Achilles was built at Sunderland in 1799. Although early on she made some voyages to the West Indies, she spent most of her mercantile career trading with the Baltic and northern Russia, and as a coaster. However, between about 1810 and 1814, she served as a transport under Transport Board. She suffered three maritime mishaps before 1835 and assisted at a fourth. She was lengthened in 1835. Her crew abandoned her in October 1839 and she subsequently foundered.
In 1799 Achilles, Haddock, master, was already trading with Petersburg. Achilles first appeared in the Register of Shipping (RS) in 1800,[2] and in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1801.[3]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source
1800
Haddock
Atkinson
Newcastle coaster
RS
1801
T.Beswick S.Corney
T.Atkins
London–Demerara
LR
1802
S.Corney
T.Atkins
London–St Kitts
LR & RS
1804
Weatherby
Captain & Co.
Newcastle–Baltic
RS
1809
Weatherby
Captain & Co.
Newcastle–Baltic
RS; damage repaired 1803
On 18 December 1808, Brighton Packet, of Deal, was in a sinking state. Achilles took off Brighton Packet's crew and brought them into Torbay. On 20 December, Achilles, Weatherby, master, came into Torbay. She had been sailing from Portsmouth to Newcastle when she had been driven off St Valery.[5]
The complete picture, by Robert Salmon. The protected harbour of Whitehaven in the background.
Achilles re-entered the Register of Shipping with the volume for 1816.[4]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1816
Wedderburn
Kirkley
Shields–London
RS
1818
Wedderburn Kirkley
Kirkley
Shields–London
RS; new tops and sides and good repair 1818
On 24 December 1818, Achilles, of South Shields, was sailing from Newcastle to London with a cargo of coal when Beaver, Lyle, master, ran into her. Beaver was sailing from London to Banff, her crew was not watching out, and Achilles's crew was not able to get their attention. Beaver sank but Achilles rescued the crew.[6]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1820
Kirkley
Kirkley
Hull coaster
RS; new tops and sides and good repair 1818
On 2 October 1823 a storm caught Achilles, Kirkley, master, between the Spurn and the floating light. Achilles lost her foremast and bowsprit. Two smacks came out and towed her into Hull.[7]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1824
Kirkley
Kirkley
Hull coaster
RS; new tops and sides and good repair 1818
1825
Kirkle
Kirkle
Hull coaster
LR; new deck & large repair 1818, new wales 1820, & repairs 1823
1826
Elliot
Kirkley
"Sw"–London
RS; new tops and sides & good repair 1818, & repairs 1823
1827
Scotland
Kirkley
"Sw"–London
RS; new tops and sides & good repair 1818, repairs 1823, & large repair 1826
On 21 April 1829, Achilles, Scotland, master, struck a rock. She was towed into Loch Tarbert in a sinking state.[8]
Year
Master
Owner
Trade
Source & notes
1832
Kirkley
Kirkley
Yarmouth coaster
RS; repair 1823, & large repair 1826
1834
Dickinson
LR
1835
Dickinson Crawford
Kell & Son
Newcastle–London
LR; lengthened & thorough repair 1835
Fate
On 20 October 1839 Achilles, Patten, master, was on a voyage from South Shields to London with a cargo of coal. She anchored off Cromer, having lost her mainmast and foretopmast. Her crew abandoned her, coming ashore in the lifeboats. She foundered on 29 October.[9][10][11]
Her entry in the 1839 volume of Lloyd's Register carried the annotation "Foundered".[12]
London Packet was a merchant vessel launched on the Thames in 1791. She served the Royal Navy as a hired armed ship from 31 March 1793, to at least 30 September 1800, and despite some records, apparently for a year or more beyond that. She then returned to sailing as a merchant man until an American privateer captured her in May 1814.
Honduras Packet was launched in Spain in 1798 under another name and was renamed when the British captured her in 1800. She was a merchantman that between 1804 and 1809 made one, two, or three voyages seal hunting or whaling in the Southern Fishery. She was also the first vessel to transport Scottish emigrants to Honduras in 1822-23 under Gregor MacGregor's ill-conceived and ill-fated "Poyais scheme". She was last listed in 1828-30.
Recovery was built at Liverpool in 1793. She was a West Indiaman that sailed under a letter of marque. The French privateer Courageaux captured her in 1799. She returned to British ownership by 1800 and continued to trade until she foundered in June 1818 on her way from Hull to Miramichi Bay.
