| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Aurora |
| Owner |
|
| Builder | Whitby [1] |
| Launched | 1789 [1] |
| Fate | Last listed in 1809 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 300 [2] [3] (bm) |
| Complement | |
| Armament |
|
Aurora was launched at Whitby in 1789. Between 1799 and 1806 she made four voyages as a whaler to the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1809 with stale data since her whaling voyages.
There is some ambiguity around Aurora's launch year. Neither the Register of Shipping (RS), nor Lloyd's Register (LR) provided one. The most complete account of Whitby vessels gave her launch year as 1789, with owner F. Easterby. [3]
Aurora first appeared in the RS in 1800 with J.Bevan, master, Mellish & Co. owner, and trade London–South Seas. It gave her origin simply as "British", and stated that she had undergone a thorough repair. [4] By the 1802 volume the RS showed Aurora's master as Massey, her origin as Whitby, and her having undergone the thorough repair in 1799.
Aurora first appeared in LR in 1801 with S. Macey, master, Millen & Co., owner, and trade London–Southern Fishery. [5]
Peter Mellish owned Aurora for all four of her whaling voyages. [6] [lower-alpha 1]
1st whaling voyage (1799–1801): Captain Stephen Macey (or Macy, or Massey) sailed from London on 3 May 1799, bound for Walvis Bay. Aurora returned to London on 15 April 1801. [6] [lower-alpha 2]
2nd whaling voyage (1801–1802): Captain James Birnie acquired a letter of marque on 2 June 1801. [2] Aurora left England on 23 June, and returned on 4 July 1804. [6]
3rd whaling voyage (1803–1804): Captain Thomas Gray (or Gay, or Thomas Goyes), sailed from England on 21 February 1803. He sailed during the Peace of Amiens and so did not acquire a letter of marque. Aurora returned on 6 April 1804. [6]
4th whaling voyage (1804–1806): Captain Peter Long acquired a letter of marque on 4 July 1804. [2] On 4 September 1804, Captain Peleg Long sailed from England. [7] Cyrus reported that Aurora had been at Saint Helena on 26 March 1806, having arrived from Brazil with 200 barrels of sperm oil and 300 barrels of whale oil. At St Helena Aurora also took on part of the cargo of oil from Commerce, which intended to continue to seek out whales. [8] Aurora returned to England on 10 June 1806. [6]
Aurora was last listed in 1809 with stale data since her whaling voyages.
The British Royal Navy purchased HMS Shark on the stocks in 1775. She was launched in 1776, and in 1778 converted to a fireship and renamed HMS Salamander. The Navy sold her in 1783. She then became the mercantile Salamander. In the 1780s she was in the northern whale fishery. In 1791 she transported convicts to Australia. She then became a whaling ship in the southern whale fishery for a number of years, before becoming a general transport and then a slave ship. In 1804 the French captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. Although she is last listed in 1811, she does not appear in Lloyd's List (LL) ship arrival and departure (SAD) data after 1804.
DuBuc was a vessel captured in 1797 and sold that year for mercantile use. She initially became a West Indiaman, but then the whaling company Mather & Co. purchased her. She made four voyages for them, being condemned at Hobart in October 1808.
Perseverance was launched on the Thames in 1801. She then spent her entire career of 16 voyages as a whaler. Early in her career a French privateer captured her, but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. Perseverance would herself later capture a vessel too. She was broken up in 1841.
Active was a French ship that came into British hands in 1800 as a prize. William Bennet purchased her and named her Active. He employed her as a whaler and she was lost in January 1803 at the start of her second whaling voyage.
Kingston was launched at Bristol in 1780 as a West Indiaman. From 1798 she made ten voyages as a whaler. Somewhat unusually, on her first voyage she participated in the capture of a Spanish merchant ship. She then briefly sailed between England and Quebec, and was last listed in 1819.
