British career
Dart first appears in Lloyd's Register in 1801 with Chetty, master, Captain & Co., owner, and trade London-Malta. [3] Michael Chitty received a letter of marque for Dart on 3 January 1801. [1]
Her first whaling voyage saw Dart sail from Britain on 9 July 1802 under the command of Captain Donald McLennan (or M'Lennan). She arrived at Port Jackson from "Chilli". [4] At Port Jackson she purchased some 2,000 salted seal skins from Endeavour, which had been sealing around New Zealand. Also, while at Port Jackson, McLennan signed an agreement with Governor Philip Gidley King to deliver an officer and six soldiers to Hobart. Dart left on 24 October, with ultimate destination "Chilli". [4] She returned to Britain on 9 July 1804. [2] Her cargo is listed as consisting of seal skins, with no mention of whale oil. On her return McLennan reported on the state of affairs in Otaheite to the directors of the London Missionary Society. [7]
Captain McLennan received a letter of marque on 7 September 1804. [1] He sailed from Britain on 24 September 1804, bound for the Pacific Ocean. Dart was reported to have been off the coast of Brazil in January 1805. [2] In November she was reported to have been captured. Britannia reported that three or four British whalers, Dart among them, had been detained in Guayaquil, [8] due to the resumption in 1804 of the Anglo-Spanish War. A further report on 31 December stated that she had been captured at Guayaquil and that she had suffered the loss of 15 of her crew killed or wounded. [9]
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.
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.
Albion was a full-rigged whaler built at Deptford, England, and launched in 1798. She made five whaling voyages to the seas around New South Wales and New Zealand. The government chartered her in 1803 to transport stores and cattle, to Risdon Cove on the River Derwent, Tasmania.
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.
Duke of Portland was a sailing ship built in 1790 at Bordeaux, France. The British Royal Navy captured her in 1794 after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars. British owners named her Duke of Portland and employed her as a whaler. As such she made some eleven whaling voyages. On the outbound leg of her eighth voyage she transported convicts to Port Jackson, New South Wales.
Britannia was built in South Carolina in 1772. Prior to 1798, Britannia sailed between London and South Carolina, or simply served as a transport. In 1798 she changed ownership and began a sequence of whaling voyages. Between 1798 and 1807 she made a number of whaling voyages to the South Seas whale fishery, and the coast of South Africa. On one of those voyages a French privateer captured her, but Britannia was recaptured almost immediately. Between 1808 and 1816, the last year in which she is listed, she returned to operating as a London-based transport.
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.
Backhouse was launched at Hull in 1799 as a West Indiaman. Mather & Co. purchased her in 1800 and then employed her on two whaling voyages to the Southern Whale Fishery. They sold her in 1805 and her new owner sailed her to the West Indies. In September 1806, as she was homeward-bound, her crew burned her as she was too leaky to continue.
Dart was launched in South America under a different name. She was taken in prize circa 1806. Once under British ownership she performed one voyage as a whaler in the southern whale fishery. She then traded as a merchantman before in 1810 receiving a letter of marque. As a privateer she did something quite unusual: she made a voyage to Africa where she captured five slave ships. After this Dart returned to normal trading, this time with South America. In 1813 as she was returning to London from Buenos Aires she stopped at Pernambuco, where she was condemned as unseaworthy.
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.
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.
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.
Policy was launched at Dartmouth in 1801. She was a whaler that made seven whaling voyages between 1803 and 1823. On her second whaling voyage, in 1804, she was able to capture two Dutch vessels. On her fourth voyage the United States Navy captured her, but the British Royal Navy recaptured her. She was lost at Tahiti in 1824 on her eighth whaling voyage.
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.
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.
Argo was launched in 1802 in France, possibly under another name, and captured c.1804. She became a privateer and then a whaler. She made two complete whale hunting voyages in the British Southern Whale Fishery. A US Navy frigate captured her on her third 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.
Atalanta was launched in Holland in 1795, perhaps under another name. She was captured in 1798, and thereafter traded generally as a British merchantman. Between 1801 and 1804 she made two voyages as a slave ship, and may have been temporarily captured during the second. Between 1808 and 1814 she made two voyages as a whaler in Australian and New Zealand waters. She was last listed in 1833.
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.
United Kingdom
