| History | |
|---|---|
 Great Britain | |
| Name | Bellisarius |
| Launched | 1762, or 1779, [lower-alpha 1] South Carolina |
| Fate | Last listed 1809 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tons burthen | 300, or 326 [1] (bm) |
| Complement | 26 [1] |
| Armament |
|
Bellisarius was built in South Carolina in 1762 or 1779, possibly under another name. Between 1789 and 1799 she made six complete voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Afterwards she sailed as a merchantman. She was last listed in 1809.
Bellisarius first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1789. [2] James Mather purchased her to use her as a whaler.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1789 | Anderson | James Mather | London–Southern fishery | LR; lengthened 1777 and good repair 1788 |
1st whaling voyage (1789–1790): Captain Thomas Anderson sailed from London on 29 June 1789. Bellisarius returned on 26 April 1790. [3] Bellisarius was mentioned in the Protection List in 1790. [4]
2nd whaling voyage (1790–1791): Captain Anderson sailed on 29 July 1790. Bellisarius returned on 27 September 1791. [3]
3rd whaling voyage (1791–1792): Captain Anderson sailed on 11 November 1791, bound for Peru. Bellisarius let the coast of Peru in November 1792. [4] She returned to England on 2 June 1793 with 148 tuns of sperm oil and 25 tuns of whale oil. [3]
After the outbreak of war with France, Captain Thomas Anderson acquired a letter of marque on 29 August 1793. [1] [4]
4th whaling voyage (1793–1795): Captain Anderson sailed from England in 1793. In December 1793, she called in at Rio de Janeiro needing food. [4] Bellisarius returned from Peru on 29 November 1795 with 107 tuns of sperm oil, 98 tuns of whale oil, 75 cwt of whale bone, and 3800 seal skins. [3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1796 | T.Anderson W.Dagg | James Mather | London–Southern fishery | LR; lengthened 1777, good repair 1788, & new deck 1791 |
6th whaling voyage (1797–1799): Captain William Dagg sailed from England on 16 November 1797. Belissarius was reported to have been "all well" at Walwich (Walvis) Bay on 6 August 1798. [4] She returned to England on 8 February 1799 with 75 CWT of whale bone, and 3,700 seal skins. [3]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1799 | G.Tayler | Mathers | London–Southern fishery London–Dantzig | LR; lengthened 1777, good repair 1788, & new deck 1791 |
| 1800 | G.Taylor | Morley | London–Baltic | Register of Shipping; repairs 1799 |
| 1801 | Chapman | Morley | London–Dantzig | Register of Shipping; repairs 1799 & good repair 1800 |
| 1802 | W.Scott | Morley | London–Oporto | Register of Shipping; repairs 1799 & good repair 1800 |
| 1805 | W.Scott | Morley | Belfast | LR; repairs 1799 & good repairs 1800 & 1801 |
| 1806 | D.Moore | G.Taylor | Shields–Copenhagen | Register of Shipping; good repairs 1800 & small repairs 1803 & 1804 |
| 1807 | W.Scott J.King | G.Taylor | Be Liverpool–Baltic | LR; repairs 1799 & good repairs 1800 & 1801 |
| 1809 | G.Taylor | G.Taylor | Liverpool–St Johns | Register of Shipping; small repairs 1803, 1804, & 1807 |
Bellisarius was last listed in Lloyd's Register and the Register of Shipping in 1809.
The ship that became Mary Ann was built in 1772 in France and the British captured her c. 1778. Her name may have been Ariadne until 1786 when she started to engage in whaling. Next, as Mary Ann, she made one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales from England. In 1794 the French captured her, but by 1797 she was back in her owners' hands. She then made a slave trading voyage. Next, she became a West Indiaman, trading between London or Liverpool to Demerara. It was on one of those voyages in November 1801 that a French privateer captured her.
William and Ann, was built at a King's Yard in 1759, under another name. From 1786 until 1791 she was a whaler in the northern whale fishery. In 1791 she transported convicts to New South Wales and then began whale hunting around New Zealand; she returned to England in 1793. Circa 1801 she again became a whaler in the northern whale fishery, sailing from Leith. She continued whaling until 1839. She then began trading widely, to Bahia, Bombay, Archangel, Spain, Honduras, and the Mediterranean. She was last listed in 1857, having been in service for over 90 years.
William was a merchant vessel built in France in 1770 or 1771. From 1791 she made numerous voyages as a whaler in the southern whale fishery. She also made one voyage in 1793 transporting supplies from England to Australia. She then resumed whaling, continuing until 1809.
