Harold Vanderbilt
| Harold Stirling Vanderbilt | |
|---|---|
Vanderbilt at the helm of his J-class yacht Enterprise (TIME, September 15, 1930)
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| Born |
July 6, 1884 Oakdale, New York |
| Died | July 4, 1970 (aged 85) Newport, Rhode Island, USA |
| Occupation | Railroad executive, yachtsman, bridge player |
| Parent(s) | |
Harold Stirling Vanderbilt (July 6, 1884 – July 4, 1970) was an American railroad executive, a champion yachtsman, an innovator and champion player of contract bridge, and a member of the Vanderbilt family.
He was born in Oakdale, New York, the third child and younger brother of William Kissam Vanderbilt and son of Alva Erskine Smith. To family and friends he was known as "Mike". His siblings were William Kissam Vanderbilt II and Consuelo Vanderbilt. As the great-grandson of the shipping and railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt, he was born to great wealth and privilege: as a child he was raised in Vanderbilt mansions, travelled frequently to Europe, and sailed the world on yachts owned by his father.
He was educated by tutors and at private schools in Massachusetts, including St. Mark's School, Harvard College (AB 1907), and Harvard Law School, where he attended from 1907 to 1910 but did not receive a degree. He then joined the New York Central Railroad, the centerpiece of his family's vast railway empire, of which his father was president.
Vanderbilt nearly lost his yacht, the Vagrant, on Britain's entry into the First World War. The British competitor for the 1914 America's Cup, Shamrock IV, was crossing the Atlantic with the steam yacht Erin, destined for Bermuda, when Britain declared war on Germany on August 5, 1914. The British crews received word of the declaration of war by radio. As the Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, Vanderbilt sent the Vagrant from Rhode Island to Bermuda to meet the Shamrock IV and Erin, and to escort them to the US. Meanwhile, among the first things done in Bermuda on the declaration was to remove all maritime navigational aids. The Vagrant arrived on the 8th. Having no radio, the crew were unaware of the declaration of war and finding all of the buoys and other navigational markers missing, they attempted to pick their own way in through the Narrows, the channel that threads through the barrier reef. This took them directly to the fore of St. David's Battery, where the gunners were on a war footing and opened fire. This was just a warning shot, which had the desired effect. The Shamrock IV and Erin arrived the next day. The America's Cup was cancelled for that year.
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