History | |
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Name | Duchess of Portland |
Namesake | Duchess of Portland |
Launched | 1783, Bristol |
Captured | 4 July 1812 |
General characteristics | |
Tons burthen | 273, [1] or 296, [2] or 300 [3] (bm) |
Propulsion | Sail |
Complement | |
Armament |
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Duchess of Portland (or Dutchess of Portland) was launched at Bristol in 1783. She was primarily a West Indiaman. However, she made one voyage as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, and two as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. She then became a transport. The US Navy captured her in 1812. She was in ballast and her captors burnt her.
Lloyd's Register (LR), and later, the Register of Shipping, both show Duchess of Portland being built in 1783. Even so, Dutchess of Portland did not appear in LR until 1787. That issue showed her with B. Francis, master, Dickinson, owner, and trade London–Dominica. [5]
The ship arrivals and departures (SAD) data in Lloyd's List (LL) showed her with Francis, master, making a voyage to Dominica, via New York, in 1787. Furthermore, in 1789 LL reported on 6 February 1789 that Duchess of Portland, Francis, master, had put into Dartmouth in great distress. She had been sailing from London to Dominica when she suffered the loss of her masts and other damage. [6] She had damages repaired in 1789.
LR for 1792 showed Duchess of Portland with E. Lamb, master, Hamilton, owner, and trade London–Jamaica, changing to London–Africa. [7]
Enslaving voyage (1792–1793): Captain Edward Lamb sailed from London on 5 December 1792. He started purchasing captives on 1 March 1793 at Cape Coast Castle. Although under Dolben's Act of 1788, Duchess of Portland was legally authorized to carry up to some 400 captives, he purchased only 99. Duchess of Portland arrived at Lucea on 24 June and landed 98 captives. At some point Captain Taylor replaced Lamb. Duchess of Portland arrived back at London on 3 November. [8]
After the passage of Dolben's Act, masters received a bonus of £100 for a mortality rate of under 2%; the ship's surgeon received £50. For a mortality rate between two and three per cent, the bonus was halved. There was no bonus if mortality exceeded 3%. [9] [lower-alpha 1]
LR for 1794 showed her master changing from E. Lamb to Pollock and her trade from London–Africa to London-"Grdlp". She had undergone a thorough repair in 1794. [11] The next year it showed her owner as Park. The 1798 volume showed her master changing from Pollock to J.Smith, her owner from Park to Mangles, and her trade from London–West Indies to London–Jamaica. [12]
LR for 1801 showed Duchess of Portland with W.Warlow, master, changing to Cleveland, Mangles, owner, and trade London–Jamaica, changing to London–Southern Fishery. She had undergone a large repair in 1800, [3] and lengthening. She was valued at £7000 in 1802, and the British East India Company authorized her to sail east of the Cape of Good Hope. [13] Captain Reuben Cleveland acquired a letter of marque on 10 February 1801. [1]
1st whaling voyage (1801–1802):Duchess of Portland sailed on 10 March 1801. On 19 May she put into Gibraltar for repairs to damage suffered when she repelled attacks by two privateers. Duchess of Portland, Cleveland, master, was reported "all well" on 9 December off the coast of Brazil. She returned to London on 5 September 1802. [14]
2nd whaling voyage (1802–1805): Captain Cleveland sailed from London on 17 September 1802. During her voyage she was reported off the coast of Brazil in company with Ferret and Perseverance, and then in the Pacific. She was engaged in sealing at Desolation Island shortly before arriving at Saint Helena. She returned to London on 21 March 1805. [14]
LR for 1805 showed Duchess of Portland's master changing from Cleveland to Thompson. The Register of Shipping (RS) for 1806 showed Dutchess of Portland with Thompson as master, T&R Brown as owners, and her trade as London transport. She also had had damages repaired in 1805. [15]
On 21 August 1805 Duchess of Portland sailed for Malta. [16]
Year | Master | Owner | Trade | Source & notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1806 | Thompson | Bown & Co. | Cowes transport | LR; new deck and large repair 1800, damages repaired 1802, thorough repair 1804 |
Lloyd's List (LL) reported on 30 October 1812 that Commodore Rodger's squadron had captured and burnt Duchess of Portland, Thompson, master, as she was sailing from Newcastle. [17] Duchess of Portland had been sailing from New Castle for Pictou. [18] The actual captor was USS President and the capture took place on 4 July. [4]
The Register of Shipping for 1813 showed Duchess of Portland with Thompson, master and owner, and trade Southampton–London. The entry carried the annotation "CAPTURED" by her name. [2]
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.
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. She was last listed in 1811.
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.
Fame was built at Bristol in 1779 as a West Indiaman. Between 1797 and 1799 she made one or two voyages to India for the British East India Company (EIC). She then made two voyages to Africa as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. On her return from Africa she resumed her trading with Jamaica. She is last listed in Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1807.
Crescent was launched at Rotherhithe in 1790. She initially traded with the Levant, particularly Smyrna. After the outbreak of war with France she may have tried her hand as a privateer. In 1796–1798 she made a voyage to the East Indies, almost surely on behalf of the British East India Company (EIC). A French privateer captured her but the British Royal Navy quickly recaptured her. In 1802-1804 she made one voyage as a slave ship carrying slaves from West Africa to Jamaica. In 1805 she became a whaler. She was lost in 1807 off Patagonia while homeward bound from her first whaling voyage.
Coldstream was launched at Shields in 1788, probably under another name. She first appeared under the Coldstream name in Lloyd's Register in 1800; her earlier history is currently obscure. Between 1801 and 1805 she made two voyages to the southern whale fishery. A French privateer captured her in 1805 during the second.
Chesterfield was built in America in 1781, but it is not clear where and under what name. She arrived in England in 1791. Between 1792 and 1798 Chesterfield made three voyages to the southern whale fishery. On the first of these her crew was involved in a sanguinary encounter with the local inhabitants of an island in Torres Strait. Also in 1793, on the first voyage, her captain named the Chesterfield Islands after his vessel, or her namesake. After her whaling voyages new owners sailed her to trade with the Mediterranean. A Spanish privateer captured her in 1805.
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.
Minerva was launched in 1795 at Lancaster as a West Indiaman. In 1801 she was captured but immediately recaptured. Between 1802 and 1808 she made five voyages as a slave ship. She was last listed in 1816.
Minerva was built in the Americas in 1791 and taken in prize from the Spanish. She made six voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. She is last listed in 1813 but with data stale since her last slave voyage in 1807.
Horatio was launched in 1800 at Liverpool. She made four voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people. During two of these voyages she was captured and recaptured. Shortly before the British slave trade ended she left the slave trade and sailed between Britain and South America and as a West Indiaman. She was wrecked in 1817.
Aurora was launched at Chester in 1793 as a West Indiaman. During her career first the French (twice) and then the United States captured her, but she returned to British hands. Between 1801 and 1808 she made four voyages as a slave ship. She continued to trade widely until 1831.
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.
Venus was launched at Deptford in 1788 and made 15 voyages as a whaler in the British southern whale fishery. Of 812 whalers in the British southern whale fishery database for which there was data, she had the fifth highest number of whaling voyages. She was last listed in 1823.
Ganges was launched in 1799 at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC) bringing rice from Bengal for the British government. She then became a West Indiaman until the French navy captured her in 1805.
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.
Goodrich was a schooner launched in Liverpool in 1799. Between 1799 and 1807, she made seven voyages as a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, two of them while being owned by Americans. After the Slave Trade Act 1807 ended the British slave trade she became a merchantman sailing from Guernsey. A French privateer captured her in July 1808.
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.
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.