Doncaster (1792 ship)

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History
British-Red-Ensign-1707.svgGreat Britain
NameDoncaster
Namesake Doncaster
Owner
  • 18 February 1793: George Burdon, Newcastle and Matthew Smith & Robert Scotland, South Shields
  • 16 October 1806: Robert Scotland, South Shields
  • 21 December 1807: George Burdon, Newcastle
  • 18 February 1812: William Harle, Newcastle
  • 4 May 1812: William Harle, Newcastle and Edward Weatherly, Newmarket
  • 26 March 1825: John, James, William & Eleanor Harle, Newcastle and Edward Weatherly, Newmarket
  • 30 March 1829: James Harle, Newcastle and Edward Weatherly, Newmarket
BuilderLockwood Brodrick, South Shields
Launched1792
FateWrecked 24 May 1835
General characteristics [1]
Tons burthen330, or 350, or 363, or 368 (bm)
Length103 ft 5 in (31.5 m)
Beam29 ft 0 in (8.8 m)
Draught19 ft 0 in (5.8 m)
Depth19 ft 0 in (5.8 m)
Sail plan Ship-rigged; later barque
Armament
  • 1797: 2 × 6-pounder + 4 × 4-pounder guns
  • 1813: 8 × 6-pounder guns

Doncaster was launched in 1792 at South Shields. She spent many years as a transport. It was during this period that she became, during an experimental trial, the first British ship to be propelled by a propeller. Later, she traded across the North Atlantic with Quebec and north. She was wrecked in ice in 1835 off Cape North, Cape Breton Island.

Contents

Career

Doncaster first appeared in Lloyd's Register (LR), in 1794. [2]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1794ScotlandG.BurdonLondon transportLR
1797Scotland
F.Paterson
G.BurdonLondon transportLR

In February 1800, the English inventor and engineer Edward Shorter proposed using a propeller attached to a rod angled down temporarily deployed from the deck above the waterline of a vessel and thus requiring no water seal. The device was intended only to assist becalmed sailing vessels. He tested it on Doncaster in Gibraltar and at Malta and the device was able to achieve a speed of 1.5 mph (2.4 km/h). She thus became the first British vessel to be moved by a propeller. [3]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource
1802Paterson
J.Shout (or Chout)
G.BurdonLondon transport
London–Gibraltar
LR

Lloyd's Register ceased carrying Doncaster in 1810, but she still appeared in the Register of Shipping (RS).

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1809J.ChoutG.BourdonLiverpool–GibraltarLR
1809J.SmithG.BurdonShields–LondonRS; thorough repair 1806

Lloyd's List showed Doncaster, Smith, master, sailing from Quebec on 24 September 1808. Ship arrival and departure data suggest that he had been master of Doncaster since at least 1807, and that she had sailed to the West Indies and Quebec. Doncaster reappeared in Lloyd's Register in 1813. The information did not always agree with that in the Register of Shipping.

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1813PinckneyW.HearnLondon transportRS; new wales 1813 & good repair 1813
1813W.BinckleyW.HearnLondon transportLR; new decks 1807 & thorough repair 1812
1815Binkley
D.Pinckney
W.HavenLondon transport
Liverpool–Newfoundland
LR; new decks 1807 & thorough repair 1812
1816Pinkey
Robinson
W.Hearn
Harle & Co.
Liverpool–Newfoundland
Liverpool–Quebec
RS; new wales 1813 & good repair 1813
1819RobinsonHarle & Co.Newcastle–QuebecRS; new wales 1813 & good repair 1813
1820H.MarshallHarle & Co.London–QuebecRS; new wales 1812 & good repair 1818

On 25 November 1824, Doncaster, of Newcastle, Marshall, master, was in the harbour at Portsmouth. She was discharging timber from Quebec when she was forced on shore, where she grounded. [4]

YearMasterOwnerTradeSource & notes
1826H.MarshallHarle & Co.Liverpool–QuebecLR
1827H.MarshallHarle & Co.
Captain & Co.
Liverpool–Quebec
London–Nova Scotia
LR; large repair 1818 & small repairs 1826
1828H.MarshallHarle & Co.
Captain & Co.
Liverpool–Quebec
London–Nova Scotia
LR; large repair 1818 & small repairs 1826
1830H.Marshall
G.Winships
Harle & Co.LiverpoolLR; large repair 1818 & small repairs 1826
1832G.Winships
J.Foster
Harle & Co.London–Miramichi, New Brunswick LR; large repair 1818, & small repairs 1826 & 1832

Fate

Doncaster, Foster, master, was lost on 24 May 1835, off Cape North, Cape Breton Island. Ice crushed her and she sank off St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia She was on a voyage from Newcastle upon Tyne to Miramichi. The brig Dorothys rescued Doncaster's six crew members. [5]

Citations

  1. Tyne Built Ships: Doncaster.
  2. LR (1794), Seq.No.D165.
  3. Carlton (2012), p. 2.
  4. "The Marine List". Lloyd's List. No. 5964. 30 November 1824. hdl:2027/uc1.c2735034.
  5. "Shipping Intelligence". The Hull Packet. No. 2642. 10 July 1835.

References