Cumberland was launched at Holyhead in 1826 as a steam packet. In 1839 she underwent conversion to a sail barque. In 1846 Cumberland transported Parkhurst apprentices to the Swan River Colony. She foundered on 23 October 1849 while carrying rice from Bally, Netherlands East Indies, to Hong Kong.
Minerva was launched in 1812 at Aberdeen. Her early career is obscure. In 1823 she visited New South Wales and was condemned at Valparaiso in 1823 on her way home. She was repaired and from about 1827 she sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company. She transferred her registry to Calcutta prior to 1829, but continued to be listed in the British registries until 1833.
Harpooner was launched at Whitby in 1769, or possibly a few years later. Her early career is obscure. She may have been a Greenland whaler between 1786 and 1792. She appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1801, and thereafter traded across the Atlantic. She was wrecked in 1816 with heavy loss of life.
Glenmore was launched in 1806 at Elgin. She was initially a West Indiaman. She made one voyage to Bengal in 1813–14. She became a Greenland whaler in 1818 and made four full whaling voyages. She was lost in the White Sea in 1822.
Earl Fauconberg was launched at Whitby in 1765. From 1784 on she made numerous voyages as a Greenland whaler. She was lost there in 1821.
Jane was launched in 1813 at Fort Gloucester, Calcutta. She transferred her registry to Britain and sailed between Britain and India or Batavia. She was last mentioned in 1820, though the registers continued to carry her until 1826.
Rachael was launched in 1795 at Spain and may have been taken in prize in 1799. She entered British records in 1801. In 1803 she suffered a maritime mishap, and later was captured by a French privateer, but recaptured by the British Royal Navy. She was lost at Fayal, Azores in 1810.
Bonetta was an American vessel that was launched in 1800 at Duxbury, Massachusetts. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1808. She then became a West Indiaman. Her owners appealed her capture to the Vice admiralty court at Antigua, but without success. A French privateer captured her in 1810.
Rosina was launched at Shields in 1796. She became a West Indiaman and foundered in 1806.
Chilton was launched in 1802 in Whitby by Fishburn and Brodrick. After sailing to North America she became a West Indiaman, sailing between Britain and Jamaica. Between 1812 and 1817 or so she was a transport. Thereafter she traded to North America and more widely. In 1824 she rescued the survivors of a vessel that had foundered. She herself foundered in 1839.
Harriet was launched at Pictou, Nova Scotia, in 1798. She was the first large ship built in Nova Scotia and was sold in London. She traded widely from London, primarily to North America. She foundered on 3 November 1818.
Coldstream Packet was launched at Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1794. During the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars she was an armed smack, sailing from Berwick or Leith to other ports in Great Britain. She disappeared in November 1822, believed to have foundered in bad weather.
Albion Packet was a schooner launched at Berwick by Gowan. She sailed primarily along Britain's coasts, and later to the Baltic. She disappeared from the registers between 1816 and 1822, when she reappeared as Albion. Circa 1827 she became Albion Packet again. She underwent two maritime mishaps, one in August 1802 and one circa December 1827, before being wrecked on 17 November 1832 near Orford High Light.
Highlander was launched at Sunderland in 1805 as a West Indiaman, trading with Demerara. She was captured in 1807 after a sanguinary single ship action. One of her passengers was a naval officer repatriating for illness, but who escaped French custody and later rose to be a Rear Admiral. She returned to British ownership and was wrecked in 1809.
Sappho was launched in France circa 1803, probably under another name, and captured in 1804. She became a West Indiaman and then privateer that the French Navy recaptured and destroyed in March 1808.
Air Balloon was launched in 1784 at Yarmouth as a coaster. She was captured in 1797. She then disappeared from United Kingdom records until 1824. She was almost rebuilt in 1825, only to suffer a major maritime incident in 1826. She was refloated and resumed sailing, but was wrecked in 1829.
Mentor was launched in 1792 at Wemyss. With the out break of war with France in early 1793, the Royal Navy needed smaller vessels to protect convoys from privateers. The Navy employed Mentor as a hired armed vessel, releasing her from her contract at the end of 1801 after the signing of the Treaty of Amiens. She then returned to mercantile service, sailing first to Hamburg and then Oporto. She became a coaster on England's east coast, or a Baltic trader. She was last listed in 1832.
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