Fonthill was a ship built in France in 1781 and was probably taken in prize in 1782. Fonthill sailed as a West Indiaman between 1783 and 1791, then became a whaler southern whale fishery and made four whaling voyages between 1791 and 1799. On her third voyage she took back from Cape Town a Dutch captain whose vessel had been captured bringing in arms and ammunition from Batavia to stir up unrest against the British at the Cape. After refitting, in 1800, Fonthill became a whaler in the northern whale fishery. Fonthill was last listed, with stale data, in 1810, but whose last reported whaling voyage took place in 1806.
Brook Watson was launched in 1796, probably in Holland but possibly in Denmark. She became a prize in 1801 and by 1802 was a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She made two whaling voyages between 1802 and 1806. She then became a West Indiaman and was last listed in 1809 or 1810.
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.
Bellona was launched at Lancaster in 1799. She was a West Indiaman that made one voyage as a whaler. She disappeared in 1809 as she was returning to England from Jamaica.
Greenwich was launched on the Thames in 1800. Between 1800 and 1813 Samuel Enderby & Sons employed her as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery, and she made four whaling voyages for them. In 1813 the United States Navy captured her in the Pacific and for about a year she served there as USS Greenwich. Her captors scuttled her in 1814.
Barbara was built in France in 1792. The Royal Navy captured her circa 1798, gave her a thorough repair in one of their yards, but then sold her. She sailed on one voyage as a West Indiaman. She then became a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fisheries. On her first whaling voyage she sailed to Walvis Bay. She was captured, either near there or on her way home, and taken into the Río de la Plata.
Resolution was launched at Liverpool in 1776 as the West Indiaman Thomas Hall; she was renamed in 1779. She sailed briefly as a privateer. Then between 1791 and 1804 Revolution made some six voyages as a whaler. On one voyage, in 1793, a French frigate captured her, but Resolution was re-captured. In 1804 a new owner returned her to the West Indies trade. She does not appear to have sailed after early 1805.
Fame was launched in India in 1786. She was sold to Portuguese owners. A French privateer captured but the Royal Navy recaptured her in 1794. She then became a West Indiaman, sailing from Liverpool. Between 1796 and 1804 she made three voyages as a slave ship. She then returned to the West Indies trade. From 1818 on she was a whaler in the Greenland whale fishery, sailing from Whitby and then Hull. She burnt in 1823 while outward bound on a whaling voyage.
Harriot was launched in Spain in 1794, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize in 1797. She made two voyages as a London-based slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. Under new ownership, she then made three voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. A privateer captured her as she was returning from her third whale-hunting voyage but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. After her recapture she became a merchantman. The Spanish seized her in the Pacific; she was condemned at Lima, Peru in March-April 1809, as a smuggler.
Nimble was built in Folkestone in 1781, possibly under another name. In 1786 Nimble was almost rebuilt and lengthened. Between 1786 and 1798 she made nine voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. Between 1799 and 1804 she made four voyages from Liverpool as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her first voyage as to gather captives she detained a neutral vessel, an action that resulted in a court case. On her second voyage to gather captives, a French privateer captured her, but the Royal Navy recaptured her. She was wrecked in 1804 or so after she had delivered her captives to St Thomas.
Carleton was launched in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia in 1802. First she traded between Liverpool and North America. Then between 1806 and 1807 she made one voyage as a whaler to Van Diemen's Land. Afterwards she traded with the Caribbean and Malta, and was lost while sailing from Hull to Quebec.
Caledonia was launched in 1780 in Spain. She apparently was taken in prize circa 1797. She made one voyage to the Caribbean and then under a subsequent owner made five voyages as a whaler in the Southern Whale Fishery. She may then have become a transport, but though listed in the registries until 1813, does not clearly appear in ship arrival and departure data after 1805.
Thetis was launched in 1787 at Stockton-on-Tees, or Hull. Between 1787 and 1799 she sailed between London and Hamburg. Then, between 1799 and 1804 she made two voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Afterwards she became a coaster, though she did make at least one voyage to Quebec. She was lost on 28 February 1812.
Tom was launched at Whitby in 1798 as a West Indiaman. New owners in 1802 resulted in Tom becoming a whaler in the southern whale fishery. The Spanish seized her in 1805 off Peru.
Several ships have been named Lucy.