Alacrity (1813 ship)

Last updated

History
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameAlacrity
Owner
  • 31 July 1813: Thomas, Thomas Jnr & William Smith, Newcastle [1]
  • 1814:Grainger & Co.
  • 18 August 1829:Enoch Donkerly Thompson & James Tate, South Shields and John Dickinson, Newcastle [1]
BuilderWilliam Smith & Co at St Peter's Yard, Newcastle-on-Tyne [1]
Launched31 July 1813 [2]
FateWrecked January 1830
General characteristics
Tons burthen268. or 269, [1] or 26914⁄94, [2] or 280, [3] or 286 [4] (bm)
Length94 ft 2 in (28.7 m) [1]
Beam26 ft 0 in (7.9 m) [1]
Sail plan Brigantine, later barque [1]
Armament6 × 9-pounder carronades [3]

Alacrity was launched at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1814. New owners transferred her registry to London and she then spent much of her career sailing between Britain and the Cape of Good Hope (CGH, or the Cape), sometimes going on to India. She made at least one voyage to New South Wales. One voyage resulted in a lawsuit, that her owners lost, for delayed arrival with a cargo. New owners in 1829 returned her registry to Newcastle. She was wrecked in 1830.

Contents

Career

Alacrity first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1813, but with no information on her master or owner. She was registered at London on 4 July 1814. [1] Lloyd's Register for 1815 listed her master as Finlay, her owner as Granger, and her trade London–CGH. [4]

Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping (RS) were only as accurate as shipowners chose to keep them. In the case of Alacrity both registers gave her trade as London–the Cape, with neither updating the information to include voyages to India.

The British East India Company in 1813 (EIC) lost its monopoly on trade between Britain and India. Still, vessels sailing east of the Cape were supposed to acquire a license from the EIC. Alacrity did not appear in LR's lists of licensed vessels.

On 3 November 1820 Alacrity, Findlay, master, left Deal for the Cape of Good Hope. She was at Algoa Bay on 16 May 1821 and the Cape on 18 June. She then proceeded to sail back and forth between the Cape and Mauritius. On 21 February 1822 she sailed to Sumatra, and returned to Mauritius 21 July. From Mauritius she sailed to the Cape, and from the Cape to Mauritius. On 31 March 1823 she arrived at the Cape in a much damaged state; she had encountered a hurricane six hours after leaving Mauritius. [5] She then sailed back and forth between the Cape and Mauritius. On 7 October 1823 she left the Cape for London. She arrived at Cowes on 16 December, and 23 December sailed for Rotterdam.

On 29 June 1825 Alacrity, Findlay, master, left Deal, bound for the Cape and Bombay. She had to put back the next day having sustained damage. Similarly, Henry Wellesley, bound for Sierra Leone, put back having lost her mainmast. [5] It is possible that the two vessels had run foul of each other. On 3 October Alacrity, Findlay, master, arrived at the Cape, and on 20 December she arrived at Bombay. On 9 July 1826 Alacrity arrived back at Deal, having left Bombay on 18 January, Tellichery on 13 February, the Cape on 1 May, and Saint Helena on 18 May. [5] On 1 July she had encountered at 47°N19°W / 47°N 19°W / 47; -19 an American vessel of about 200 tons, waterlogged and abandoned. [5]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1815J.FinlayGrainger & Co.London–CGHLR
1820J.FinlayGrainger & Co.London–CGHLR
1825J.FinlayFinlay & Co.Cowes–CGHLR
1830J.FinlayR. GraingerLondon–New South WalesLR; good repair 1827

On 27 March 1827 Granger signed a contract with Dent that Alacrity would leave England by 27 April and that so long as she arrived at the Malabar Coast ready to load before 27 November, unless delayed by weather or other unavoidable impediment. Dent undertook to provide a cargo of 300 tons of pepper when she arrived. [6]

Captain Findlay and Alacrity left the London docks on 22 April, bound for New South Wales. Unfavorable winds delayed her and she left Gravesend on 29 April, under tow by two steam tow boats. She was at Rio de Janeiro on 5 July, replenishing her water, some having been lost to leakage. She arrived at Simon's Bay on 7 August to effect repairs to her rudder, which storms had damaged. She sailed from Simon's Bay on 24 August. She arrived in Sydney in early October, where she unloaded her cargo. After a month in Sydney, n 10 November she sailed for Tellicherry, on the Malabar Coast. She arrived at Tellichery on 20 January 1828, at which time Dent refused a cargo on the grounds that she arrived too late. On Alacrity's return to England Granger sued Dent for the failure to deliver a cargo. On 19 December 1829 the jury found for Dent, the defendant, on the grounds that at several points on the voyage Findlay could, by extra effort and expense, have sped up his voyage. [6]

Fate

Alacrity, Dunn, master, ran aground on 15 January 1830 on the Barber Sand in the North Sea. She was refloated, but found to be leaky and was consequently beached at Great Yarmouth. Her crew were rescued. Alacrity was on a voyage from London to Newcastle upon Tyne. [7]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Alacrity 1813". www.tynebuiltships.co.uk. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 Hackman (2001), p. 248.
  3. 1 2 "The Register of shipping". Lloyd's Register: Shipowners: 35 v. 1963.
  4. 1 2 "Lloyd's register of shipping": v.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Lloyd's list". 1741: 78 v.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. 1 2 Pollock et al. (1897), pp. 752–753.
  7. ↑ "MARINE INTELLIGENCE". Newcastle Courant etc. (8087). 23 January 1830.

