is standing to the left." (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1916-07-02/ed-...)

Another article about the event is in the NYT, July 2, 1916 (query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F4091FF73A5B17...)

An additional article about the event in Aerial Age Weekly, Volume 3, July 10, 1916, page 503, Second Battalion N.M.N.Y. Seaplane Christened : books.google.com/books?id=FNRLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA503&l... Note, that the Aerial Age story states that Charles L. Lawrance of the "citizens' committee which bought the seaplane," was also present. Lawrance is the very same person who would design the Lawrance J-1 radial engine, the direct predecessor to the Wright Whirlwind engine which would power countless historically significant flights, including that of Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris. See photo of Lawrance below standing to the right side of the frame, next to Lindbergh at Curtiss Field prior to Lindbergh's solo transatlantic flight:

The photo in The Sun is of the same moment, but taken by a different photographer who stood to the right of Bain's photographer. More from The Sun article cited above: "Then they swung a big derrick over and just as it had made fast Mrs. Astor stepped forward and cracked a bottle of champagne over the hull with the words: "I christen thee No. 1." As It was swung over into the water everybody cheered, and then Ensign Astor, commanding a fleet of motor boats, towed it out to clear water, where Ensign Samuel Pierce climbed in. started the engines to roaring and after gliding over the water shot the plane up into the air for a twelve minute trip around Fort Hamilton and back. Ensign Pierce brought the flying boat back without trouble and the crowd cheered again, aided in the noise making by all the whistles of craft that knew anything about it at all."

52d street pier in Brookyn, recent street view: maps.google.com/maps?q=52d+street,+brooklyn&ll=40.650...

Here, in another Bain/LOC photo, is the house's owner, Helen D. Huntington:

Apparently another photo in the sequence of the Christening of the New York Naval Militia's Burgess-Dunne Seaplane at the foot of 52nd St. in Brooklyn in July 1916. The gentleman standing to the left, looming above a seemingly pensive and seated Vincent Astor (Astor's then-wife, Helen Dinsmore Huntington, with parasol and roses in hand, is seated to the right of Commodore Robert P. Forshew) is almost certainly Charles L. Lawrance. Lawrance would go on to play a vital role aviation (see below). Here's an article about the event in Aerial Age Weekly, Volume 3, July 10, 1916, page 503, Second Battalion N.M.N.Y. Seaplane Christened : books.google.com/books?id=FNRLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA503&l... Note, that the Aerial Age story states that Charles L. Lawrance of the "citizens' committee which bought the seaplane," was also present. Lawrance is the very same person who would design the Lawrance J-1 radial engine, the direct predecessor to the Wright Whirlwind engine which would power countless historically significant flights, including that of Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis from New York to Paris. See a photo of Lawrance below standing to the right side of the frame, next to Lindbergh at Curtiss Field prior to Lindbergh's solo transatlantic flight in 1927: More about Lawrance: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lawrance

Interesting that the article specifically states that Vincent Astor was in his Naval uniform. I wonder if he kept a spare sailor suit on his yacht?

Seuss. Good question, as Astor is still in his civilian clothes (with his back to the camera) in this other photo of the event.

Definitely looks like Lawrance there.