Valkyrie III, officially named Valkyrie,[n 1] was the unsuccessful British challenger of the ninth America's Cup race in 1895 against American defender Defender.
Valkyrie III, a keel cutter, was designed by George Lennox Watson and built at the D&W Henderson on the River Clyde in 1894-1895 for a syndicate including Lord Londsale, Lord Wolverton, Captain Henry McCalmont and headed by Lord Dunraven of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Valkyrie III had a steel frame, a hull planked with American elm and teak, and a pine deck.
Career
Valkyrie III's crew, 1895
Valkyrie III was launched on 27 May 1895.[2] After a few mixed test races (for which she was later criticized for lack of previous competition) she sailed to New York to prepare for the ninth America's Cup.
Valkyrie III was beaten by Defender in the first race of the 1895 America's Cup. Valkyrie III fouled the leeward Defender during the prestart to the second race, breaking her starboard shrouds, but the latter did not protest and the race took place nevertheless, with Valkyrie III finishing ahead of Defender on corrected time. In turn the America's Cup committee ruled to disqualify the Valkyrie III because of the foul and dismissed Lord Dunraven's counter-proposal to re-race. Valkyrie III was withdrawn immediately after the start of the third race and Defender ran over the course unchallenged and successfully defended the America's Cup. Lord Dunraven claimed the Americans had cheated, creating a public controversy that jeopardized the future challenges for the America's Cup race until Sir Thomas Lipton issued his own Shamrock challenge in 1898.
In 1899 Valkyrie III's hull was refaired and repainted to serve as a trial horse for Shamrock, but eventually she did not serve that purpose. She was broken up in 1901.[3]
The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy and the other from the yacht club that is challenging for the cup. Matches are held several years apart on dates agreed between the defender and the challenger. There is no fixed schedule, but the races have generally been held every three to four years. The most recent America's Cup match took place in March 2021.
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893 and 1920.
The J Class of racing yachts were built to the specifications of Nathanael Herreshoff's Universal Rule. The J Class is considered the apex of the era when the Universal Rule determined eligibility in the America's Cup.
Defender was the victorious United States defender of the tenth America's Cup in 1895 against challenger Valkyrie III. Defender was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in 1895. It was Herreshoff's second victorious America's Cup defender design.
Vigilant was the victorious United States defender of the eighth America's Cup in 1893 against British challenger Valkyrie II. Vigilant was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and built in 1893 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company of Bristol, Rhode Island. She was Herreshoff's first victorious America's Cup defender design.
Thistle was the unsuccessful Scottish challenger of the seventh America's Cup in 1887 against American defender Volunteer.
Shamrock was a racing yacht built in 1898 that was the unsuccessful Irish challenger for the 1899 America's Cup against the United States defender, Columbia.
Volunteer was an American racing yacht built in 1887 for the America's Cup races. She was the victorious American defender of the seventh America's Cup match that same year against Scottish challenger Thistle.
The Atlantic Yacht Club is a family-oriented yacht club located on the shores of Gravesend Bay in south Brooklyn. A storied member of the New York sailing community, the club is perhaps best known for its contributions to New York sailing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it featured prominently as one of the leading yacht clubs of its day.
Columbia was an American racing yacht built in 1899 for the America's Cup races. She was the defender of the tenth America's Cup race that same year against British challenger Shamrock as well as the defender of the eleventh America's Cup race in 1901 against British challenger Shamrock II. She was the first vessel to win the trophy twice in a row
His Majesty's Yacht Britannia was a gaff-rigged cutter built in 1893 for RYS Commodore Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. She served both himself and his son King George V with a long racing career.
George Lennox Watson was a Scottish naval architect. Born in Glasgow, son of Thomas Lennox Watson, a doctor at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and grandson of Sir Timothy Burstall, engineer and entrant at the 1829 Rainhill Trials.
Resolute was a yacht designed and built by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff for a syndicate of New York Yacht Club members headed by Henry Walters to contend the 1914 America's Cup.
David & William Henderson and Company was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding company, based on Clydeside. It was founded in 1872 and traded until 1936. Its shipyard was on the north bank of the River Clyde at its confluence with the River Kelvin.
Shamrock V was the first British yacht to be built to the new J-Class rule. She was commissioned by Sir Thomas Lipton for his fifth America's Cup challenge. Although refitted several times, Shamrock is the only original J-class never to have fallen into dereliction.
Events from the year 1893 in Scotland.
The 1903 America's Cup was the 12th challenge for the Cup. It took place in the New York City harbor and consisted of a best of five series of races between Reliance, the fourth of Nathaniel Herreshoff's defenders for the cup, entered by the New York Yacht Club; and Shamrock III, representing the Royal Ulster Yacht Club and also the third of Sir Thomas Lipton's Cup challengers. Reliance won the first three races, defending the cup. It was the last race for the America's Cup that would take place under the Seawanhaka rule.
The 1895 America's Cup occurred just two years after the 1893 America's Cup pitting the New York Yacht Club against the Royal Yacht Squadron. The 1895 race was between the Herreshoff designed sloop Defender owned by Charles Oliver Iselin, William Kissam Vanderbilt, and Edwin Dennison Morgan from the New York Yacht Club, and the Watson designed Valkyrie III owned by Lord Dunraven of the Royal Yacht Squadron.
Niagara was a 65-foot (20 m) long sloop built in 1895 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in Bristol, Rhode Island for New Yorker Howard Gould.
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Royal Yacht Squadron 
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