Related Research Articles

Hercules was a sailing ship built in 1801 at South Shields, England. She made one trip transporting convicts to Port Jackson. She made two trips for the British East India Company (EIC), and was homeward bound from the second of these when the French privateer Napoleon captured her off the Cape of Good Hope.

Coromandel was the French prize Modeste, captured in 1793 and refitted at Chittagong, British India. She made two voyages transporting convicts to Port Jackson, the first for the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her in 1805, but she had returned to British hands before 1809. An American privateer captured her in 1814, but this time the British Royal Navy recaptured her within days. She foundered in Indian waters on 6 February 1821.

Castle Forbes was a merchant ship built by Robert Gibbon & Sons at Aberdeen, Scotland in 1818. She was the first vessel built at Aberdeen for the trade with India. She then made several voyages to India, sailing under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. She sustained damage in 1826 on a voyage to India and was condemned at the Cape of Good Hope. However, she was repaired. She was last listed in 1832, and in 1838 in Lloyd's Register (LR).

Orpheus was launched at Chester in 1794. She made two voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She also served briefly as a transport in two military campaigns, and traded with the West and East Indies. She was last listed in 1838 but may well have been sold for breaking up in 1828.

Hyperion was launched in 1814 at Sunderland. She sailed to the Baltic, and then India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). In 1820 the EIC chartered her for a voyage for them to India. On her return she traded with Canada until her crew had to abandon her in 1824 in the Atlantic.

Elizabeth was launched at Hull in 1813. She made one round-trip to Bengal for the British East India Company (EIC). She was last listed in 1841.

King George was launched in 1784 and made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) between 1785 and 1798. She also participated in the invasion of St Lucia. In 1798 her owners sold her and she became a West Indiaman. An accident in 1800 at Jamaica destroyed her.

Bheemoolah was launched in 1808 at Calcutta as a "country ship", that is a vessel based in India that traded in the region and with China. She made two voyages to England for the British East India Company (EIC), one before her name changed to Woodbridge in 1812, and one after. She spent most of her career trading with the East Indies. The US Navy captured her in 1814 but the British Royal Navy recaptured her within hours. She also made two voyages transporting convicts, one voyage to New South Wales (1839-1840) and one to Van Diemen's Land (1843). She is last listed in 1855.

Sir Godfrey Webster was launched in 1799. She was a West Indiaman until 1812 when she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she returned to trading with the West Indies. However, she then performed two voyages transporting convicts, the first to Van Diemen's Land, and the second to New South Wales. She ran into difficulties on her way home from Singapore after the second voyage and was condemned at Mauritius.

Apollo was launched in 1812 at Hull. She made three voyages for the British East India Company (EIC) as a regular ship. She continued to trade with India under licence from the EIC until she was wrecked near Cape Town in 1823.

Suffolk was launched in 1800. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). She grounded in 1802 but was refloated. She then made a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. On her return she became a West Indiaman. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.

Huddart was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman. She made eight voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), between 1803 and 1818. In 1810-1811 she participated as a transport in two British military campaigns. In 1818 new owners deployed her in sailing to Canada. She was wrecked there in 1821.

Loyalist was launched in 1793. Between 1796 and 1803 she made four voyages for the British East India Company (EIC). She then sailed as a West Indiaman until she was condemned in 1809 as unseaworthy.

Cornwall was launched in 1794 as a West Indiaman. In a little more than three years later she had left on the first of three whaling voyages to the Southern Whale Fishery. On her first whaling voyage she captured a Spanish ship and fought off a French privateer. After her third whaling voyage Cornwall returned to the West Indies trade. Around 1817 new owners sent her to India where a Parsi merchant purchased her. She traded in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, and also participated as a transport in a naval expedition to the Persian Gulf. She was last listed in 1824.

Barrosa was launched in 1811 at Cossipore. She sailed to England and then made six voyages for the British East India Company (EIC); during this period she also made one voyage carrying immigrants to South Africa. After the EIC gave up its maritime activities in 1833-1834, Barossa became a transport. She made three voyages transporting convicts to Australia. She was lost in 1847, without loss of life, while transporting contract labourers from Madras to Jamaica.

Lady Banks was launched in 1810 at Boston. After some voyages as a transport and West Indiaman she sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company. She was condemned at Mauritius in 1821. However, a local merchant repaired and purchased her and sailed her to China.

Aguilar was launched in 1801 at Stockwith. She spent almost all of her career as a West Indiaman. In 1823 she made one voyage to Van Diemen's Land. On her return voyage she suffered storm damage and was condemned in 1825 at the Cape of Good Hope. Her loss gave rise to a court case that revealed interesting information about her last voyage.

Westmoreland was a ship launched at Hull in 1817. She sailed to India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). Next, she sailed to Australia with passengers. From Sydney she visited New Zealand, Tahiti, and Valparaiso, before returning to England. She then traded widely, to Russia, North America, West Africa, and India again. She was condemned at Saint Helena on 29 October 1845 as she was returning from the coast of Africa.

Glaphyra was launched at Calcutta in 1814. She came to England in 1821 and thereafter sailed as a West Indiaman. She was wrecked on 19 June 1854.

Prince Regent was launched at Rochester in 1811. She initially traded with the West Indies and the Mediterranean. From 1814 on she started trading with the Indian Ocean and India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company (EIC). In 1820–1821 she transported convicts from Ireland to New South Wales. She continued to trade with Australia. In 1841–1842 she made a second voyage transporting convicts from Ireland, this time to Hobart. In about 1843 new owners shifted her home port to Hull. From there she traded with Quebec, the Baltic, Aden, and perhaps elsewhere. In 1863 she was at Alicante, Spain where she grounded. She was condemned as not worth repairing.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.