Rockingham was launched in America in 1767 as Almsbury. By 1768 Samuel Enderby & Sons were her owners and her name was Rockingham. From 1775 Enderbys were using her as a whaler, and she made eight whaling voyages for them under that name. In 1782 Enderbys renamed her Swift, and as Swift she then performed ten whaling voyages on the Brazil Banks and off Africa until through 1793. She was still listed in Lloyd's Register as whaling until 1795.
Lord Hawkesbury was launched in the United States in 1781, probably under another name. She entered Lloyd's Register in 1787. She made six voyages as a whaler. On her second whaling voyage she "the first parcel of ambergris 'by any English whaler'". She was lost on the seventh after a squadron of French naval vessels had captured her. One of her original, British crew succeeded in regaining sufficient control from her prize crew to enable him to run her aground, wrecking her.
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.
Hercules was launched at Georgia in 1771. She appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1778 and became a West Indiaman. Between 1792 and 1796 she made three voyages as a whaler in the Southern Whale Fishery. In 1797 the French captured Hercules as she was on her fourth voyage.
Hope was built at Liverpool in 1770, though it is not clear under what name. She first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1786 as a Greenlandman, a whaler in the British northern whale fishery. From 1789 on she was a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then made five whaling voyages to Africa or the South Pacific. On the fifth she captured Haasje; this resulted in a court case over the distribution of prize money. Hope was last listed in 1798.
Barbara was launched in Philadelphia in 1771 and came to England circa 1787. She initially sailed as a West Indiaman, but then between 1788 and 1800 made five complete voyages as a whaler. The Spanish captured her late in 1800 in the Pacific during her sixth whaling voyage.
Morse was launched in 1747 for the British Royal Navy, but under another name. After 1775 she was John and Alice (1775), Potomack (1776–1779), Betsy (1780-1781), and then in 1782 Resolution. In 1784 S. Mellish purchased her and she became the whaler Morse. She initially engaged in whale hunting in the British northern whale fishery. Then from 1787 she made numerous voyages as a whaler primarily in the southern whale fishery, but with some returns to the northern fishery. There is no further mention of her in Lloyd's List Ship arrival and departure (SAD) data after August 1802.
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.
Liberty was of British origin, built in 1775, that first appeared as Liberty in 1787. She made six complete whale hunting voyages in the British Southern Whale Fishery before being lost in 1798 on her seventh voyage.
Queen Charlotte was built in Philadelphia in 1780 almost certainly under another name. She appears in British-origin online sources between 1789 and 1792. She arrived in Britain from the whale fishery. After she arrived in Britain she made two more voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She was last listed in 1796 with stale data.
Spy was built in France in 1780, almost surely under another name, and taken in prize. The British East India Company (EIC) purchased her in 1781 and used her for almost two years as a fast packet vessel and cruiser based in St Helena. It then sold her and she became a London-based slave ship, making two voyages in the triangular trade carrying enslaved people from West Africa to the West Indies. She then became a whaler, making seven whaling voyages between 1786 and 1795. She was probably wrecked in August 1795 on a voyage as a government transport.
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.
Olive Branch was launched in 1777 in America, possibly under a different name. In 1788–1789 she made one voyage as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. On her return she traded with Gibraltar and the Mediterranean. She was last listed in 1793.
Sparrow was built in Bombay in 1777, possibly under another name. Between 1789 and 1798 Sparrow made several voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. In 1803 she was captured and recaptured. The French Navy captured and burnt her in 1806.
HMS Spy was a Bonetta-class sloop launched at Rotherhithe in 1756 for the Royal Navy. The Navy sold her in 1773. From 1776, or perhaps earlier she was a transport. Then from 1780 to 1783, as Mars, she was first a privateer and then a slave ship, engaged in the triangular trade in enslaved persons. Between 1783 and 1787 her name was Tartar, and she traded with the Mediterranean. From 1787, as Southampton, she was a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She made at least four complete whaling voyages and was last listed in 1792.
Chaser first appeared under that name in British records in 1786. She had been launched in 1771 at Philadelphia under another name, probably Lord North. Lord North became Cotton Planter, and then Planter, before she became Chaser. Between 1786 and 1790 Chaser made four voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a merchantman. In 1794 a privateer captured her but the Spanish recaptured her. She became a Liverpool-based Slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. In 1796 she was condemned in West Africa on her first voyage in the triangular trade before she could embark any enslaved people.
Several ships have been named Lucy.