Career
Caledonia first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1798. [2] She may have been a prize. [3]
Captain Baynes Reed acquired a letter of marque on 11 September 1798. [1] Caledonia then proceeded to sail to the Caribbean. Lloyd's List 's ship arrival and departure data shows only one voyage, starting in late 1798. She sailed from London to Barbados, Barbados to Baltimore, back to Barbados, and then to London, arriving in late 1799.
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1798 | B.Reed | J.Goodwin | London–Berbice | LR; repairs 1793 |
| 1800 | B.Reed
J.Page | Goodwin
Bennet | London–Berbice
London–South Seas | LR |
|
In 1800 Daniel Bennett & Son purchased Caledonia to sail her as a whaler in the Southern Whale Fishery.
1st whaling voyage (1800): Unfortunately, there is no readily available ship arrival an departure (SAD) data indicating when Caledonia, Captain John Page, left England or returned, or where she went. [4]
2nd whaling voyage (1801–1802): Captain Page sailed from England on 6 March 1801. Caledonia was among the whalers reported to have been in Wallwich Bay in August 1801. The report stated that the whalers where "generally successful". Caledonia arrived back in England on 12 February 1802. [4]
3rd whaling voyage (1802–1803): Captain Page sailed from England on 2 April 1802. Caledonia returned to England on 18 February 1803. [4]
4th whaling voyage (1803–1804): Captain Page sailed from England on 4 April 1803. Caledonia returned on 8 April 1804. [4]
5th whaling voyage (1804–1806): Captain William Simmons acquired a letter of marque on 28 June 1804. He sailed from England on 5 July. Caledonia returned on 28 April 1806. [4]
| Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source |
|---|
| 1806 | J.Page
W.Summers | D.Bennett | London–South Seas | LR |
| 1807 | W.Summers | D.Bennett | Cork | LR |
|
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 Greenland whale fisheries. In 1791 she transported convicts to Australia. She then became a whaling ship in the South Seas whale fisheries 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.
William was a merchant vessel built in France in 1770 or 1771. From 1791 she made numerous voyages as a whaler. She also made one voyage in 1793 transporting supplies from England to Australia. She then resumed whaling, continuing until 1809.
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.
Eliza was built in Spain in 1794 under another name and taken as a prize circa 1800. She then made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). On her return she made one voyage to Timor as a whaler. She next became a West Indiaman. In 1810 she apparently was sold to Portuguese interests and who continued to sail her under the name Courier de Londres. She is last listed in 1814.
John and James was built in France in 1791 under another name and taken in prize in 1796. New owners renamed her and initially sailed her as a West Indiaman. She then made a voyage for the British East India Company (EIC). Next, she became a slave ship, making three voyages between West Africa and the West Indies. Finally, she became a whaler, but was lost in 1806 to a mutinous crew.
Kingston was launched at Bristol in 1780 as a West Indiaman. From 1798 she made ten voyages as a whaler. She then briefly sailed between England and Quebec, and is last listed in 1819.
African Queen's origins are uncertain. She was a foreign vessel, launched in 1789 or 1790, presumably under another name. She was taken in prize in 1796 and by 1797 she was sailing out of Bristol. She made one voyage to Africa during which she was captured and recaptured and then became a slave ship. She made one voyage to the West Indies as a merchant ship, and one voyage as a whaler, but was damaged in 1801 as she returned home from that whaling voyage and apparently never sailed again.
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.
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.
Cicero was launched at Sunderland in 1796 and initially sailed as a West Indiaman. She was briefly captured in 1799 in a single-ship action with a French privateer. Later, she went whale hunting both in the Northern Whale Fishery (1803-1808), and the Southern Whale Fishery (1816-1823). She capsized at Limerick in September 1832 and was condemned there.
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.
Duchess of Portland was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman but made one voyage as a slave ship and two as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. The US Navy captured her in 1812 and burnt her.
Venus was launched at Deptford in 1788 and made 15 voyages as a whaler in the British Southern Whale Fishery. She was last listed in 1823.
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.
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.
Resolution was launched at Liverpool in 1776 as the West Indiaman Thomas Hall; she was renamed in 1779. 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. Under new ownership, she then made three voyages as a whaler. 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. She was captured and condemned at Lima, Peru in late 1809.
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. She was sold in 1804 at St Thomas after she had delivered her slaves.
Great Britain