High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Clara Clarita was a fast screw steamer originally built as a luxury steam yacht for New York financier Leonard Jerome (grandfather of British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill). On her trial trip, Clara Clarita`s original engine proved so totally ineffective it was removed before the vessel entered service and replaced by machinery from a different supplier. Jerome sold the yacht after only a short time and she was converted into a towboat, becoming the fastest such vessel in New York Harbor, before being converted into a fireboat in the same locality.